Noobie greeting
Niko Holm
Western Australia.
I've been interested in blacksmithing for a while now, but honesly its been
more of a daydream than anything. I hate to be such a noob but I've googled
my way around and havent been able to find a good site telling me exactly
what is needed to even begin smithing.
My knowledge is about 0.5%,. +/- 5% ;) Basically i'm wondering if there is
anyone out there who could point me in the right direction to get started.
There seems to be no 'old school' smiths in my neck of the woods who can
give me directions.
Thanks for your time
Niko
r payne
have you read any books?
"A blacksmithing primer" is good. I have others but am away from my library at
the moment and don't remember any blacksmithing titles offhand. What are your
interests. If you lean towards making knives then "the complete bladesmith" is
a good start.
And for for metallurgy "Metallurgy theory and practice"
Astragalpress.com (i think that's right) carries some of these others can be
found used.
There are very few "old school" smiths anywhere.
Niko Holm
interests are mainly with the bladesmithing, but would love to do ornamental
pieces, gates etc too.
Thanks again for the info. I'll be reading this whole newsgroup and boost my
knowledge where possible...
- Niko
"r payne" <son_of_b...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:43832821...@yahoo.com...
Rusty_iron
I'm new to this group too, but have been smithing on and off for years.
I'm in Brisbane. I'll do my best to help you if you like, you can
email me directly if you want.
Its been my experience that to get into smithing you can go down a
number of paths, buy everything you need/want (expensive if you can
find it), Make everything (difficult for the beginner) or some
combination, which is where I started.
The things you must have are:
Safety glasses, a hammer, something to hammer on, some form of forge
and some type of tongs/large pliers.
You don't have to buy much to start with, any hammer will do in a
pinch, even (shock) a carpenters claw hammer if you can't get anything
else, but I'd look for ball pein or blacksmiths cross-pein. If you
don't have the money to buy new or don't want too, I'd look at garage
sales, flea markets and swap-meets, you should get them for a few
dollars each (my favorite cost $2). You can also look for tongs at
these places, but if you can't find any to start with you could use a
pair of large fencing pliers, just be careful not to burn yourself.
You can use a section of railway track as an anvil till you find one.
I made my first forge from an old tractor brakedrum and vacuum cleaner.
You can use old steel wheels in a similar manor. An old hairdryer
makes a simple blower. Most beginners blacksmithing books cover
building a basic forge, often from metal pipe fittings. You can bolt
parts together, they don't generally have to be welded.
If your looking for a place to buy gear and can't find a blacksmith
supply store, try a stockmans supply store or a store that deals with
the horse racing industry. Here near Brisbane, The village Smith
(http://www.villagesmith.com.au/index.htm) can help you, and yes they
mail-order somethings.
One word of advice, Be very, very careful, and wear your safety
glasses.
Have fun,
Regards
Rusty_iron
> Niko
granpaw
news:1132743714.1...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
G'day mate, (always wanted to say that)
try these links, lots of tutes and stuff on em.
http://www.metalworking.com/
http://blacksmith.forge.cc/blinks.htm
http://www.fholder.com/Blacksmithing/default.htm
one word from someone who should have learned but didn't.
The best thing about blacksmithing (IMHO) is that you should FIRST learn
how to make your own tools, (which I didn't).
try the links.
granpaw
http://www.northwisc.com/
Charly the Bastard
First, fuel type. Available fuels include coal, natural gas, propane, charcoal.
Pick a fuel based on long term availability in your area, you'll be using a LOT
of it. After you decide on a fuel, the tooling will be an easier decision.
You'll need a firebox, some sort of anvil, hammers, tongs to manipulate the
work, EYE PROTECTION, gloves, leather top shoes, a source of abundant fresh air
in the work area. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless, silent killer. By
the time you realize you're in trouble, it's usually too late. Carbon monoxide
is heavier than air. Overadequate ventilation cannot be stressed too much. (I've
got an old swamp cooler, makes a ten mph breeze through the entire shop.)
Next, think about just what you want to make, the tooling varies widely
depending on the finished product. Tooling for sheetmetal is different from
tooling for blades is different from tooling for ornamental iron. It's not
hard, if you're a good scrounge it's cheap, and it's very theraputic. Smithing
relieves stress. There's something verrrrry satisfying about beating the crap
out of a piece of hot iron after a miserable day at work.
Charly
Niko Holm
start. I've got an old mallet which I believe has been used for similar
purposes... as for the forge, i've tried googling for a diagram of one
thats easy to make but no luck... any suggestions / links etc?
I will most likely need to hit the library for some books. Trust me to get
interested right in the busy season at work!
As for the other tools, I think i'l buy the tongs and attempt making some
others myself... be a good start... if you have any diagrams of commonly
used tools that would be a great help.
Good to see a fellow skip is into the old ways! :)
Cheers
"Rusty_iron" <troy_h...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1132743714.1...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
Greyangel
"Charly the Bastard" <nitecr...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:4384805B...@worldnet.att.net...
> hard, if you're a good scrounge it's cheap, and it's very theraputic.
Smithing
> relieves stress. There's something verrrrry satisfying about beating the
crap
> out of a piece of hot iron after a miserable day at work.
> Charly
Amen to that! I get an incredible sense of peace and satisfaction from
watching the sun go down as I work a piece of metal at the forge. It's
kind of like sitting around the campfire and working the stress out of your
muscles all at the same time.
GA
r payne
Niko Holm wrote:
> Thanks for the tip. I've sourced an Anvil for just over 100 bucks as a
> start. I've got an old mallet which I believe has been used for similar
> purposes... as for the forge, i've tried googling for a diagram of one
> thats easy to make but no luck... any suggestions / links etc?
>
> I will most likely need to hit the library for some books. Trust me to get
> interested right in the busy season at work!
>
> As for the other tools, I think i'l buy the tongs and attempt making some
> others myself... be a good start... if you have any diagrams of commonly
> used tools that would be a great help.
>
> Good to see a fellow skip is into the old ways! :)
>
> Cheers
snip
Alex Bealer's book on blacksmithing is pretty good for tool ideas. don't
remember the name right now. If there are any historic reenacting type of
places nearby or museums you may be able to see tools that were used.
As for forges, I made a coal / charcoal one from an old weber barbque grill.
If i can find the link (Alvin was kind enough to host the picture) I'll put it
and I think I know where to get a diagram, let me look.
..........
there is a diagram to be found here
http://www.taigoo.com/tutorial/frameset.html
back to looking for my pic............
found it, this is my setup.
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/Ron.fairweatherforge.jpg
if you want some basic instructions, ask. (more typing than i want if you can
understand from the above)
Drakon1
"Niko Holm" wrote in message
> Thanks for the tip. I've sourced an Anvil for just over 100 bucks as a
> start. I've got an old mallet which I believe has been used for similar
> purposes... as for the forge, i've tried googling for a diagram of one
> thats easy to make but no luck... any suggestions / links etc?
Here are some links I've found for building a forge from things laying
around.
http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/forges/brkdrum1.htm
http://www.vikingmetalworks.com/firepot.html
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lake/7316/brake.html
I hope these help. I, myself am in the process of building a brakedrum
forge.
Rodney
Ken Rose
> Carbon monoxide is heavier than air.
It's actually almost identical to air. CO has a molecular weight of 28,
the same as nitrogen, and a bit lighter than oxygen (32). This doesn't
make it a bit safer.
> Smithing
> relieves stress. There's something verrrrry satisfying about beating the crap
> out of a piece of hot iron after a miserable day at work.
And that's the truth!
- ken
Michael Briggs
Just a note to tell you we *do* have a blacksmithing group in Western
Australia, and it has its share of "old-school" smiths
We've downed tools for the holidays, but will be starting up in January.
Drop me an email for more details....
"Niko Holm" <vant...@arach.net.au> wrote in message
news:438311c9$1...@funnel.arach.net.au...