Brian H's Smithy, Whidbey Island, WA | My Shop | Forum

Greetings. My name is Brian and I am a self-taught newbie and I have been blacksmithing since November of 2012. I have chosen wood charcoal as my fuel of choice for financial, self-reliance, and environmental reasons. Being low income, I have had to piece my Smithy together from scrap and salvaged items and I think it has turned out quite well overall, especially considering that I've paid less than 100$USD for it so far.

I've been burning steel in the form of MIG welding now for about 2 years, off and on. Blacksmithing just seemed like the natural progression of DIY metal working.

So far I have made a pair of tongs, a few REALLY crude decorative hooky bits, a set of a few woodcarving chisels, a rough bush-knife, and a wood splitting Froe. I'm not sure where all of my pictures are in full-res but I've posted most to my project page over at Permies.com which should be viewable to all. http://www.permies.com/t/30487.....ips-Tricks

As for my actual shop, I made my anvil out of a chunk of I-beam and assorted scrap that I welded onto it. I started with a cast-iron sink based forge but I wasn't happy with the shape/dimensions. I made a new forge from a refractory-lined plowing disc and it seems to work much better. My selection of power tools is limited to a 4.5" angle grinder, a reciprocating saw ("Sawz-All"), and a pair of drills that both have severe but different limitations.

More later as the words and details come to me.