[TheForge] test

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> First, thank you for being so friendly. I do not know how active I will be
> on this list as I am a newbe at trying to burn myself on hot metal.  I
hope
> I can learn some stuff just by keeping tabs on your exchanges. I have been
> draining brains on artmetal for a week or so and thought I would give them
> a rest. I know many of you belong to both so you may have seen some of my
> very novice questions over there.

Well, we all started out somewhere ;-) In my opinion, the only stupid
question is the one you don't ask, so feel free. We have lots of folks here,
with lots of different areas of smithing they're interested in, from
traditional/hobbyist, to artistic/commercial. fabrication and high-tech
equipment come in their too- you'll be amazed at the information available
to members of TheForge ;-)


 My son (11) has taken an interest in
> banging on steel after seeing a knifemaker in Quartzcite (Jim Sigg) so I
> decided to pick up a small portable forge. Round with a hand crank on the
> side which turns an air fan which blows air up through the center of the
> "pan". On the bottom of page 16 in Jack Andrews book, "New Edge of the
> Anvil" is a picture very close to what I picked up. I live just north of
LA
> towards the desert and had a bit of a problem finding a source of good
> coal, but now I have 100 lbs and am ready to get started.  I have a good
> anvil and a bench vise (or is that vice) plus a post vise and a few
hammers
> etc.  I do need tongs - I was hoping to make a couple as a first project.
> We shall see. Sorry to carry on for so long.
> Jon

Well, there are quite a few smiths over your way- some of the best I'm aware
of, so I suspect it won't be very difficult to get you involved with people
who can help you understand what to do with those tools, now that you have
them.

The forge you describe sounds like a rivet forge, generally used for small
projects, but quite adequate for most anything you'll want to do, unless you
want to take up ship building for some reason ;-)

Tongs are a great project, however, they may be a bit complex for you to
start out with. My suggestion would be to get a couple pairs of channel
locks or vise grips and use them for tongs to start with, and to try a
couple of simpler projects, like S hooks, so you can start getting a feel
for the steel- how it moves, what color it needs to be to move easily, and
what's too hot- when the metal starts burning, it's too hot ;-)

A good starting book for projects would be Weyger's "The Complete Modern
Blacksmith". It's inexpensive and readily available- my only caveat would
be, that as with most books written by hobbyists, he takes the long was
'round for some projects. If you think about it a bit, you can usually do
things much more simply.

And, if you need help with traditional smithing, that's my thing- if I have
fire, a hammer, and an anvil, I have the technology I need ;-)

Phlip

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....