[TheForge] Crowdsourcing Question

[Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer]

Good , thoughtful replies Lloyd;
And credit to you for supporting someone with health issues.

I agree with Steve that a charcoal forge is a preferable beginning route
 in terms of both safety and cost.
by a big margin.
There are good, cheap " brake drum forge plans" at
 iforgeiron.com and Anvilfire.com (and a whole lot of  other good info tucked away there.)
But you can literally build one from dirt.
A hair dryer, a dinky vacuum cleaner or a heater blower from a car will deliver air for next to nothing.

A   working anvil really doesn't need good edges.... 
Though all beginners assume so.
A plain rectangular hardy stake will that serve that need that very nicely and is easy to come by.
Unless you are unusually talented and coordinated, 
You are going to inadvertently strike your learner anvil
and leave big fat dings in it while you learn.
Don't start with a pretty anvil, it's a waste of money.
One last bit of advice...(hah!!) 
Start going to the blacksmithing conferences
if you possibly can.
You can learn an enormous amount about smithing 
in a single weekend. And it's the best place to buy tools often.

On Jun 24, 2013, at 7:35 PM, mazrim at comcast.net wrote:

Thank you for the information. I will have to think about how I want to start, I have just been leery of building my own. Most things i prefer making my own, just not certain about the forge because of the propane. 


Lloyd W. Giddinge 
mazrim at comcast.net 

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Wilson" <kc7pme at gmail.com> 
To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net> 
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 10:19:29 PM 
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Crowdsourcing Question 

The forge you linked to will undoubtly get the job done. Seems spendy 
though. Have you completely rejected building your own? If you haven't 
already, I suggest you review the work that Ron Reil and others have done. 
The "Bean Can Forge" (look it up) will be adequate to start with hooks, and 
other small work. Ron's Mini freon can forge is much larger and is 
comparable to the one you are looking at. It looks to use the "Derry Cook 
burner" or a modification there-of. This link will take you to one design 
and if you follow all of the links you'll find many options. 
http://ronreil.abana.org/minifor1.shtml 

Son started with a piece of railroad rail for an anvil, a ball pien hammer 
and vice grips for tongs. Made a forge of a drilled out soft fire brick and 
a Burnzamatic torch. With that he made and sold hooks, skewers, letter 
openers, and such. Earned enough to buy the toolss he could't make, which 
wasn't much except a decent anvil. He was 10. A few years later he bought 
a Little Giant, coal forge, and a very respectable anvil. All paid for by 
him with the little stuff he made as he learned the craft. 

Good luck in your endever. 

Jeff 
My Son is a Professional Blacksmith 
on the wet side of Puget's Sound 

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