Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Blacksmithing, Anyone?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Blacksmithing, Anyone?

    A friend gave me an anvil and small coal forge many years ago, and they sat unused in the barn gathering rust and dust until I discovered a blacksmithing club nearby. That was about a year ago. Since then I've also discovered a VERY helpful forum, https://www.iforgeiron.com . Between joining the club and reading the forum on a daily basis, I'm making some progress in the art of metal mashing.

    For those who may be interested in learning blacksmithing, I urge you to find a local blacksmithing club. You'll find a bunch of slightly rough-around-the-edges folks who are friendly and helpful, but more importantly they'll have equipment you can use! Our club has a large shed set up with 4 or 5 anvils and coal forges, hammers, tongs, vises, grinders, power hammers and presses and lots of experienced folks to help learn how to use them.

    For me, blacksmithing is a way to make things I might otherwise have to buy. It's also therapeutic. Anytime I want to whim-wham the thunder out of a politician, I go out to the shop and start heating and beating some metal. Occasionally I make something I'm willing to show other people, and often I change a piece of scrap metal into a more useful shape.

    If you'd like to start beating metal, it doesn't take a lot to get started. You don't need a London pattern anvil; any large and heavy piece of steel (or even rock) will work. There are instructions on I Forge Iron to make any type of forge you like, the simplest being what they call a JABOD (Just A Box Of Dirt). Fuels are also explained in depth. If coal is hard to find in your area, charcoal will work. If you can't find charcoal, make your own with a retort. If you prefer something cleaner, build a gas forge and power it with propane. A carpenter's claw hammer is not the best choice for smithing, but anything will work to some degree. Vice Grip pliers or channel lock pliers can be used for tongs.

    Scrap materials are readily available almost anywhere in the USA. Car/truck springs (coil or leaf), axles, steering column shafts, torsion bars, steering linkages, all are good for making tools. Springs are good knife/hatchet/tomahawk materials. The local hardware store/farm supply probably has short lengths of mild steel in various sizes that are excellent for learning the basics. Rebar, as tempting as it may be, is among the worst things to use for making anything. Too many variables in its manufacture.

    As for what you can make from scrap metal, here's an image of some of my early projects:

    Top is a BBQ fork. Below that is an oven rack push/puller, a bell, a horseshoe with S hook used for hanging a pot over an open fire, and a couple of herb choppers.
    Latest Projects.jpg

    The bell was a whimsy piece just to see if I could make a bell from a piece of 3/4" black pipe. It has a clapper, and it actually rings. The leaf handle was my first attempt at making a leaf.
    Bell.jpg
    Bell 1.jpg
    Last edited by olfart; 07-12-2017, 11:12 AM. Reason: Add image, change description

  • #2
    Nice. Just what I need. ...another expensive hobby. Like shooting, reloading, bullet casting, Archery and Ham radio aren't enough. Well, I guess I could add one more, sincr I've given up motorcycles.
    Defund the Media !!

    Comment


    • #3
      I'll see your shooting, reloading, ham radio, archery and raise you flying (general aviation), flying RC aircraft, fishing & camping. I sold my motorcycle 30 years ago or so. Blacksmithing isn't all that bad if you ease into it by using club equipment. They'll even help you feed your addiction... er, find bargains on tools and equipment.

      Oops. I almost forgot to throw in metal detecting as another of my expensive hobbies.

      Comment


      • #4
        EMT basic (expired,) and most of that other stuff. And I'm a pretty decent cook, and starting on home-curing meats.
        quam minimum credula postero

        Comment


        • #5
          Been working metals in one form or another for 42 years. Smelting ore, smithing, casting, Welding drawing wire, NDE, alloy development, composites, machining, etc.
          When the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future: Edward Lorenz

          Comment


          • #6
            Yup, General Aviation can certainly take it's share of the pie. Dad (R.I.P.) was into planes. Had his own Aircraft Maintenance business & owned a Swift. I got to steer it while he did the pedal work for my 11th birthday . Got to shoot an authentic Thomson submachine gun for my 10th birthday . The love of boomsticks stayed with me, flying didn't .
            Defund the Media !!

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Cwi555 View Post
              Been working metals in one form or another for 42 years. Smelting ore, smithing, casting, Welding drawing wire, NDE, alloy development, composites, machining, etc.
              That's an admirable combination. You'd be a handy guy to have around.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by kickstand View Post
                Yup, General Aviation can certainly take it's share of the pie. Dad (R.I.P.) was into planes. Had his own Aircraft Maintenance business & owned a Swift. I got to steer it while he did the pedal work for my 11th birthday . Got to shoot an authentic Thomson submachine gun for my 10th birthday . The love of boomsticks stayed with me, flying didn't .
                My GA flying is dwindling rapidly. Not enough folks gullible enough to hand me the key to their bird. On August 23, I hope to celebrate the 60th anniversary of my first solo flight. Maybe somebody will have mercy on me and get me off the ground.

                Comment


                • #9
                  My dad got his private pilot's license when I was very small, he'd save up for ages to take us all for a ride. As teens, we got a pretty good run-down on the controls & safety basics, including use of the "iron compass" (and the more modern "interstate compass,") in case of emergencies.

                  Sadly, my only metal working was high school shop, and no forge there.
                  quam minimum credula postero

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I started flying at the age of 15. Joined Civil Air Patrol Cadet program at the local GA field, then worked for the airport manager all summer gassing/starting airplanes (most didn't have electric starters then). My pay was an occasional hour of flight instruction in an Aeronca Champ. Finally soloed two days after my 16th birthday. Got my private license 9 years later, bought my first airplane, a '59 Cessna 150 which I flew to California and back (fun trip). Got my commercial, CFI, instrument and multi ratings and started applying to airlines. Unfortunately for me, there were guys coming back from Viet Nam with 10,000 hours of heavy jet time, so no airline job for me.

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X