"Rusty Corner"

[primtechsmith]

IFI and BGV member Ted Throckmorton has a lot of great information and experience in the field of safety that we can all learn from. The following are the two parts of an article he submitted to The Blacksmith Guild of Virginia. Thanks Ted for sharing your knowledge with us.

You can download any of the Blacksmith Guild of Virginia newsletters from our website on the "NEWSLETTERS" page. Here is a link: Blacksmith Guild of Viriginia - Home

“Rusty Corner” Part 1

from: "The Virginian" August 2007 Volume 2 Issue 8

When I was a very young boy, I hung out at two different blacksmith shops. Neither one of the blacksmiths said much to me, but when they did talk to me, it was to tell me what NOT TO DO or what to do. Most of the time, they were speaking about issues dealing with safety.
As a soldier, a cop, an accident reconstructionist, and a sometime advisor to OSHA, I have seen the results of all types of accidents and other tragic events. Injury and death are all too real to me.

PREVENTION, prevention, prevention is the easiest, less painful, and most cost efficient approach to solving safety issues. PREVENTION is brought about by knowledge. KNOWLEDGE is brought about by experience. To turn knowledge into prevention is wisdom – to not act on knowledge is foolish and it could kill you or cause you a lot of pain and money.

I believe the Safety training message can be best expressed through the use of sharing information derived from our own personal experience. If we are smart, we will learn from other peoples experience and not have to suffer the results of poor practices ourselves. When everything is said and done, one of the priorities at this point in my life is to encourage safety practices in the blacksmithing craft.

If you have read this far, most likely the reader of this note about my opinion of blacksmithing safety is also involved with the craft of blacksmithing. That being said, we are most likely on common ground, with similar interests and challenges. As a group of blacksmiths, we can cut through the chase to provide our colleagues with direct, interesting, personal views, and hands-on experience about blacksmithing and how to do it safely.
When I realized my understanding of blacksmithing techniques was not at the level I thought it was, I still wanted to participate in the bigger scheme of things. So, I feel the best thing I can still do is encourage the young, intelligent, and talented people who are now involved with the blacksmithing craft to use safe practices.

Most everything I could say at this point has been covered by somebody, somewhere.
I believe the safety message is a process of reminding each other over and over again.

“Rusty Corner” Part 2

from: "The Virginian" August 2007 Volume 2 Issue 8

One of my heroes was Paw Paw Jim Wilson. If you study what he brought to us in the area of safety, then I think you would agree that we all need to be reminded about safety regardless of age or experience. I can attest to that myself. My biggest fear is that I don’t want to out smart myself. That would be to think I know more than what I do or do something that I know is dangerous.

Safe Blacksmithing Practices cover a large range of topics: Here is a random quick-list of some areas to consider. This list would extend to, but not be limited to the following: Air Quality, Welding Fume Extraction, Securing Equipment and Objects, and Firepot Safety (A to Z ~ that is from the time you start your fire, to the time you dispose of the ash). Other aspects include shop rules for eye protection, ear protection, clothing safety, foot wear, equipment use, hand tool use, spark control, safe quenching techniques to avoid steam or fire flair ups or toxic fumes, storage of flammable materials, and understanding galvanize hazards as well as other materials that would be a danger to you via toxic fumes (lung and eye protection) or acid burns.

Safety in forging habits: An old blacksmith (he is still alive at the time of this writing) told me about the danger of leaving a hardie tool in place and not removing the tool when hammering close to it. He said men have bled to death from having their arms or wrists cut by hammering too close to a sharp hardie tool, then accidentally striking it with their arm.

Anvil Safety: Here is one big one you don’t hear much about. The old blacksmith told me about this one also. I already knew about this; I have done it. Make sure you secure your anvil and anvil stand. He knew of blacksmiths who have tipped over unsecured anvils. He called them floater anvils, ones they would move around the shop. The problem can surface usually when using a bending fork in the hardie hole of an unsecured anvil or stand. As they were bending a piece of long stock, it would start to cool. Like most of us, they were trying to get the most out of the heat as they could. Because they would push the window to the limit, now instead of bending the stock, the long piece of stock that was now cooled off has turned into a lever and would start to tip the unsecured anvil or stand over. When the smith tried to catch the anvil, yup, you guessed it! I’ll bet they limped for awhile.

Some other shop rules to consider. (Legal considerations)
1. You Need to Take Charge of Your Shop and BE IN CHARGE
I would suggest that you first study and then determine what your rules should be for visitors and employees and then effectively communicate to people what your rules are.
2. ENFORCE your shop rules. Some rules to consider would be as follows:
a. Inform visitors to not to allow children to roam around the shop unsupervised.
b. Instruct visitors not to pick up pieces of steel. The steel could be black hot, cut them or be dropped on them.
c. Take control of where you would have them stand (in a safe area) and that they must wear proper safety equipment.
A living example: At a hammer in (Monthly meeting). I saw young children pull a large piece of steel off of a work table that just missed one of the children’s feet. I was told the same few children had turned on the acetylene with both gauges wide open full bore. I am glad I did not see this, or I would have still been running. The preceding suggestions are only a few of the things you may want to consider as a heads up.

Most people I talk with have not been involved in a civil law suit. I guarantee you don’t want to know what it is like! If you don’t take charge of your shop safety for yourself and your visitors, it’s very possible an unwanted attorney will point out to you and the court what you failed to do. Then they will attempt to take your blacksmith shop and bank account. The words I heard over and over for so many years in the courts are as follows: “But your honor, they either knew, or should have known” It is obvious I am not a writer so this note is long and wordy. It is also not complete. But, if it will help a blacksmith consider safe practices in the future, it’s worth it to me to sound like an old man ragging on ‘ya. Always think of the possibilities of your actions.

Be safe! - "Old Rusty" Ted Throckmorton

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THANKS TED!!!!

Peyton

[m_brothers]

Wow. Really good advice, i thought the anvil would jump slowly off of their working surface and fall on them. Like when you hammer, it can jump a little bit sometimes.

[ApprenticeMan]

Ted is a genius!

[primtechsmith]

He certainly is a wealth of knowledge. And I very much appreciate him sharing his thoughts...

Peyton