Thanks for the interest guys! Okay, I'll answer the questions in order. I started with a bar of one inch diameter round stock, which I pounded down into a billet a half inch thick, and an inch and a quarter wide. Tools wise I use the standard hammer and anvil, and assorted other bits and bobs I make for one job and promptly forget the purpose of after the job is done. My forge is just a homemade metal table and hood with a brake drum set into it, with an old bathroom fan as a blower. The hood is to catch the smoke and other toxic crap that's made as a side effect of burning coal and metal. For fuel I use bituminous coal, the reason being it's relatively cheap(about eighty bucks a bag, and the bags are eighty pounds. I get it at my local hardware store, but I have to buy in bulk to Make it worth their while.), doesn't need any special storage, and it cokes. Coke is what I use to actually heat the metal, and I make it by burning coal, which gets rid of all the sulfur and other impurities that would otherwise poison your metal. Yes poison it. As the metal heats up, it absorbs some of the impurities which translates into weakened metal. Coke has very few impurities, often being almost pure carbon, which burns clean, which is nice because it sucks to blow your nose after a forging session and have your snot come out black as.. well, coal. Artistic material is all in my head. Gonna be a plain sword, not too much decoration as I am planning on sticking it in a large stone out front and laughing as people try and yank it out. As for the skills, I was lucky and was able to volunteer at a local museum as a demonstrator in their heritage village. Most of what I know came from the master blacksmith there, the rest was from watching other smiths at meetups and trial and error on my part. If you want to learn yourself, google search Ontario Artists Blacksmiths Association if you live in Ontario, or the Artist Blacksmiths Association of North America for North America. Other wise, just google search for blacksmiths in your area. Some may offer courses, and if you're nice others may agree to teach you. But really, all it boils down to are: Get the metal hotter than hell, and beat it with a hammer. There are many different interpretations of this, but those are the basics. Oh, and another tip if you want to start working with metal: Galvanized metal and heat DO NOT MIX. The zinc in the galvanization burns and creates some seriously toxic fumes. Hope this helps, and feel free to either PM me any more questions or head
here for more serious inquiries.
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Topic: [MILK] There were 12 eggs here what did you do with them? (Happy thread?!) (Read 14547518 times)