Blacksmithing Post #1: Basics and Setup

For my IRP Quarter 2 assignment, i chose to focus on blacksmithing. Blacksmithing was an important job in the past, each blacksmith made tools and weapons for entire towns, each tool taking hours to make. Now, the job is done by machines,  though the best of the best tools, and weapons are still made by professional blacksmiths.

The book I am reading, The Home Blacksmith, by Ryan Ridgeway, starts with the history and basics of blacksmithing, covering the start of blacksmithing with bronze, and the movement towards iron, and then towards steel. the only change between the first blacksmiths and modern smiths, is the development of tools and stronger metals, the techniques are the same. The first and most important thing to learn is hammer control, you have to use a hammer that fits your hand, and that weighs enough to move metal, but not so much it is exhausting. Using the wrong hammer leads to arm injuries and wasted time and money. The first chapter also covers the use of fullers( a rounded wedge shape to help change the shape of the metal), you can use a real smithing fuller, but it is cheaper and easier for a starting smith to use the corner of the anvil and hammer.

The second chapter covers setting up shop. you have to make sure to have a vented area, otherwise you can get carbon-monoxide poisoning, and an area without flammable walls, and finally if you have neighbors nearby, you may have to soundproof your walls(you can also do it outside but this still applies). To start setup you need to have the anvil, forge, and vice spaced a couple feet from each other, these three items are collectively called your smithy, this area must BE CLEAR of clutter, if it is messy there is danger of falling onto a red hot piece of iron, into your forge , or onto your anvil. next is your floor, you have to have a floor that is comfortable, if it is rigid it can cause leg and back pain, many smiths use dirt or rubber mats(welding mats, normal rubber mats can catch fire).

Next up is safety, you must be drinking water, no matter how cold it is outside, smithing is hard and hot work, make sure to stay hydrated. you also need to make sure to have water on hand for putting out fires, and if you are working outside make sure to keep the area around you damp, grass fires spread very easily. you MUST have a first aid kit on hand, and cold water for burns, all metal in a smith's shop is "hot" or at least must be treated as such. when smithing you have to wear ear protection, hammering is very loud, and also you can wear eye protection, hot flying iron can badly hurt your eyes. next topic is clothing:

-Be careful of gloves, no glove can protect from hot iron completely, and gloves can also allow ammers to slip out of your hands. 

-Wear flame-retardant fabrics like cotton, wool and leather.

-Close-toed boots and long pants

-Fire extinguisher

Tool Buying is next:

Anvils don't have to be the stereotypical english anvil, they can be just a steel block, which are cheaper and more available.

The forge is the heart of the shop, a forge has to be able to hold fuel, have an air source, and be able to reach 2500° F, the forge I use is an old charcoal grill with a large brake drum inside it, and connected to the brake drum is a steel pipe that connects to a hair dryer.

A leg vise or post vise is used to hold the metal when you need to bend it, you can use a normal vise bolted to a solid object, (what I use), but the post vise will make life a ton easier

Some basic tools needed are:

-Hammers, different ends to them for different uses

- Pliers of many types, needle nose, normal, and scrolling

-Tongs(sort of like big pliers) of different types, horseshoe, flat-bit, and bolt

-Chisels and punches