Basic blacksmithing - The absolute basics
Foremost, the craft of blacksmithing is the manipulation of hot iron or steel, and this requires a few basic tools This post should help to familiarize those who have interest about these tools, and start a series of educational posts I have had in mind for some time. There are hundreds of other places on the internet to get this information and a cursory search will reveal that they all cover roughly the same ground with some variations. I will start with covering the same ground, then in later posts diverge into the unusual things I have learned over the years, and hopefully give some insight into where I found some of this so the reader has the option of delving deeper if they wish to do so. It is my intent to make all the needed information available here, in one location though, so there doesn't have to be endless searching for that one little nugget of needed knowledge.
The forge is simply a container for a fire, and can be any number of forms. Most people are familiar with large, permanent built in forges of brick or other fireproof materials. In later posts, I will cover building a forge (and many other tools) in ways that are less common, and in some cases much easier to transport (including a very portable rudimentary forge made out of a plastic bucket, a bit of pipe and some cat litter – yeah, it is not the greatest, but it will work). Many forges are also built of metal, usually steel, in the form of a table with a depression or bowl set into their center for the fire to lay in. I will cover basic design concepts on these later as well.
The second main tool is an anvil. While the London pattern anvil we all know and love from the roadrunner cartoons is the most common, the anvil can be any solid, fireproof object. In Scandinavia and other parts of the world, some anvils were once simply good stones with a flat surface. In modern times sections of railroad track or I beams often stand in as anvils, and again, I will cover some alternatives if an anvil is out of your current reach.
Next is the hammer, familiar to most people, yet subtle and elusive in some of its complexities and uses. Hammerwork, and some tricks will make up several posts down the road a bit. The hammer of the blacksmith is not the claw hammer of the carpenter, though in a dire pinch this could be used to make a more suitable hammer for forge work.
Then there are tongs, in a vast array of sizes and shapes. Tongs allow the smith to hold a hot piece of steel while the hammer does its duty, and hopefully they do so in a safe and effective manner. Tongs are one of those things you never seem to have enough of, and yet to the non smith, seem like you have more than you could ever use. We will cover making tongs in great detail as well as some stand ins that are easily found (such as vice grip pliers and channel locks). These stand ins are certainly not as effective as a proper set of tongs, so making tongs will be one of our early projects as this collection progresses.
Then there are a vast array of other more specialized tools, ranging from grinders and files to welders, benders and formers, power hammers and presses all the way to finishing tools like sand blasters and paint equipment. All will have their time to shine, but at a much later date than our basic tools.
And for this post, I leave our most critical tool for last, though as we progress, we will be discussing this tool in depth in nearly every lesson and session. That tool is the smith. From proper techniques with the hammer and tongs, to constant vigilance on safety, we will discuss how you, the smith, are part and parcel of the craft. Knowledge is also an incredible tool, along with creative thinking, but these are contained in the smith, so we will cover them all as a whole.
That about covers the first in what I hope will be a long series of posts to educate those who have an interest in this craft. In future episodes we will not only cover techniques and tools, but a lot of history. Now don't worry, this isn't going to be a lot of dull dates and the like, I want to cover the fun, weird history that hopefully will make the people following this collection laugh and think.
If you like, I will probably post audio versions of each of these posts at http://alonetone.com/ironangel for you to download and share with your friends. Check under “albums and play lists” for “blacksmith lessons” and see what you can find. Some of my music is also up there for your entertainment, along with some just plain weird stuff.
This is a direct link to the file:
Absolute basics