I have done a little fabrication work with stick welding and a decent amount of hands on mechanic work with cars and trucks, made a few primitive forge machetes etc. from old leaf springs to suit my size (around 6'6") for general stuff when I lived in Africa a few years. I've been watching a lot of the Forged in Fire TV series the last six months while day trading. I always have a major hobby, usually last for four to six years on each before it is time for a new one. I just bought a workshop from a local guy who was moving to Canada (I'm in Colombia South America right now) . Bit of an impulse decision/bird in hand but it is walking distance from my home and though in an urban area, it has been a commercial workshop for 30 years so the neighborhood is accustomed to the noise. I have a fair bit of workshop kit in the deal and space for any kind of projects, I just need a forge really plus MIG/TIG skills of course. Normally I just learn by mistakes & YouTube however this time I'd like to get a solid head start, shave off the first year. It would be good to get some time in a properly set up forge so I can get a better idea of what specialist kit I will need if I find a niche I love. I have studied gemology years back so I'm particularly interested in a more scientific approach to edge hardening (its all about crystals). As need to leave Colombia every six months for six months (183 days max in a year) to avoid tax residency. I've been thinking of taking at least three months to travel anywhere in the world to learn forging/blade making. What are my chances of finding a good blade smithing instructor? Is there a trade website or forum I really should be looking at? Or do you just love the idea of making stuff from hot metal also? General tips?
If you come to the states, this place offers classes. http://www.joinordieknives.com/ I do mostly woodworking and also have a metal lathe and a small mill for metal work. Just learning to weld with a stick welder.
Cheers Arnie, the guy is familiar from the Forged in Fire show, I'll re-watch today You learn a hundred ways to fix mistakes from that show which is great though few of the blades are very sexy, hard to get the nice sculpted shaping done in the time. I need a bunch of options to meet my time window. I'll start making a list. I've mostly done roll cages and structural steel stuff with stick welding but want to get my MIG & TIG skills decent. I've got some great wood working equipment in the workshop deal, finally a professional router table so I hope to do some interesting stuff there as well. I'll start with some plantation shutters maybe, hard to find here and work up. Found this also, I'll start the list. http://grizzlyiron.com/classes-and-workshops/
Nice video, I really like the magnet system used to hold the steel while planing it. (set to play). At least I think that is what this is.
I did some of it in college and built a small forge at home. While youtube is great for stuff like this, nothing really beats learning from a pro. A lot of youtube videos are amateurs and DIY'ers trying to capitalize on the views. I'm friends with several sculptors that work in metal only and offer reasonable workshops. Metal smiths, swordsmiths, and knife smiths also offer such workshops and most of these folks are trying to supplement their meager income so they offer a lot of value. I guess my point is, these folks will offer "tricks" and insight that will save you a lot of trial and error & aggravation.....not that there's anything particularly wrong with learning that way. I attended a talk with Tom Joyce once and wish I had made the trip to take one of his workshops in all honesty. I'd shy away from machinists/toolmakers if your interest is in forging. Their experience in forging is generally functional and somewhat limited, although some will understand the phase diagrams of alloys rather well. Latin America has plenty of old timers doing iron works, i'd pick up the phone book and call around for an "apprenticeship".
Cheers, yes I have seen some older guys around in Colombia but to date their work is very basic and my Spanish is frustratingly weak still.I saw an impressive wrought iron gate but found the owner had it imported from Mexico I believe I have a course arranged in Greenland though. The guy is a friend of a Danish cousin and makes some very exquisite stuff and has made quite a lot of Japanese swords. The missus will find the place fascinating, puffin sandwiches will take getting used to maybe
Well I got started today at my new workshop, I made a basic forced air coal forge (longer than shown below) having seen this video on welding cable ends without a TIG welder, just using flux and a nice technique. I realized as well my 5 pound hammer was initially way too heavy, smaller faster hammer is better than heavy for this. I now have the most expensive piece of cable Damascus steel in the country having missed a dead simple 15-20 point ES trade however I had fun. My blade smith connection in Greenland is on the Faeroe islands right now so waiting for his return.
Very nice, I have made some progress as I built a propane forge (though I need better insulation bricks) and have some nice cable Damascus done as well as some other test canister pieces. I found a neat trick to getting a pretty perfect quench using table salt. It will melt around the perfect hardening temp for the steel. No double (ok five times..) quenching now.