Things are getting complicated

We've had some hot days this summer in the outdoor forge at Old Falls Village. Just when you thing things are going leaps and bounds one class item can kick you in the butt. Ask Pat as he redoes the 3/8" sq leaf for the fifth time. The video by Alex Steele looked so easy that he just pounded one out in 30 minutes flat. Pat and Jeff drew out the metal to 1/8" thickness and then a cold shunt would crack it right in half just like Forged in Fire.  

  After weeks of working on Hot Rolled Steel, HRS, I changed things up a bit and introduced cold rolled steel and rebar into the mix. No one was really happy with me that day but it gave them a great feel for just how far and how hard it took to push metal. The beginner has to feel or not the metal move under the hammer and anvil. I always have the guys warm up on a common project with a twist to it. Strength and muscle memory only go so far. I had them make a J hook the same as I produced the day before on my forge. CRS does not play well with others and you can only draw it out so far.

  I used a CRS chisel that I tempered the day before to make the veins for the leaves we eventually fabricated. Next week it is onto punching holes and making bottle openers. It took me ten tries last winter to forge an acceptable opener that actually worked. Now I can do  it every time.