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geckomage
The Magical Gecko



Registered: 06/24/12
Posts: 51
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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So, i've been debating becoming a part-time blacksmith.
#18738101 - 08/21/13 03:24 PM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Are there any other blacksmiths out there? i've only made about 15 knives or so and i've been debating building my own forge. getting an anvil. some tongs. a few hammers and goin at it.
I've always had a fascination with knives and blades and love the beauty, robustness and functionality of hand forged ones.
What type of forge/designs for a forge do you use?
What kind of tools do you use?
What type of things do you like to make?
Where do you get your supplies?
-------------------- "If the words 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on." -Terence McKenna "He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice." -Albert Einstein "If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?" - Scott Adams
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William McCarty Jr
wayfaring stranger



Registered: 07/23/13
Posts: 16
Loc: 36.5331° N, 98.8819° W
Last seen: 4 years, 7 months
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Re: So, I've been debating becoming a part-time blacksmith. [Re: geckomage]
#18740190 - 08/21/13 10:41 PM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Wow your way more advanced than me. I made myself a forge out of a old break drumb. Welded a long pipe onto it attached a old hair dryer. I made my own "charcoal" but I never had much luck with it. I used a piece of railroad track that I ...acquired.. Made one decent knife and a ghetto looking tomahawk.
If you can get good I think making chef knives is the way to go. One man can make a whole set and sell them for thousands. Also the decorative stuff sells for crazy amounts up in Los Angles. If you can find a like market that's also probably a good way to go.
Again I have VERY little experience but the same thoughts crossed my mind and found some really good informative vids on Youtube by " purgatory iron works"
-------------------- A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body. Benjamin Franklin
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r00tuuu123
Now I'm just really piseed



Registered: 04/20/12
Posts: 8,507
Loc: I'll be there in a minute
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Re: So, i've been debating becoming a part-time blacksmith. [Re: geckomage]
#18741693 - 08/22/13 10:35 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Man this is a cool Idea but to be very successful at it I would imagine you would need to do a bunch of things. Build an oven, buy or make a bellows , an anvil and locate bar stock of the type you want to use as well as various tongs hammers etc etc . I think history did a show on how Samurai swords were made about a year or 2 ago maybe try to find it somewhere. And maybe even look into how commercial steel is produced and break the steps down into a non automated process. Not to discourage but your first knife may cost several thousand $ to make, Obviously this cost would go down as you get better. GOOD LUCK if you decide to do this. As an aside there is a market out there for SCA types for swords, daggers, axes, etc.
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brianstequila
Sir John Falstaff



Registered: 05/20/13
Posts: 526
Last seen: 3 years, 3 months
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Re: So, i've been debating becoming a part-time blacksmith. [Re: r00tuuu123]
#18763274 - 08/27/13 10:36 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Anvil will cost you the most, do not buy the cheapest one you can find as it wont last you a long time. Best place to find tools and such if old farms, every farm had a setup at one time. To find forge plans popular mechanics has a couple easy to make forges, one is made out of a ss double sink and another I can think of was made out of a 55 gal drum both lined with fire brick and you can use a small shop vac with a blower setting to fire it. Im not the best at blacksmithing but I am still learning. For cheap steel to practice on just walk railroad tracks for junk they threw aside when replacing tracks.
-------------------- Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state. Thomas Jefferson Not My trade list i aint got shit anymore
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ghiajake
Myco-Viking


Registered: 01/10/13
Posts: 3,846
Loc: Indiana
Last seen: 1 day, 21 hours
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Re: So, i've been debating becoming a part-time blacksmith. [Re: brianstequila]
#18779751 - 08/30/13 11:30 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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You can use a good thick-gage piece of I-Beam as an anvil if you can't find one cheap enough, although it will ring louder than an anvil when struck. Get you a good 3lb sledge with a short fiberglass handle (better on your elbow). These will do ya good, http://www.amazon.com/Performance-Tool-M7040B-3-Pound-Combination/dp/B000N35LOO/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1377926442&sr=8-14&keywords=3+lb+hammer. Here's some cheap tongs that will work, http://www.amazon.com/Cooper-Hand-Tools-Farrier-Tongs/dp/B00004YYEL/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377926565&sr=8-1&keywords=blacksmith+tongs. Best steel stock to use while practicing is rebar. I made a rebar chisel for my father in middle school and 25 years later he still uses it at work (he's a Union Carpenter).
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