Shop Setup

D

DReicht

Joined
Oct 26, 2006
Messages
101
Before I spend my hard earned and very precious money on everything, I would like to make sure that the tools I'm getting are of good quality. I realize that buy looking to buy cheap I am asking for trouble in the future, but I have no other choice and it is either buy cheap or not at all.

Heres my setup.

Forge: Coal Homemade Firebrick + adobe: type japanese.

Anvil: Small cut of RR Track given to me, in the future I'll look at the HF #110. The RR track I'm going to bolt to a tree stump I'm thinking and bolt it tight because of its lower weight.

Hammer: Cross Pein from Home Depot and smaller Cross peens from HF

Angle Grinder: HF Angle Grinder 4.5''.

Quench Tank: Galvanized steel bucket-5 pounds, Home Depot/Ace/etc, doesn't really matter equipped with a heating element.

Tongs: I need some help here, The Complete Bladesmith suggests square-lip and round-lip since I'll be using both files and O-1 round bars, but I don't know a good place for cheaper tongs that are still a good quality. Most of them are around 50 dollars :-\
 
First off you gotta have the 50$ knife shop by wayne goddard. Now i havent build a forge yet but theres plenty of really good designs for propane you can make. also theres coal even easier. i also got a peice of track which i said in your other post. as far as tools try to find blacksmith/bladesmith guild/person
in your area usely someone is selling something. also good way to gain info on other stuff. k hammers you find at garage sales/home depot of favorite hardware store. now grinders and sanders this where im at. best bet for starting out. Filez and board you can clamp/staple different grits of paper too. i mean if you dont wanna spent allot of money you dont have too. the forge is gonna be what your gonna have spend a few bucks on to start. and the 50$ knife shop backs all this up. have fun your not gonna be a pro your first day. :) :) :) :)
 
Files is a good idea instead of the grinder, would allow me to learn better too. And trust me, I expect to destroy a lot of metal before I get anything that even looks like a knife :)
 
id say buy 50$ knife shop before you start and i bet your first knife will come out
being more then you would ever imagin. im lucky i just happened to have a good friend whos uncle is the MAN!!!! and took us under his wing and is teaching us. but your in the right place now man. just be nice to ppl show your willing to learn and you'll be done with ur first knife in no time.

like mine. its simple but its sharp its been drop'd on a concrete floor and left a mark on the floor. im still workin on it. when im done ill do my fine test... stick it
a nice peice of wood and it wont leave my room.:) :) :)



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Books are your best friend. Most libraries have several blacksmithing and knife making books on the racks. Young people today know about libraries,don't they.Videos can be rented from Technical video companies like smartflix. http://smartflix.com/ .
You can get by with only a couple of tongs to start with.I would suggest you check out the Tom Tongs at Ozark Blacksmiths:
http://www.ozarkschool.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?listcategories
They often have a buy one get one free deal. Tom Clark is a good guy to deal with.I would suggest a 16" pick up tong. A 1" "U" tong ( my favorite), and a 3/8" "V" tong. That will get you started for round ,square, and bar stock.Some of the cheap HF long pliers can be converted into simple tongs,too.A book on blacksmithing (or a class at a tech school) will teach you to make your own tongs. They may not be pretty, but they may only cost a few dollars each. 3/8 to 1/2" round stock in mild steel is very cheap.Making tongs is also a good way to learn to use your new forge .The rail anvil will be quite suitable for this task,too).Then make a fire tool (poker) a coal shovel,a fire rake,.....You can make the tongs and tools a bit prettier by twisting the handles in a spiral (All taught in a blacksmithing book or class).

For the anvil,use four or six 1/2"X5" lag bolts,with fender washers.Two or three on a side will secure it nicely to the stump.Drill 1/4" holes to make it easier to run the bolts in.
Hope this helps get you started on the right road.
Stacy
 
For tongs you could also grab a few sets of these Poz Style Tong Kits from John @ Blacksmith's Supply. You'll need to drill a couple holes and grab a bolt for a pivot, but they can ge you started. Buy a few sets and if you have a friend with a welder, get him/her to help you weld some different ends onto them. Use a couple pieces of small angle iron for square, a piece of small channel for box-jaws, etc. They're only $8 a kit, so you can buy a few to experiment with.

John also has good deals on Tom Tongs from time to time. Call and ask him. I know he has a big 8-tong set for $165 at the moment, but he also sometimes does buy 1 get 1. I got all of my round jaw tongs from him at buy 1 get 1 prices at my Guild's annual show.

Also, when you get your hammers, put a flap wheel on your angle grinder and radius all the edges on the work faces to about a 1/4" radius. the sharp edges on new hammers WILL put nasty lines into your work piece. Rounding over those edges will help you a lot.

Good luck and keep us posted!

-d
 
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