[TheForge] 2004 Resolution, Intro & Advice Needed

[Ries Niemi]

> Hi & Happy 2004.  I've been an avid "Lurker" on the The Forge for a 
> while now.  Thanks to all for the ongoing education & entertainment!  
> Ries, my initial interest was sparked by your mask that was exhibited 
> at the Kaewyn Gallery in Bothell, WA a couple of years ago -- WOW!


I love praise, especially when I didnt even have to do any work for it- 
Like in this case- Corky Storer made those big masks- It wasnt me. I 
had some chairs there once, and a column from the anacortes library, 
and a piece of fencing from a project in Pasadena- but no mask.
>
> My metal work is nothing more than dabbling at this point.  However, 
> my New Year's resolution is to set up an active shop where I can get a 
> little more serious.  My past experience has been through 
> blacksmithing classes.  I've made a variety of small to medium sized 
> items  (sampler, table base, garden gate, etc).   We are building a 
> new house in western Virginia & my dear husband has agreed that I can 
> have a shop.  In trade, I agreed to a nice sized garage for his toys.
>
> My question to TheForgeList is.....if you were building a shop & 
> wanted to have good basic equipment for artistic metal working, what 
> would you recommend in terms of size, equipment requirements, etc.  
> Sorry to say, money will be an issue, so I'd like to separate "must 
> haves" from "nice to haves".  I'm looking for any advice including 
> size of building, electrical & plumbing needs, hand tools, power 
> tools, etc.
>
> Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks.  Bettina Wehner

More, And Bigger- that's my advice.
You can never have too many tools, or a big enough shop.
But really- there is a whole world out there, and it really depends on 
what you want to do.

My absolute must have tool might be something you would never use.
My advice is start with education about tools- free education in the 
form of catalogs.
Companies will send em to you free!
I would start with a Miller catalog from your local welding supplier,
an MSC catalog,   mscdirect.com
a Grizzly tools catalog,  grizzly.com
a jet tools catalog, jettools.com
a centaur forge catalog, centaurforge.com
kayne and sons,
and maybe one from a jewelry supply company

Then I would buy a few books- one of the best metalworking books I have 
is actually an auto book- the metalworkers handbook, by Ron Fournier. 
HP books- about 20 bucks.
In it he talks about materials and what to buy, welding, bending, 
cutting, riveting, bolting and shaping metal. He shows tools and how to 
use them, and many of the techniques are directly applicable to 
sculpture. A few books about blacksmithing are in order, too, of 
course. I like the cosira books, the weygers books, bealer and 
richardson, meilach books, and a whole bunch of old ones I got at used 
bookstores.

Then I would find your local steelyard, industrial supplier that sells 
contractor grade tools, fastener supplier, used machinery dealer, 
junkyard, sandblaster, and swap meet. Local may be a relative term, and 
some stuff may have to be bought mailorder, but get out the yellow 
pages, and study em. Then drive around and check things out in person.

Then buy tools.

My absolute basic shop would be:
Anvil, a few hammers, a few tongs, and a small gas forge, vise
  cutoff saw (I prefer to start with a small 4x6 bandsaw)
drill press, disc/belt sander, hand drill, 4 1/2" grinder

with that, I could make a whole lot of stuff.

my next level up would include a welder- for me, I would start with a 
tig welder, because you can do absolutely everything with it.
I couldnt live without my hossfeld bender. But that is just me- lots of 
people get along fine without one.

Then you get into luxuries which open lots of doors-
plasma cutter
power hammer
brake, shear, and rolls for sheet materials
hydraulic ironworker
milling machine
lathe
powered angle rolls
hydraulic press

sprinkle with a generous helping of hand tools, precision measuring 
tools, and hand power tools.

Stir thoroughly, and all you have to add is a lot of work.

ries