Blacksmithing/metalworking

[Brando CalPankian]

I'm getting into blacksmithing. I'm starting to have a bit of time on my hands, and work changes at my day job have allowed me a bit more physical capacity to afford on my hobbies.

I've got a barrel stove I'm thinking of turning in to a forge. I've got two 50gal barrels that I could make charcoal in, though it's my first attempts at it. A decent assortment of hammers, some metal with a scrap yard walking distance to home. I've got a line on a 100+ lb forged steel anvil. I'll need to weld up a stand for it. Also have two 30 gal barrels with waste oil that I figured could work as a quench tank.

No belt sanders or anything yet. Keeping my eye on marketplace for a used one, or just pull the trigger at harbor freight.

Anyone else play with metal? We have a decently equipped wood shop too, so making handles will be fun.

 

[GregManning]

I'm getting into blacksmithing. I'm starting to have a bit of time on my hands, and work changes at my day job have allowed me a bit more physical capacity to afford on my hobbies.

I've got a barrel stove I'm thinking of turning in to a forge. I've got two 50gal barrels that I could make charcoal in, though it's my first attempts at it. A decent assortment of hammers, some metal with a scrap yard walking distance to home. I've got a line on a 100+ lb forged steel anvil. I'll need to weld up a stand for it. Also have two 30 gal barrels with waste oil that I figured could work as a quench tank.

No belt sanders or anything yet. Keeping my eye on marketplace for a used one, or just pull the trigger at harbor freight.

Anyone else play with metal? We have a decently equipped wood shop too, so making handles will be fun.

Good Luck !

 

[Jehinten]

I'm getting into blacksmithing. I'm starting to have a bit of time on my hands, and work changes at my day job have allowed me a bit more physical capacity to afford on my hobbies.

I've got a barrel stove I'm thinking of turning in to a forge. I've got two 50gal barrels that I could make charcoal in, though it's my first attempts at it. A decent assortment of hammers, some metal with a scrap yard walking distance to home. I've got a line on a 100+ lb forged steel anvil. I'll need to weld up a stand for it. Also have two 30 gal barrels with waste oil that I figured could work as a quench tank.

No belt sanders or anything yet. Keeping my eye on marketplace for a used one, or just pull the trigger at harbor freight.

Anyone else play with metal? We have a decently equipped wood shop too, so making handles will be fun.

I believe @evo has experience. Easy stand for an anvil is a large tree trunk round.

If you need online tutorials, black bear forge on YouTube makes easy to follow videos. Sounds like Dr. Phil but knows how to swing a hammer.

I went through a phase where I wanted to get into blacksmithing/bladesmithing but realized I was busy enough that I didn't need another thing on my plate

 

[evo]

I have some, a propane forge is by far the easiest.
Using wood charcoal does work, but you need a huge volume I’ve never made my own.
I’ve also used coke.

50 gal barrels are way too big for a forge, and with solid fuel you’ll burn them up right quick. Large brake drums are frequently used. A cut down 30 gal can made a decent gas forge.

It’s all trade offs, coal/coke/char are great for smaller isolated heats of 6” to 12”. Coal is a happy medium between the other two. Char burns very quickly, with a lot of sparks and not as hot. On the other hand coke burns so hot that it’s easy to burn at your steel.

A solid vice is nearly as important as a anvil.

Anchoring both are very important more so with lighter anvils. If you can a solid footing in the ground for the stands, or wedge bolts in a concrete slab.

While I’ve played around with blacksmithing I wouldn’t call myself a blacksmith nor anything close to it. More like I have the experience of a pickup fly by night hack that only does some tree work every other weekend.

You’ll also need to figure out a blower, the ole hand crank ones are good for solid fuel, as it’s a lot of on/off. You’ll burn up all your solid fuel while your beating the metal. Gas is MUCH more forgiving as you can easily have multiple pieces in the forge and rotate though them and not nearly as likely to burn your steel. But the solid fuel allows for mini breaks to regroup.

Centar forge is a good place to start, I’d just buy a few tongs to get going. Don’t go all Neanderthal and use the largest hammer either. Smithing hammers are smithing hammer and while you can use a framing hammer it doesn’t work so great.
You’ll want your own set of smithing hammers, and you can made them from hardware store hammers. The faces are gently domed with a nice smooth radius to direct the metal without making sharp impressions. A good rounding hammer is a gentile dome on one side, and an aggressive dome on the other. Then a cross peen. Probably the two most frequent used. 2-2.5-3lbs are good weights, and reach for the lighter over the heavier. Focus on technique over brute power.

The axe is my first attempt at forge welding. Folded style with a leaf spring in the middle. I knew it wouldn’t work out with running short on the bit but I went with it to test things out with the drift, tongs and everything else that goes along with axes were new to me.

 

[Bart_]

There was a tv series Forged in Fire I think with about 4 competitors at a time where you could glean info from the judges commentary/criticism and watch technique on each piece of equipment. I remember Damascus steel. Wary of the oil dip quenching.

 

[Brando CalPankian]

There was a tv series Forged in Fire I think with about 4 competitors at a time where you could glean info from the judges commentary/criticism and watch technique on each piece of equipment. I remember Damascus steel. Wary of the oil dip quenching.

I've watched every episode!!! I love that show.

It's something I've always been interested in. I just realized outside of tree work I have few hobbies.

 

[Brando CalPankian]

I have some, a propane forge is by far the easiest.
Using wood charcoal does work, but you need a huge volume I’ve never made my own.
I’ve also used coke.

50 gal barrels are way too big for a forge, and with solid fuel you’ll burn them up right quick. Large brake drums are frequently used. A cut down 30 gal can made a decent gas forge.

It’s all trade offs, coal/coke/char are great for smaller isolated heats of 6” to 12”. Coal is a happy medium between the other two. Char burns very quickly, with a lot of sparks and not as hot. On the other hand coke burns so hot that it’s easy to burn at your steel.

A solid vice is nearly as important as a anvil.

Anchoring both are very important more so with lighter anvils. If you can a solid footing in the ground for the stands, or wedge bolts in a concrete slab.

While I’ve played around with blacksmithing I wouldn’t call myself a blacksmith nor anything close to it. More like I have the experience of a pickup fly by night hack that only does some tree work every other weekend.

You’ll also need to figure out a blower, the ole hand crank ones are good for solid fuel, as it’s a lot of on/off. You’ll burn up all your solid fuel while your beating the metal. Gas is MUCH more forgiving as you can easily have multiple pieces in the forge and rotate though them and not nearly as likely to burn your steel. But the solid fuel allows for mini breaks to regroup.

Centar forge is a good place to start, I’d just buy a few tongs to get going. Don’t go all Neanderthal and use the largest hammer either. Smithing hammers are smithing hammer and while you can use a framing hammer it doesn’t work so great.
You’ll want your own set of smithing hammers, and you can made them from hardware store hammers. The faces are gently domed with a nice smooth radius to direct the metal without making sharp impressions. A good rounding hammer is a gentile dome on one side, and an aggressive dome on the other. Then a cross peen. Probably the two most frequent used. 2-2.5-3lbs are good weights, and reach for the lighter over the heavier. Focus on technique over brute power.

The axe is my first attempt at forge welding. Folded style with a leaf spring in the middle. I knew it wouldn’t work out with running short on the bit but I went with it to test things out with the drift, tongs and everything else that goes along with axes were new to me.

Great info! I guess no need to reinvent the wheel with trying a big ass drum.

I have an old solid wood stove that may work too. I'll get pictures. I've got too many wood stoves floating around, would be nice to put one to use.

Smaller hammer is a big deal, yes. I'm not that big of a guy anyways. I've got a bunch of ball peens and some decent sledges (1.5-4 lbs) that I picked specifically for the rounded edges. I've been working towards this for a while.

How much propane do you blow through? I am getting a 100# tank soon to run my little heater in my shop (not that it's been cold this winter).

Thanks for the info! The leaf is neat!

 

[evo]

Great info! I guess no need to reinvent the wheel with trying a big ass drum.

I have an old solid wood stove that may work too. I'll get pictures. I've got too many wood stoves floating around, would be nice to put one to use.

Smaller hammer is a big deal, yes. I'm not that big of a guy anyways. I've got a bunch of ball peens and some decent sledges (1.5-4 lbs) that I picked specifically for the rounded edges. I've been working towards this for a while.

How much propane do you blow through? I am getting a 100# tank soon to run my little heater in my shop (not that it's been cold this winter).

Thanks for the info! The leaf is neat!

It’s been so long since I’ve used gas…. It’s pretty efficient, but you need one of the tall tanks, as the volume of gas will freeze smaller tanks.

 

[Friedrich]

the complete modern blacksmith by alexander weygers is a great resource!

 

[evo]

I should add, if going the gas route really avoid exposed ceramic insulation. The stuff is amazing but essentially asbestos and if exposed you can see the micro fibers blowing out of the forge door.

with solid fuel the heart of the forge is the fire pot, and there is quite the leaning curve on working the fire which is a skill unto itself. Lots of variables to control, the heat and oxygen levels change on the depth and placement of the metal within the fire. You will have oxidizing, neutral, and carbonizing depths. A cut down 50 gal could work as a riveting forge, but you’d need a fire pot. Basically any tray with a fire pot where the coal can be raked into the pot is what you’d be after. The thin guage of a drum won’t hold up to the corrosive nature of coal/coke, 1/4 + plate is best.