Blacksmithing as a hobby

[Cabin Fever]

Okay. This weekend we attended several auctions. I purchased a vintage 20" forge complete with hand-powered bellows, an old heavy-duty railroad vise and a ~100lb Kohlswa (Swedish-made) anvil.

Now what?

[geo in mi]

A source of coke(not the white powdery stuff), a source of iron, tongs, gloves, goggles, and several cans of Popeye Spinach. Have fun. The Flywheelers at So. Haven, Mi has a complete forge building for demonstrations each year, and I couldn't tell if the guy was having fun or not. Seemed like it took a pretty long time and a lot of pounding
to make a gate hinges and such.

[Cornhusker]

A friend of mine is a blacksmith and metal artist, and he started out just like that.
Here's his website.
http://www.prairiewolfforge.com/
One of the engineers here at work (he's also one of the owners) does some blacksmithing in his free time, and if you need any specifics, I can ask one of them for you.

[Windy in Kansas]

Now you get into old antique gasoline engines so that you can get one of your own, then a trip hammer to help with the smithy work.

Have you planted your spreading chestnut tree yet? The immune hybrid is the kind you want. Beautiful and stately tree. I would recommend a visit to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI to see one along with a working shop.

I'll try to get a photo scanned and posted of my grandfathers blacksmith shop and some other things.

[Oggie]

Marshmallows?

[gone-a-milkin]

A leather apron and a big hammer.

I bet you would look GOOD in a leather apron.

[ErinP]

Marshmallows?

*snork*



DH likes to pound on steel now and again.
I'd suggest swinging past your nearest living history museum (that has a smith, of course) and asking if s/he teaches classes. Yeah, there are good books, but it's a hands-on skill. And the more time you spend under the eye of a teacher, the better off you'll be.

[Tiempo]

What size is your hardy hole?

(NOT a personal question )

I have several hardy tools you can have for the price of shipping if you like (turning cams etc).

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by Tiempo

What size is your hardy hole?

(NOT a personal question )

I have several hardy tools you can have for the price of shipping if you like (turning cams etc).

Okay, I’m a novice. I had to look up what a hardy hole is! Yes, there is a square hole on the top of my vintage anvil. I’ll have to measure it tonight. From memory, I’d say it’s about 1/2" to 5/8”.

If your tools fits my hardy hole (*ahem*)...you’re on! I’d be very appreciative of your kind offer.

[Terminus]

Check out some of the Minnesota metal and blacksmith guilds such as:
http://www.nmmetalsmiths.org/main.html

and

http://www.metalsmith.org/

[Windy in Kansas]

This photo is of the interior my my grandfather's blacksmith shop in Utica, KS.
Other photos appear in my Utica, KS album on Photobucket.
http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t...sas/?start=all

I have resized the photo and hope that it appears correctly.

[Cabin Fever]

WOW Keith....I mean Windy...your Grandpa was into blacksmithing big time. Very neat photo!

Terminus and Corhusker, thanks for the links....they are, and will be, very helpful.


And Oggie, thanks for the laugh!

[retire2$]

Another web site to check out is anvilfire.com.

[MN Gardener]

Every year at the Carlton Co Fair there is a blacksmith demonstration. Too bad the fair was last weekend, otherwise I would have gotten some info for you. I will ask DH too, he knows everyone around here some way or another. I could possible get you the names of some locals that are still doing it. They use to offer blacksmithing classes in Cloquet, but I haven't seen them offered lately.

[nappingonthejob]

Kohlswas are sweet. I drool over them from time to time. What did you pay for yours, if you don't mind me asking?

If you're looking for a source of cheap/free play stuff to bang on, try contacting a local horseshoer and ask if you can have some of their worn-out shoes. Some guys leave them with the client because they don't want to haul them around, some collect them and sell them for scrap. Ask around. They'll be a good to play around with and learn the moves.

At the beginning it's a whole lot of "Hmm, what happens if I hit it here? Okkayyy, not what I wanted...now how do I fix it? Whoops, dropped it..."

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by nappingonthejob

Kohlswas are sweet. I drool over them from time to time. What did you pay for yours, if you don't mind me asking?...."

$75.00

[Ken Scharabok]

Kohlswas (believed to be pronounced (Cole-slaw) are one-piece tool steel made in Sweden. Likely predates about 1925.

Go to www.abana.org. On their home page you can click on the red US and then find the blacksmithing groups near you. Actually there are lots of them. Most hold periodic meetings. Some also annual conferences with tailgate tool selling.

Anvilfire.com has a fairly comprehensive article/summary on Getting Started in Blacksmithing.

[CIW]

The most thorough website I have found is abana.org (Artist Blacksmiths Association of North America). They will have many resources for coal and tooling.
Have fun.
CIW

[Tiempo]

CF, I think they may be for a 1" hardy, but I'll pull them out and check. You may be able to grind them down to fit.

[||Downhome||]

hey CF you can check with your local garages that do brakes if they resurface
rotors they should have a big bucket under the brake lathe full of cast iron fillings. I would also build a smelting furnace and make some crucibles then you can melt those fillings down and cast them in ingots or blanks.

more on that here http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/