so what is your profession Shawn? have you been a Blacksmith long? your knowledge on metals is impressive. I am a Fiber optics tester mainly these days for Research and Education at U of U but needed something to do not work related took Up machinist work (got a certificate from a College in this) then decided I needed to learn welding got another certificate in that then saw a class on Blacksmithing took that and here I am have a lot of tools lathe, mill, Mig, stick, gas forge, RR anvils hydraulic press and working on a Appalachian power hammer.
The job I just started is working on prefab metal buildings. Before that, I have been a tubing fitter, pipefitter, MIG/TIG/stick welder, fabricator, millwright, seismic driller, and the longest part of my work history was actually as an ironworker. I did a short bit climbing and cutting trees also.
I took 3 years of machining in highschool. We had a vocational school just up the road, so I went the first half of the day to regular school and then the second half I was there in a full machine shop. All manual machines back then though, but I learned some basic heat treating then too.
I built my first forge (if you want to call it that) in August of last year. Spent about a month and a half trying to get it to work right. Finally got it dialed in and made my first knife in the end of October of last year. Since then I've made one wood chisel, 20 knives, 3 tobacco cutters, and 2 straight razors.
I started on a RR anvil, and then found a 110 pound Vulcan for $200 and couldn't pass it up. I have my gas forge dialed in really good now, and I got a little coal forge earlier in the year with a Buffalo Forge hand crank blower. Haven't really played with it much though as the gas forge is just so much cleaner and consistent than a coal fire.
I have a 4x36 belt sander and an attachment for it that uses the drive and tracking wheels from it but turns it into a 2x48. Much better for what I'm doing and about a tenth of the cost of a 2x72. I would love to have a press, but for now, I'm just hand hammering everything.
