Fredeen Blades

Hello and welcome to my website.

My appologies for taking a couple of days to get back to you, I have been extremely busy moving and starting a new job.

While 16 years old could be considered "young" based on the average age of most bladesmiths/blacksmiths, it is not as uncommon as you may believe, and the age of new folks starting out in the craft has been getting younger and younger all of the time (and the number of new people has increased drastically). In this craft, physical age is not an issue with folks (typically), it is your attitude, outlook, and determination that plays the largest roll as to whether you are accepted by the community or not. Approaching the craft with a sense of professionalism, respect, and humbleness will get you far, arrogance and cockyness won't. I can say so far that your approach is just fine and you should find that there are many smiths out there who will be more than happy to help you along the way. Welcome to the craft and I wish you all the luck as you begin your journey.

To address your question, unfortunately there is no one magic answer or solution to finding tools and equipment on a limited budget. I can say that you can get started in the craft on an extremely limited budget, depending on your ability to scrounge, build your own equipment, and in some cases luck. There are only a few "companies" which sell blacksmithing tools and equipment and for the most part they will not be something that will fall in the "cheap" category. There are places like Pieh tool, Blacksmith Depot, Blacksmith Supply, Centaur Forge, and others, all of which sell very good quality tools, however you will have to pay for that quality. I don't know of a company that deals cheap, poor quality blacksmithing tools either.

For some things, Harbor Freight Tools is a good place to find tools on the cheap. They have lots of selection, and choices. Their tool quality can be less than great at times, depending on what you buy from them. Some things they sell are basically junk, and somethings are actually pretty decent. Starting out, you don't need the best tools, you just need something. Better tools can be purchased (or made) later on as you progress forward with you skill and more resources become available to you.

I would say that your best bet for a lot of things would be to frequent craigslist, ebay, and other classified adds (online, newspaper, etc.), flea markets, garage sales, etc. and keep an eye out for tools. Depending on where you live, the availability of some things (like an anvil) may be more difficult to find.

Also, as you have already done, check out the scrap yard, not for tools necessarily (sometimes you can find things, but that is generally pretty rare), but things you can use or make into tools. Starting out, unless you have a lot of money, or are very fortunate, you will not have the best when it comes to tools, be it an anvil, tongs, etc. At this point in time, you just need a basic setup to get started and see if you even like it. Before investing a large amount of money into tools, I would recommend trying things and seeing if its something you will stick with. If so, you will slowly accumulate more tools and equipment as you can find and afford them (or make them).

For the most basic setup, you need something to get steel hot, something to hold the hot steel with, something to hit the steel with, something to hit the steel on, and a couple of files, sand paper, maybe a hacksaw, some scrap steel to turn into things, and a whole heap of determination and perserverance. A piece of railroad track, or any solid piece of steel that has some decent weight to it, will work as a good starter anvil. Hammers, most any will do. Preferably not a claw hammer, but if its all you have it will work. Forges are relatively easy and cheap to make, depending on which route you want to go. The most basic forge is a hole in the ground (in a very literal sense).

Don't approach things right now with the mindset that you can't do any blacksmithing or bladesmithing unless you have tools A-Z. That's not the case, with a little personal inginuity and hard work, you can do supprisingly alot, with supprisingly little.

I hope this gives you some new ideas with things. If you have other questions, please don't hesitate to ask. It may take a couple of days for me to get back with you due to the hectic nature of my life right now, but I will respond, so don't give up hope should it take a few days.