My kids have been watching "Forged in Fire" and love the show. Now they want to make their own knives and swords. I thought it might be a fun family project to set up a home forge just to do some small projects and teach the kids a good skill. I've messed around with welding and machine shop stuff but really don't know much about forging and hammering out metal. Any advice on where to start?
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainme...ng-to-imitate-history-channels-forged-in-fire Make sure you video all your work.
Good luck on finding a reasonable anvil. The old ones are the way to go, and effing pricey now. I was at an old farm auction 6mo ago bidding on a Peter Wright, about 100lbs. Decent shape. I dropped out at $550. Some people get $7-10/lb for them. Used to be you could buy them for damn near scrap value... Working on a crappy anvil sucks. So pony up to get a good one. Even if they don't keep doing it you can sell it. You could buy a small forge but it's easy to make one...se lots of plans online or by a kit with nozzles already (propane or NG) Get some hammers and tools and start banging. Lots of good references online. See if there is a blacksmith group around you. Go meet some people. Try ABANA for groups.
Away from the house or anything else you don't want to burn to the ground. The forge is the easy part, plenty of DIY set-ups for little investment. An anvil? Good luck. They ain't cheap.
I'm glad your kids actually like that show. I for one an continually pissed off at the HIstory Channel, showing that drivel- knife sword making crap WAY too much!! Who the Eff makes his own knives, or gives a shit about it? Get your own channel or some thing. FT Just MY opinion, YMMV
Craftsmen and people wanting the skill to turn plowshares into swords, just in case. Besides, just think of all the neighbors you can piss off with the incessant ta-TING, ta-TING, ta-TING, ta-TING...
Its a great stress reliever. Have a bad day, go beat on some metal. With a big hammer. And pretend its whoever ruined your day. Plus when you're done you can take said instrument of death and stick it in the person pissing you off. 2 ways to remove stress....
Cheap way into it is to start off with the stock removal method. I.e. buy some O1 flat ground from McMaster Carr, or another source, and cut it, shape it, heat treat it then finish grind it. There is enough work just to go through that process without involving the smashing around of steel . Plus you're starting with a known piece of steel. Making a knife is involved enough for a beginner that throwing in a completely different trade (Blacksmithing) can be discouraging. You can make a knife with a hand drill, propane torch, and an angle grinder (or file if you like a lot of work). After a blade or two if you/they like it, then you can start buying the expensive had to find stuff (forge, anvil, tongs, etc). Good luck, have fun. Here's a skinning knife I made last fall (2017) from a piece of O1 flat ground. Handle is curly cherry I saved from a chunk of firewood. I had a lot of fun, and have been collecting blacksmith tools ever since. Can't wait to make another, but, pun intended, I have WAY too many irons in the fire right now to get back to it in the near future.
Simple little life Green Beetle Walter Sorrels Ekim Knives Those are all GREAT knife making you tube channels in no particular order that helped me out a lot before I got started. All much better than watching forged in fire, highly informative and kid friendly too.
My 16 y/o son used a little Weber grill with coal in it while his 9 y/o sister ran the blower for air for a while. Now he runs an NC forge whisper low boy.
I think this will be the best way to start. I don't want to burn down the house! I like the idea of hammering out steel into a shape and turning it into something useful. Even if the kids don't like it, blacksmithing has always been something I've wanted to try. If the kids do like it, I have an excuse to spend money on a hobby....because it's family time and stuff. Awesome, I'll check these out. Thanks! I'm thinking gas just because it seems easier to set up and use.
I'm thinking gas just because it seems easier to set up and use.[/QUOTE] I'll start by saying I'm no pro and at this point am just a serious hobbyist smith. When I started I built a small gas forge based on some instructions I found on the web using a bunch of stuff I had lying around and a trip or two to the hardware store. With an adjustable regulator for the gas line and all the hardware I probably had around $100-$125 into my first forge. It worked fine to get started and gets material up to forging temp but its hard to make a burner at home that will get up to forge welding temp. Forge welding probably won't be something you'll need to focus on when you first get going but it didn't take me long to want to experiment with it once I got going. You can build a side blast coal forge with little more then a pile of dirt and an old hair dryer as a blower and you can get that up to forge welding temp fairly easily. If you have easy access to bituminous coal or real hardwood charcoal it may be worth investigating. You can go to https://www.iforgeiron.com and look at the just a box of dirt thread in the solid fuel forge section for info, just ignore the bickering/snootyness that seems to invade some of the threads. I prefer using my coal forge over gas but they both have their place. You don't necessarily need a traditional anvil to forge with and there's some good info out there about other things you can use as a substitute anvil, especially to get started. Having said that, having the real thing is cool and having the right tool for the job has it's advantages. A "real" anvil also doesn't need to cost as much as what's being peddled on ebay. If you're persistent and ask around you can find them for reasonable money, depending on where you live. I'm embarrassed to admit how little I paid for the 250+# Peter Wright I bought a few months ago, but I found it by casually talking to people. Forging is a lot of fun and it's also been a great was to spend time with my son and daughter who seem to find it as interesting as I do.
I used to work on these and will definitely get you up to forge welding temp. The high frequency might bug the neighbors a bit, though, and you might have to upgrade your electrical service!
Bought my anvil at a farm auction, maybe 15 years ago. I was the only bidder so I got it for the bottom price, $10 as I remember. The damn thing weighs about 150 lbs. It does have a flaw in that one of the square holes on top is broken off.
Alec Steele is a good one to watch on YouTube. I think he just turned 20, so your kids might find him relatable. He also makes amazing Damascus stuff.
