Farley, I see you are from the Portland area. I'm just down the freeway from you at Eugene. we have a group that meets every month. its a mix of forgers and stock removal guys. you might want to try and make a meeting just once to dip your toe in the water. we have hammer in's two or three time a year and everyone is welcome. you can get on our news letter if you go to our web page and follow the link. lots of good stuff and the last i saw there was 4 years worth of news letters on line. we have a few guys that make the drive down from Portland to go to the meetings.
http://www.elementalforge.com/5160Club/
I know there is a big black smith group that meets in the Portland area too. look in the back of the news letter for their link.
Erik