[TheForge] Crowdsourcing Question

[Bruce .]

GET ALEXANDER WEYGER'S BOOK, "The Complete Modern Blacksmith"
("shouting" intentional):
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Modern-Blacksmith-Alexander-Weygers/dp/0898158966/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372157201&sr=8-1&keywords=weygers
Available locally in many book stores.

What I read in your posts is "inexperience".  Weyger's book (cheap at
twice the price) will show you how to do things you never knew
possible, including how to build a forge.

Even better is to get out and meet blacksmiths.  Most of them will
delight in getting you started.  Even Jerry Frost would (if you happen
to be in Alaska) -- he was annoyed because your first thought was for
money.  People like Frosty tend to just up and do things and forget
that the Harvard Business School proclaims that one must draw up a
business plan and get investors -- money -- before starting a new
venture.  8^)

Trust us -- it doesn't take much money to get started, and you are NOT
going to get your shop and equipment "right" on the first try, so
don't even worry about that.

Your biggest concern is whether you can make smoke wherever it is you
plan to set up your forge (and coal smoke can be quite noxious and
objectionable to neighbors).  If so, you can use coal.  If not, you
must use gas (propane or natural gas) or possibly charcoal (which
makes little smoke).

Your second concern is fire safety -- and local permits.  But if you
have a portable forge (think turbocharged barbeque) and you put it
where it wont set buildings on fire, etc., you might slip by the
permitting process entirely.

Tools are the easy part.  Hammers are cheap at flea markets.  A big
chunk of iron or steel will serve as an anvil till you find one you
can afford.

This is why you should look up your local ABANA affiliate.  You will
learn more just seeing how other people set up their shops, and
watching them work, than you ever will out of books.

By the way, many people say you shouldn't use charcoal briquets for
forging.  That's only partly true.  Briquets contain a clay binder,
which is messy if used in a forge -- the air blast will blow it
around, and it might stick to your hot metal.  But they produce good
heat, so you CAN forge with them, they're just several rungs down on
the list of preferred fuels.

BTW, the only professional swordsmith I know made his own gas forge
and forging press.

On Mon, Jun 24, 2013 at 9:46 PM,  <mazrim at comcast.net> wrote:
> I will be starting by working my way through some books I have that include beginner projects, hooks, tools,pot hangers, latches/hinges, etc... I planned on getting my first set of tools on ebay since I found some cheap ones and then using them to make my own set once I gained the skill and knowledge, then re-selling them cheap and using the ones I made. After I learn the basics i plan on making gardening tools, cutlery, and decorations. When I am good enough I plan on making knives, swords and armor. I coolect swords and knives now, but I would like to collect ones that i made myself. The forge I was looking at getting is http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gas-Forge-Blacksmith-3-burner-Knifemaker-deluxe-LP-propane-by-Majestic-Forge-/190859060141?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c701623ad . I had decided on this one because the burners are controlled individually and it will work for what I am starting with, along with my future projects. I know it is more than I need to start, however I
>   have always tried to plan for the future instead of having to upgrade continually.
>
>
> Lloyd W. Giddinge
> mazrim at comcast.net

-- 
Bruce
NJ