Visitors at the Rustic Anvil Forge

   All summer, i have been doing work around the house and have left little or no time for coal forging. Then I just put my foot down in August to try and salvage some of the outdoor coal forging season. First, I desperately needed to get my hammer skills back in shape and replenish my stock of simply forged items. As I worked along on my weekends, my projects naturally got more and more complex- then the unexpected happened. Friends at my work found out that I did some forging and I started to give me orders. One person ordered a hand-forged railroad spike knife and it was off the races. 

  Not only that but I was getting more and more interest in teaching beginner bs classes. I have taught several in the past and some to women's groups, but never to a husband and wife. So, I guess Colin and Marika would just have to be my guinea pigs. I provided the safety gear and we talk about the danger zones, fire maintenance and the tools that we will be using. I wanted to start them with the concept of moving metal with a hammer on anvil. J hooks made out of horseshoe nails are a great first lesson. After that we move into other areas like forging S-hook in order to learning drawing out metal. Don't worry I gave them plenty of water breaks in between so as not to overheat. Just to make a J hook for instance it takes three different forming techniques not to mention three finish techniques after class.

  I like to gage what the participants want to achieve out of a class and have material prepped ahead of time to move things along. We planned part of the class as a team building exercise where each of us has a role to play. For instance, one might be heating a piece while the other is pounding out on the anvil. One great example of teamwork is forming a bowl from a steel plate. There is no way for them to succeed unless they work together on the project. At the two-hour mark we all are getting a little tire of straight hammering, so I have included some fun exercises built into the course for home decor but utilizing the team approach. I think Colin and Marika had a great time with us this past Sunday. We all had fun and seemed to work well with each other. Big thanks to my wife, Linda for the refreshments after the program. She also helps me finish the pieces before we return them to the makers. I hope Colin and Marika return someday to continue work on stage two for I am already planning on stepping it up a notch or two. 

  Just this past weekend, we hosted another couple, Fernanda and Scott for a three-hour coal forging session. It might have been the last nice day to use the outdoor tent and forge with coal. After a warmup with hammer control on some J hooks these folks were off to the race and got down to business. The S hook on round stock was more of a challenge but everyone has to learn how to draw out metal. Fernanda and I teamed up to produce two beautiful bowls illustrated above. Plus, we hammered out some classic leaf motifs for the Fall season. Together we all created a beautiful Crusader Cross. Per our agreement, my wife Linda and I finish all products at a later date. I want to give them more than just a wrought iron J hook coated with beeswax. Once again, the social afterwards was a complete success to wind out the afternoon.