On Saturday, February 23, 2019 at 8:36:33 AM UTC-5, Terry Coombs wrote:
Â* Forging it ain't as easy as those guys on Youtube make it look . The
problem around here is that there is nowhere to get instruction except
the craft school . And they tend to cater to the "I've got more money
than sense" crowd . I mean 350 bucks for a 2 day course in knife making
and materials are extra just isn't in my budget . Lucky for me I have a
blacksmith neighbor who is willing to point and laugh , then tell me
where I went wrong ... and the thing is , you can often just heat it
back up and correct the mistake . Right now I'm making tools to make
other tools to make "stuff" , maybe some knives , but more likely things
like hooks for a pan rack , drawer pulls and cabinet handles , other
small household type items . And very likely things for the shop . The
whole reason I started down this road was because the neighbor
referenced above didn't have time to reshape a couple ofÂ* chunks of
steel for a screwless vise for the milling machine . Who am I kiddin' ,
I've wanted to do this for some time now and that was a great excuse .
Now if only all this sheetrock would mud and tape itself , I'd have more
time to burn my fingers fumbling my way to blacksmithing hackdom .

--
Snag
Yes , I'm old
and crochety - and armed .
Get outta my woods !


I doubt if any of my advice will be worth anything to you, but I will give it just the same.

One. is that you can buy books on Advanced Book Exchange or Amazon. Not nearly as good as seeing some one do it and explaining why they do each step. But better than stumbling around by your self.

Two you can teach. How to Tig weld. How to build a forge. How to sheet rock.
Or actually help someone on an actual project. Best of course would be teaching some one how to sheet rock at your house on your wall.

Dan