This past weekend I took a beginner’s course in blacksmithing at the Touchstone Center for Crafts. It was great! ^_^

The first evening was a simple meet and greet with our teacher, other students, and some of Touchstone’s staff. Jodi Best, our teacher, also gave a tour of the forge and a basic overview of tools and equipment that we would be using. Students have the opportunity of staying on-campus and getting their meal plan, but with an 11-month-old little girl, we decided it would be best if we stayed nearby at The Lodge at Chalk Hill. It’s a nice, cabin/motel-style place with a large pond and a winery right next to it! And it’s minutes from Touchstone, so it was super-convenient.

Day 2 in the forge was Hook Making Day! But the hardest part for me was just getting my forge lit. According to Jodi our coal was not the best quality coal (and it had been rained on to boot) so getting it to light was a pain. We started on a thin mild steel round stock. I learned how to make a taper, curls, bends, and how to make a spade, which is where the hole gets drilled so you can actually attach it to the wall.

That was our morning lesson. After lunch, she demonstrated different kinds of twists you can make with square stock, and some nifty tricks to make some super-fancy twists. She had us make a second hook, but with square stock and a twist in the main shaft. I decided to try to make as even a twist as I could, and unless my calipers are lying to me my hook is perfect! ^_^ I designed them to hold Brian’s stage sword, and I think they’ll do nicely once I get the holes drilled in them. Although at times my fire would burn hot but not actually heat the metal (it’s hard to explain…) I did get both hooks finished. A lot of the process is standing around waiting for your metal to get hot enough to work. Luckily the guy next to me, named Ken, was really cool and funny and entertained those of us that could hear him by singing his “Makin’ Hooks” song, which is both the title and the lyrics. Across from me was another cool person I met, Jason, who turned out to be a neighbor of ours! 0_o Pittsburgh really is a fishbowl.

Sunday was “Make Your Own Project Day” so I decided to be ambitious (as usual) and make a collapsible earring stand to use at shows. ^_^ Jodi was happy with my selection, and once I had my design plotted out and measured (along with everyone else) she helped us pick out what kind of metal we would need to make the projects. For mine I used one-inch bar stock for the main supports and 3/16″ round for the part the earrings hang off of. I needed a nice stack of specialty tools (especially tongs – Oh, the tongs!) and I am INCREDIBLY happy the gloves I bought are made for bronze casting and thus very fire/heat-resistant. I had some fire trouble (including a clogged blower) so it was nice to be able to pick up a bit of coal or coke and put it right where I needed it. The stand took me all day to make, and I finished late, but I got it done and it looks pretty damn good if I do say so myself. ^_^ It was pretty obvious to Jodi that I have the metal bug bad, and she gave plenty of suggestions for further study.

So what of my blacksmithing now? This coming weekend I will be back at Touchstone for the Hammer-In, an exhibition-style event that’ll have food, tons of blacksmiths demo-ing their craft, tons o’ beer, vendors, music… Think of it as a metalworking festival/tailgating party. Ticket prices include entry to the event and the BBQ on Saturday, which I hear will be appropriately Viking-like. I’ll be going because I was invited to VEND! Yay! Surprise Craft Show! Look for us either at the main lodge or in our tent near the forge or metals studio.

And now.. THE PICTURES!