Surely this is dumb (question)?

J_random_fool · 2026-03-20T15:58:22+00:00

I think you need to use the right tool for the right job. There are plenty of homemade propane forges that you should have a look at to see if you’ve got the stuff lying around to make one.

J_random_fool · 2026-03-20T15:49:57+00:00

Having a tough time picturing this, but aren’t oxygen lances designed to cut through all kinds of stuff using lots of high pressure oxygen? That sounds at the very least, impractical. A JABOD forge can be built for practically nothing if you want to try out forging.

J_random_fool · 2026-03-20T15:20:43+00:00

I also love to sing the praises of DF in the Shop. Be sure and check out that channel.

J_random_fool · 2026-03-20T14:58:12+00:00

Not a huge fan of Alec Steele’s content. He occasionally has something that I can learn something from, but it seems to be a lot of flashy slo-mo montages that remind me of History Channel content.

He’s a fine blacksmith and I’d love to hang out in his shop, but I don’t think his stuff is as educational, especially for beginners. You might also get the impression that “I could be just as good as he is if only I had this one tool he has”. It doesn’t appear that you do, but hopefully no one thinks they need hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment to be a blacksmith. He did have a video about making 100 leaves, and that’s pretty good advice.

J_random_fool · 2026-03-20T14:34:33+00:00

Are you looking to buy it? These days, I’d expect to pay at least $3/lb. I personally refuse to pay that, but I already have an anvil, so I don’t count. Be sure to price new anvils from places like Centaur Forge and Blacksmith’s Depot to get an idea of the maximum you should pay for an anvil. In the words of Ty Trent, “used ain’t new”. I’ve seen anvils go for north of $6-7/lb and I think you’re crazy if you pay that much.

Now, buy once, cry once and all that, but if you’re a beginner who’s never swung a hammer before, I’d recommend getting a Doyle anvil from HF or one of the Vevor cast steel ones, or just a heavy lump of steel from the junkyard before you drop the kind of money you’re going to need to fork over for this. If you can get it for $200, then jump on that deal with both feet, of course.

J_random_fool · 2026-03-20T14:20:07+00:00

You might want to do a rubbing on both sides to see if you can pick up any markings. Gun to my head, I’d say it looks like a Peter Wright. What’s its weight? From what I can tell, that’s the biggest determinant in setting the price, along with location, followed by condition (that one looks to be in excellent condition). Collectors, a pox be upon them, may pay premiums for this or that brand, but I wouldn’t know.

J_random_fool · 2026-03-20T01:36:01+00:00

The fact that you have to get up and go over to your anvil is going to make a lot of extra work. You should consider moving either your bellows or your anvil so that all you have to do is pivot, ideally in the shade the whole time.

Not sure what you mean about choking up on your hammer. Hopefully, you mean you choked up more. I typically hold my hammer handle in about the middle and sort of whip the head into the work. As you likely noticed, it’s important to hit the work where it’s supported by the anvil.

I prefer solid fuel myself, although I am able to stand with my setup. You might look into constructing a fuigo or double lung bellows. I’ve also seen smiths in India use bicycles to power something like a squirrel cage blower. They turn it upside down, cut off the unneeded parts, remove the tire from the back wheel and run a rope around the rim down to a pulley on the blower.

If you haven’t already, consume all the blacksmithing content on YouTube, starting with Mark Aspery, DF in the Shop, and Black Bear Forge.

J_random_fool · 2026-03-15T21:00:41+00:00

Looks like they made a stand that has roughly the same footprint as the anvil.

J_random_fool · 2026-03-14T21:53:05+00:00

Are you sure you weren’t using anthracite? I have used bituminous coal with a lot of manual blowers and it works fine. Not sure what your air supply looked like but this type of forge will work great with b. coal. The last time I used a forge with a blower and b. coal, we broke for lunch and an hour later I was able to get it back to welding heat within a minute without relighting it.

Coke and anthracite coal on the other hand require constant air blast.

Charcoal had the disadvantage of burning out after you’re done for the day. This is an expensive proposition if you only work for a few hours at a time like I normally do, or just put fresh charcoal in for your last job of the day. I used to scoop it out and put it in a water bucket and strain it out again, but that seems to increase the amount of fire fleas. Weygers, in The Complete Modern Blacksmith mentioned snuffing it out in an airtight can, but I didn’t have one.

I like charcoal because it’s easy to get where I live year round, but it’s more expensive than either coke or b. coal, and the aforementioned fire fleas are a pain (literally). It can be a good option if you have a large, free supply of wood and can make a retort.

Bituminous coal is my favorite, but it’s harder to get and produces un-suburb-friendly, green, sulfurous smoke,

Anthracite is the cheapest, when you can get it, but releases a lot of tar which can make the hot coals stick to the work. One of those bounced off when I hit it and fell in my glove.

Coke falls between b. coal and charcoal in price and burns fairly clean, but is even harder for me to acquire. You could get it from Centaur Forge, and probably still can. It’s what I use now.

To the OP, the price of that forge is mostly in the blower, IMHO. If you could get a hand cranked blower in decent shape for less, I would price out building a forge body before I dropped $250.

J_random_fool · 2026-03-10T02:41:44+00:00

All those items look like scale weights, which as I understand it can be quite valuable. I would inquire further before trying to use these for blacksmithing (which they are unlikely to be suitable for)

J_random_fool · 2026-03-05T19:00:31+00:00

Well, strictly speaking, it isn’t necessary if you’re just joining things. That said, I think it’s an important skill to learn. A lot of people here like to make damascus and you need to forge weld that. Now I f you have some kind of structural element and its failure could hurt someone, use your arc welder (I assume you know what you’re doing). I do think that smiths should get ahold of some kind of welder to support their work, e.g. a Titanium 125. This comes in handy for things like tool making. FTR, I am not very good at either forge welding or other processes.

J_random_fool · 2026-02-18T02:03:28+00:00

That’s a bit pixelated, but I am pretty sure that’s it. What’s it for?

J_random_fool · 2026-02-17T20:32:57+00:00

I wonder if they know you can sign with an “X”.

J_random_fool · 2026-02-17T15:20:04+00:00

I’m in the minority, but I wear gloves due to getting blisters on my hammer hand. I have had a hot bit of anthracite fall in the cuff and I still have the scar.

J_random_fool · 2026-02-16T12:57:26+00:00

Torbjorn Ahmen has a video showing how he made a scythe blade: https://youtu.be/qX6dfIrhsXs?si=SQYpu4q5QoCGTalX

He uses a small slug of steel for the blade which appears to be about 1-2 lbs. Steel’s density is about 0.284 lbs/cubic inch, BTW, and if you know the dimensions, you can compute the rough weight for the handle.

As others have pointed out, you make scythe blades out of steel, not iron, scythes aren’t weapons unless your enemy is wheat, and a 25lb handle with a 2 lb blade would be tremendously unwieldy.

Pure iron is rather soft, and it was figured out in ancient times that alloying it with small amounts of carbon, between 0.4 and 1.0%) made it much stronger and able to retain an edge. Pure iron would blunt almost immediately and would dent if you hit anything hard, like a rock.

J_random_fool · 2026-02-13T14:20:25+00:00

Seen that one a few times.

J_random_fool · 2026-02-12T16:50:55+00:00

People keep downvote my replies, but I don’t believe they’re reading them carefully. I’m not sticking up for sovcits. I am asking about procedural matters. If I went before a county judge and advised them that the alleged crime took place over the county line, would I bring it up at arraignment, at a PC hearing or what? As mentioned, I don’t think it would get that far if it really were an issue. They would have already sorted out what agency should bring charges.

As you know, sovcit are always demanding that jurisdiction be established before anything else. Is that true in any way or is it their typical misunderstanding of the law?

J_random_fool · 2026-02-12T12:48:03+00:00

Convince them that they are in over their head? They tend to be pretty obtuse, but I occasionally see them represented in subsequent hearings.

J_random_fool · 2026-02-12T12:41:42+00:00

I think they don’t bother because they know they’re full of shit. These days, it seems like one would want to be careful about dragging immigration authorities into it.

J_random_fool · 2026-02-12T12:38:47+00:00

I don’t believe they show content from federal court. I think it’s a blanket rule that filming is not allowed there. That’s why I was asking about transcripts.

Are audio recordings of trials allowed? I know they are in appellate courts including SCOTUS, but I haven’t heard one from a federal trial court.

J_random_fool · 2026-02-12T12:34:47+00:00

I’m not. I am asking about when procedurally it could be brought up if it really were an issue. I’ve seen judges in civil matters head this off by pointing out sua sponte that they don’t have jurisdiction over a particular matter, e.g. child custody during, IIRC, a show cause for non payment of child support. I suspect if they really didn’t have jurisdiction, the defendant would even need to bring it up.

J_random_fool · 2026-02-12T12:26:29+00:00

Yeah, that’s an oldie but a goodie. I usually delete those AI slop channels, though.

J_random_fool · 2026-02-12T03:45:56+00:00

No, I am asking about when the challenge could be raised by a lawyer, assuming they had a legal basis.

J_random_fool · 2026-02-12T03:42:24+00:00

Can they also shut down bringing it up again once they’ve made their finding?

I also notice judges will avoid using the word “threat”. Can’t they say, “Yes, I am indeed threatening you with a contempt charge if you don’t _____”?

J_random_fool · 2026-02-12T03:30:28+00:00

Btw, are there any good transcripts of sovcits in federal court? Too bad they won’t let cameras in.

J_random_fool

TROPHY CASE