any one interested in blacksmithing or making things

I like tools and I also like making things .

I have a couple of small model making lathes , I like wood carving , I used to help a farrier thats a bloke who shoes horses as a kid ,and am on the look out for a nice anvil to set up a forge in my garden to do some hobby blacksmithing .

blacksmithing is fun you dont need much in the way of tools to start .

my grandfather even made his own anvil,tongs you can make, hammers are not that expensive if you buy secondhand.

instead of working out in a gym why not take up hobby blacksmithing a blacksmith can make most tools for other crafts you can re-cycle metal from worn out tools and make things that are unique .

 

You seem to have done everything as a kid good Jonathan

 

yessum I liked to keep busy as a child I used to help out at a stables near to where I lived

and you seem the sort of fellow who should take up hobby blacksmithing, think of it the ring of the anvil the bang of the hammer, working in a nice warm forge on a cold day.

useful tips in selection of anvils http://anvilfire.com/FAQs/getstart_index.htm

http://www.beautifuliron.com/gs_anvils.htm


your not to young to start collecting hammers and tongs and such like, I bought a tiny ball pein hammer today.

really Im kicking myself that i didnt buy a larger one that was for sale too, I have ones like it but it would have made a fine gift for someone looking for a blacksmiths hammer .

the hammer i bought was only 20p and the bigger one was most likely 50p tops , people are crazy selling british tools, ball pein engineers hammers with fine heads and loads of wear for that sort of money .

I also bought a unused set of marples turning chisels and some small pin files .

avoid ropey cheap hammers and examine the faces of any hammer for cracks if they are cracked discard them or make them into something else but never use a cracked hammer for work .

also for metal work dont use say a claw hammer go for ball pein hammer or hammers designed for metalwork

 

http://www.tfsr.org/

great group of people who collect tool kits for africa you may see them at lots of green events .

They have a list of tools they want to send the africans, these include a lot of tools that people no longer use in the uk and just sit and rust in sheds like hand powered piller drills or some types of old sewing machines and anvils and blacksmith tools

 

I wouldnt mind having a go at blacksmithing as a hobby, i'm quite good with my hands.