# Support Your Local Blacksmith



## louosten (Mar 30, 2015)

Hello to All;

I had some bent up metal to straighten out, and thought it would be fun to go by the local blacksmith's shop and see what he could do for me.

Lucas House runs Iron House Forge (www.ironhouseforge.com) in Raleigh, NC, and is quite a talented guy. He has done some elaborate 'commissions' and does small jobs as well. He is an NC State Graduate who decided to hang around after graduation (originally from the Asheville area), and collaborate with other crafty people in a local group call the "The Ant Farm".




So I brought him this bent up door from an old surplus machine stand, and he used his hammer and anvil to straighten it out:



I thought he might fire up the forge and get it hot, but he recommended 'cold forming' due to the time involved, and the possibility of lead paint on the door:



Anyway, he got the job done in short order, while I observed, wearing the required hearing protection...as I thanked him and got ready to leave, I noticed he had an Iron Worker, and asked if he could punch out some base plates for my Atlas 10F mounting:


 About 3 minutes later, it was all done. I gave him a $20 and we both happily parted company.

If you get an opportunity to support your local craftspeople, please do so. It's great to see some of the Old World skills still at work!

Lou O.


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## RJSakowski (Mar 30, 2015)

Not just an Old World skill.  Blacksmiths were the foundation that built this country.  If you needed anything made of metal, you went to the blacksmith.  Everything from nails to build your house to guns to protect yourself.  They were the original machinists and some of the work they did was quite amazing given the tools they had to work with.  

They were still quite common until after WW2.  We still have a few around, mostly  artist- blacksmiths.  I have a small shop for my own personal use.  It is highly gratifying to be able to turn a rusty old piece of iron into a useful product.


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## markknx (Mar 30, 2015)

Would love to learn this art.


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## RJSakowski (Mar 30, 2015)

markknx said:


> Would love to learn this art.


There are a number of good books on the subject.  A local technical school or community college may offer courses as well.

It does not take a lot of expense to start.  I have seen coal fire forges made from old wheel rims and you can use charcoal if you can't or don't want to  to use coal.  An anvil can be as simple as a block of iron from a local scrap dealer.  Many have been built of railroad rail.  I have a very nice railroad anvil that I made almost forty years ago in my basement which I use for sheet metal work .  A cross pein hammer, about two to three lbs., and a ball pein, about 16 to 24 oz., will suffice at first.  Vice grips can work as tongs until you acquire proper smithing tongs.

One of the beauties of blacksmithing is that you can make your own tools.  I have made hammers, tongs, several anvils, punches, chisels, anvil hardies, and a myriad of special tools.  

Blacksmiths are surpassed only by foundry-men in their ability to convert scrap into useful products.


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## markknx (Mar 30, 2015)

Yes I have Played  a little and get the basics, like making holes and what not. but I thought coal or Coke where required, and getting coal or coke in the small amounts I would need in my area seems to be hard. I have a small blower, a piece of RR rail. I have a few RR spikes I was going to try to make a Knife from one.
The rim thing just fill the rim with your fuel?
Thanks
Mark


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## pebbleworm (Mar 30, 2015)

Here's my local blacksmith in San Francisco:
http://renaissanceforge.com/
He was able to hammer weld a crack in wrought iron bicycle frame from 1869 and get the machine back on the road.  Like almost all of the local blacksmiths he is more at the artistic end than the repair, but he was honestly excited about working on that old bike.   For learning the trade, there are classes and shop time available at the Crucible in Oakland:
http://thecrucible.org/


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## RJSakowski (Mar 30, 2015)

markknx said:


> Yes I have Played  a little and get the basics, like making holes and what not. but I thought coal or Coke where required, and getting coal or coke in the small amounts I would need in my area seems to be hard. I have a small blower, a piece of RR rail. I have a few RR spikes I was going to try to make a Knife from one.
> The rim thing just fill the rim with your fuel?
> Thanks
> Mark


Charcoal was used for centuries before coal came into use.  Charcoal briquets should work fine.  You might have some difficulty getting to a good forge welding heat but otherwise, no problems.  

A forge has a firepot (the rim) and a source of forced air.  The rim is not ideal since the steel will burn with continued use. I have also seen differential covers from large truck used as a firepot. Cast iron works better and many commercial firepots are made from it.  You can also make a firepot from fire  brick.  Keep in mind that sparks fly from blacksmithing activities.  If you are not working outdoors, make sure you do not have flammables nearby and that you have a fire extinguisher close by.  Coal fires also generate obnoxious smoke.  Not good if you are in a residential neighborhood.  Many modern blacksmiths use gas forges.  They are cleaner to operate and more portable.  They are not well suited for forge welding however.

The air stream is best brought in from below although many old forges had bellows blowing from the side.  Additionally, a grate of some sort to keep the coals from falling into the air box.  The grate in coal forges often took the form of a clinker breaker to break up the clinker which formed from the ash from the coal.  The exhaust from a shop vac can be your air source.  You should have some means of regulating the air flow and turning on and off.  As with working with gas heating and welding, you want to be able to control the oxygen content in the fuel-air mixture.  Too much oxygen will burn the steel.

I would not try to make a knife from railroad spikes unless it was strictly ornamental.  They do not have enough carbon content to harden properly.   Files will work but you should grind the teeth off first.  Other high carbon materials would be things like saw blades, old chisels, etc.  Think cutting edges.

Check the internet for information.  There is a huge amount of material, including design and construction instructions on home-builts.  Have fun!


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## cdhknives (Mar 30, 2015)

Lots of bladesmiths are still working with hammer and anvil...but many have upgraded their forges to natural gas or propane.  Much cleaner.  much better for your lungs.  Much easier to fuel unless you live in coal country.

Old leaf blowers and vacuum cleaners with exhaust ducts also work as makeshift blowers to try out the trade...and a stack of fireplace brick makes a dandy forge.


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## markknx (Apr 22, 2015)

I thought there was I forum for blacksmith work here but I can't find it. looking for sources for equipment and consumables. Ideas on building/buying. coal vs LP. and the like anyone still following this tread have any ideas or opinions?
Thanks Mark


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## davidh (Apr 23, 2015)

i saved a camshaft from a 4 cyl chev malibu, is it a suitable piece for forging ? or is it cast steel and just junk?


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## cdhknives (Apr 23, 2015)

When looking at scrap for use in forging, the first question you should ask is what you are going to make.  Decorative or mild structural work can be made form almost any scrap, from Rebar and rail spikes to drops from structural plate and beams at your local welding shop.  Ditto practice.  Rebar is a great way to get the feel of hammering out shapes before starting to use 'good' steel.  If you are making blades, chisels, hammers, etc. you need to limit your scrap to things like vehicle springs (coil or leaf), old brand name (much modern cheap file material is case hardened mild steel) files, rusty ball bearings (if they are rust resistant, they are stainless steel and you won't get much forging done!), high strength (grade 8) bolts, high strength cables (cranes, elevators, etc), and the like.  Honestly scrap work is nice for practice or for experienced folks, but beginners are better suited by buying some 1080 (or similar 10xx series) steel for blades.  O-1 is great but more costly.  It gives a known starting point and a known heat treat.  Figuring out mystery steel requires practice and experience.

Coal/charcoal/etc. forges are also more for advanced smiths looking to remain 'traditional'.  Nothing wrong with it, but not for a beginner without a mentor...to many variables.  Stick to gas forges...fewer variables and the end product will be as good or better in all cases.  Run with a rich flame and keep it hot.


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## Ed of all trades (Apr 24, 2015)

There are many people working and playing at blacksmithing, me being one of them. If you are interested find a blacksmith guild or club in your area. You will learn more from the guys n girls in a day than you would in a year trying to do it by your self.  I belong to the Shanendoah Valley Blacksmith Guild and look forward to every meeting. ABNA is a large umbrella org. that many clubs are under. Check it out!  Ed


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## RJSakowski (Apr 24, 2015)

davidh said:


> i saved a camshaft from a 4 cyl chev malibu, is it a suitable piece for forging ? or is it cast steel and just junk?


As I recall, camshafts are drop forged rather than cast.  I could be mistaken though.  

A problem with pieces like camshafts are all the sharp edges.  Forging is basically moving metal.  The sharp edges on the camshaft will fold over on hammering and cause a cold shut which is two pieces of metal overlapping but not bonded, hence potentially poor strength.  If you are making an art piece, it would not be a problem but not good for tools.  For example, a file is a good starting point for a knife but the teeth have to be removed by grinding prior to forging.  They may forge flat but you have a whole mess of discontinuities which stay with the piece as you draw it thinner and thinner to shape the blade.

Here is an example to illustrate the point.  This is a snake made form a horseshoer's rasp. in forging, the teeth were driven back into the cut pockets but they never bonded again in spite of extensive forging.  when the form was bent to make the curves, some of the teeth rose up again, as can be seen in the close up.

It is possible to weld those cold shuts by forge welding but for something like that, it would be iffy.  A good forge weld requires bare metal for the mating surfaces.  Flux can help but it is unlikely that you would be able to squeeze it all out of the crevasse.  (The snake was made in the late seventies.  I made a half dozen and gave away all but two)


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## markknx (Apr 24, 2015)

Ed of all trades said:


> There are many people working and playing at blacksmithing, me being one of them. If you are interested find a blacksmith guild or club in your area. You will learn more from the guys n girls in a day than you would in a year trying to do it by your self.  I belong to the Shanendoah Valley Blacksmith Guild and look forward to every meeting. ABNA is a large umbrella org. that many clubs are under. Check it out!  Ed



Thanks Ed. Yes I have been looking for a local group. If you meant ABANA yes I checked their site and they have nothing close. Kind of odd as I am close to Chicago.


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## Ed of all trades (May 3, 2015)

markknx said:


> Thanks Ed. Yes I have been looking for a local group. If you meant ABANA yes I checked their site and they have nothing close. Kind of odd as I am close to Chicago.


The guild I am a member of is not connected to any other except by way of friends and events. Try some of the blacksmith sites, I fore iron has a list of guilds etc.


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## markknx (May 5, 2015)

Ed, I have joined IFI forum and received some help. But still have not found a local. Time will turn up some one. Finished a gas burner today but I need a few plumbing parts to hook it up to the tank. Still waiting on ridgizer and bricks for the forge. Some mix up I think at the supplier. See what I did in the shop today, for pics.


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## Round in circles (May 7, 2015)

markknx said:


> Yes I have Played  a little and get the basics, like making holes and what not. but I thought coal or Coke where required, and getting coal or coke in the small amounts I would need in my area seems to be hard. I have a small blower, a piece of RR rail. I have a few RR spikes I was going to try to make a Knife from one.
> The rim thing just fill the rim with your fuel?
> Thanks
> Mark



Think of the word charcoal and there you have the original fuel for the forge or smelting furnaces that the ancient Chinese, Egyptians and Assyrians etc used.
A 25 kg sack of lump wood charcoal should last you a fair while . Whilst you finish with your forge you could put a few small logs on the fire under an old cast iron sauce pan , cover it with ash to reduce the oxygen entry and end up making you own lump wood charcoal ..
PS.
It's brill for BBQ's as well for that was the original fuel for them too .


You can also make your own propane gas fired forges as well . The second picture down appear to be a propane gas fired forge/oven . There is a thread about making smelters  in the POTD forum at the 6 April 2015 date .  You can use them as the forge heat source ,  the word to forge means to shape by force , heating the material just makes it easier.

Our  old village blacksmith ( well over 70 yrs of age )  that I used to visit as much as I could in the 1950's was called Mister Wellborne Smith , by the end off the 50's aged 10 I used to be able to name every item he had in his shop and say what it was used for.
He always used to correct me if I referred to the fire as the forge saying  " No David the fire is what makes forging easy " .


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## markknx (May 7, 2015)

Yes David,
I am learning these things and have started building two furnaces. One for solid fuel, and one for propane. I am just limited on what I can do right now and the time I have got in the shop of late. you saw my burner in POTD. the body for that furnace will be a 20lbs propane tank laid on side stuffed with cera wool and fire bricks used for doors. (sure you  have seen many of this type) still waiting on Ridgizer, and brick all the rest of the liner I have. Hopefully I will get a propane tank filled today and can do a test with and with out the shim.
But this post Pushed me to finally go forward and build something for heating.
Mark


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## RJSakowski (May 7, 2015)

Round in circles said:


> Our  old village blacksmith ( well over 70 yrs of age )  that I used to visit as much as I could in the 1950's was called Mister Wellborne Smith , by the end off the 50's aged 10 I used to be able to name every item he had in his shop and say what it was used for.
> He always used to correct me if I referred to the fire as the forge saying  " No David the fire is what makes forging easy " .


Interesting, David.   Here the noun "forge" means either the source of heat or the establishment or building itself and the verb means the act of forming metal by hammer.  The word was used to describe the heat source in the Sears & Roebuck "Tools Machinery Blacksmiths Supplies" catalog published in 1915  and in the famous poem "The Village Blacksmith" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1842.


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## Round in circles (May 7, 2015)

Ahhh! , that's perhaps why there is a difference.
I'm a country boy born & bred , strong in the arm & thick in the head.
I'm from Yorkshire England so was Mr Wellborne Smith his native language would have been Victorian Yorkshire & earlier  , the village we lived in was at Tattershall  Lincolnshire where he settled after WW1 .

What would we country bumpkins know of such high brow educated scribes as HWL who didn't know their way around the terms of the ancient crafts .
I doubt Mr Wellborne  Smith would have ever left the Yorkshire village save for shoeing horses in the first world war somewhere with is regiment & coming to Tattershall to set up business with a Tattershall pal he met shoeing military horses somewhere in France .

 This is from the search term in Google Medieval blacksmith ( T'would sum up the way us Yorkies talked at the turn of the 18 & 19th century .
I still use precise olde English terms that my mum & dad used & people look at me as if I came from another planet.

*Description of a Blacksmith Forge
A Blacksmith forge is a workplace where metal is worked by a blacksmith by heating and hammering via a furnace consisting of a special hearth where metal is heated before shaping The name of a forge was also referred to as a a smithy. A Forge wagon was a wagon fitted up for transporting a blackmith's forge and tools. A Portable forge was a light and compact blacksmith's forge, with bellows, etc., that may be moved from place to place.*


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## RJSakowski (May 7, 2015)

Round in circles said:


> Ahhh! , that's perhaps why there is a difference.
> I'm a country boy born & bred , strong in the arm & thick in the head.
> I'm from Yorkshire England so was Mr Wellborne Smith his native language would have been Victorian Yorkshire & earlier  , the village we lived in was at Tattershall  Lincolnshire where he settled after WW1 .
> 
> ...


My wife is from Castle Donington in Leicestershire so I am well familiar with English colloquialisms.  While HWL was an American author, the term forge in reference to a blacksmith's furnace actually traces back to Middle English in the 16th century.
I have known old gentlemen such your Mr. Smith (interesting that his name is Smith; I trust that blacksmithing was a family tradition going back to the Doomsday book and beyond).  I have little doubt that he was exceedingly skilled at his craft.  Those that I met were.


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