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bae
4-8-12, 7:22pm
I finished assembling the forge today, and wanted to test it out.

So here's the very first effort, no, it's not pretty, but I can shave with it :-)

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-pan80isFzGY/T4Ib3DyeEHI/AAAAAAAAE7s/xR5oSru0kKU/s640/IMG_0620.JPG


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AazsNIQ8kuU/T4IcnWG2nmI/AAAAAAAAE70/TYpWBvognNk/s640/IMG_0626.JPG


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jzL-MD7V5Ng/T4IJvKaS_pI/AAAAAAAAE5A/oGsZKoVrhaQ/s640/IMG_0631.JPG


It only took 5 minutes with a file to get a nice edge on it, so that's a small victory.
Alan
4-8-12, 7:27pm
Did your blade begin life as a railroad spike?
bae
4-8-12, 7:38pm
Did your blade begin life as a railroad spike?

Indeed so. There's a fellow with a small railroad here, and he gave me a couple hundred old spikes to use as practice material. So my only real cost is propane for the forge, and Advil :-)
Alan
4-8-12, 7:43pm
A fascinating hobby. I'd love to try my hand at smithing/forging one day.
UnhookedLiving
4-9-12, 4:59am
Nice little forge. How hot does it get in there?
catherine
4-9-12, 6:34am
Great job! I love hand-forged things.. In Grafton they have a couple of shops I go to every year--especially one in Weston from whom I've bought lighting fixtures and garden sculptures. I'm always tempted to replace my door hinges with his hand-wrought ones.

Here's his website for some inspiration for when you graduate from blades. http://www.ianeddyblacksmith.com
bae
4-9-12, 1:48pm
Nice little forge. How hot does it get in there?

Hot enough to forge weld, + a couple hundred degrees, so ~2500 degrees F. Makes a mean grilled-cheese sandwich :-)
bae
4-9-12, 1:50pm
Here's his website for some inspiration for when you graduate from blades. http://www.ianeddyblacksmith.com

That's surely some nice looking work there!

I fear, however, that blades are something you graduate *to*, because of all the fuss about annealing, heat treating, tempering, blade geometry, and so on. It may take a while :-)
fidgiegirl
4-9-12, 7:53pm
We saw a working blacksmith shop at Colonial Williamsburg. I am in awe of your skill, even if you are learning!!!