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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
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
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