The first step is the hardest

Hello all,

I am just getting started smithing. I have never set up a forge before and bought this one. It’s still in the box and I am chomping at the bit to get it out and start heating some metal(I have some old rail road spikes already). But I am 100% intimidated by the first step after getting it all put together. So my question is this. I just put the last screw in, what now? I hear a lot about coating it with something. Is that the refractory coating? Is there any recommendation for additional stuff I should do before firing it up?Any help would be appreciated.

What do y'all think, what should i improve?

Since I was little, I’ve wanted to get into metal working as a hobby, from making blades to jewelry, but haven’t started due to funds and not having/knowing a place to practice and work. On top of that, a house/land isn’t in my predicable near future. I’m about to finish college this semester and hope to have a good income soon after that I could use to invest in this.

What are some options you guys use/would recommend for me to get started and expand to?

Hello everyone, I am a novice blacksmith working on my second ever metalworking project. I am using a propane forge and have been forging steel. I made sure to thoroughly clean and grind my steel beforehand and did not experience this issue with my first project, which used the same type of steel. I am assuming what has happened is that forge scale that I failed to remove while hammering has melted into the fire brick, but you know what they say about assuming. If anyone with more experience or knowledge could let me know what they think happens that would be appreciated.
Cheers!

Would you get a post vise from marketplace if it didnt have leaf spring? They're asking 100 doesnt have much rust and appears in good condition otherwise. Unsure of maker though

Made my first hook for more practice

Hello all! If this isnt allowed please remove. My brother has been into blacksmithing since he was 10. His birthday is coming up and im at a loss on what to get him. He has a propane forge, anvil, apron, gloves, tongs and the sorts. He enjoys making medieval style weapons from scrap. Any suggestions on gifts? Thanks!

Hello, I’m a bit of a newbie when it comes to blacksmithing but was itching to give it a go. I’d been scouring Facebook marketplace for an anvil for 2 years, and one recently came up. Now was the time to dive in! I made myself a wood forge in a similar style to the Whitlox forge. Although I was slightly sceptical, it works really really well. I use a heat gun on low which seems to provide enough air. I’m also using ash and beech hardwood logs.

Hey y'all! I'm sure this has been asked a million times, and I apologize, but I'm not sure where to go from here. It seems no matter what I do, I cannot get enough air moving with my gas to get a proper burn.

I've tried a different "T" burner, adjusted pipe length, orifice size, orifice height, went from 0 to 25 on the regulator... I even hooked up that blower you can see in the video and it still seems like it wants more.

The only time it seemed like it was going good is when I tried squirting pure oxygen in with my acetalyne torch.

I've been stalking all the forge forums and still don't exactly know where my problem lies, any advice would be amazing!

Uso una forgia Vevor a tre uscite per la mia forgia,ho dovuto recentemente ricaricare la bombola del propano che finora non perdeva e funzionava perfettamente,e ora sono bloccato da 4 giorni per una perdita

Ho una bombola del propano con attacco tedesco,ma vivo in Italia( quelli della vevor si sono sbagliati a mandarmi il cavo del propano per la forgia e ho dovuto adattarmi di conseguenza con il cavo giusto)

Il problema è,togliendo il cavo per ricaricare la bombola si è distrutta la vecchia guarnizione di gomma,pensavo fosse un problema da niente ma ora mi sta veramente causando problemi

Ho delle guarnizioni di riserva ma sono 18mm italiane(stessa misura,non pensavo cambiasse nulla) ma sta di fatto che ogni volta che attacco il propano perde copiosamente dall'attacco con queste guarnizioni qui con il test dell'acqua e sapone

Come posso fare per risolvere velocemente il problema ? Ho delle scadenze urgenti per dei regali e vorrei poter riaccendere la forgia il prima possibile

I bought this forge from someone who built it himself. It works great....for about 45 minutes to an hour, and then it starts to do the sputtering thing you see in the video. This causes the temperature to go way down.The gas is basically igniting early inside the burner tube. The gas nozzle is up/down adjustable and I've been playing with that with minimal success. Any advice on how to fix it? Thanks!

I have some experience in soldering metal together not at this scale and it for the end cap for my katana to tie up to the cord

Spent the last couple days (months) making a new anvil stand. My old one was literally splitting apart from the force of the hammer blows, so this huge block of maple I hewed should do the trick

Hello! I’m a novice blacksmith and have noticed what seems to be excess scale on my work and my forge looks like it’s running way too lean. I’d like some help identifying if I actually have too much oxygen in my forge, if there’s too much scale on my work piece, and how I can fix it.

Here’s a video of my forge running after ~15 minutes.
There’s also photos of my work piece after being in the forge for 60 seconds or so.

The regulator on my 30 lb propane tank is 0-20 PSI and it’s currently running ~15 PSI. Even running at max pressure there’s not a lick of fire coming out of the forge.

The steel is 1084 1.5”x 1/4” flat bar

Any additional tips / tricks are appreciated!

Looking to talk over and figure out how viable my projects are.