Blacksmith Instructional Content

[eggzilla]

Hi guys

Im currently working on my website, starting to develop a section with blacksmithing instructables. Have been thinking about simple items to make for beginners, that would include as wide a range of techniques as possible. Currently thinking about doing the first one on rivet / nail making (upsetting, spreading, drawring down in the case of the nails).

My question to the community is this : If you could recommend to your past self a practice item (or a group of practice items) to make when you first started out smithing (purely for the purpose of improving your skills) what would it / they be?

Many Thanks

Nathan

http://www.nathandownes.co.uk

Warwickshire based traditional blacksmith.

 

 

 

[Anthony San Miguel]

Forging a GOOD taper. It's not hard to forge a taper. But forging a good taper that doesn't require a lot of grinding isn't as easy as it looks.

Example: Say you wanted to forge a hammer eye drift so you need it to be as smooth as possible because all the little pits/humps cause friction that makes driving it through even harder. I know the grinder can clean most of this up, but being able to forge the taper as smooth as possible to reduce grinder time is more desirable.

Edited September 28, 2015 by Anthony San Miguel

[Charles R. Stevens]

Do not start in the middle! If you are forging a set off tongs, make sure you know how to make all the tools you need to make a set of tongs!

[JHCC]

Do not start in the middle! If you are forging a set off tongs, make sure you know how to make all the tools you need to make a set of tongs!

Good point! 

Even for making nails, you need a header. To make a header, you need a punch, a drift, a hot-cut hardy, etc. Start with the most basic, and show how this leads to more complex projects.

Edited September 28, 2015 by JHCC

[Charles R. Stevens]

A reasnable hardy can be cut from a peice of spring to fit the hardy at a diaginal. this and a z shaped peice of spring rod for a fuller gets them started on better tools. I would sho them the tongless method of forging tongs.

 

[SReynolds]

forget nails. Tried that in a nine hour class. Not possible. Tried that in a 18 hr class. Not. The above is true. Have them forge a taper. That keeps them busy. However; it is the Mr Miagie approach. They won't like it. They will tell you..... It is stupid.

Wax on

Wax off

 

yes...I read that there is a class in which students make tongs. From the start. Right-off. Me is thinking Wha..........?????????

 

 

[ThomasPowers]

My "basic get them hooked intro class": 1 make an S hook; 2 make 2 nails, 3 make a chili pepper from pipe.  I expect this to all happen in about 4 hours with college age students.

[John B]

[John B]

The above is the product over three days of teaching basic skills, they just happen to produce the above items

Cannot post more as Forbidden keeps arising

Edited September 29, 2015 by John B

[matto]

s hooks,  abanna has a forging steps 1-26 plus what it takes to make the abanna grill look it up. 

[SReynolds]

My students don't want to forge s hooks. They want to make a nail untill they realize  they can't. It sometimes looks like a nail somebody pulled from a 4X4 with side cutters. They want to make a 5 foot tall floor lamp or a 4' by 5' ceiling mounted pot holder rack. But can't draw out 1/4" square stock.

Very few desire to put forth any effort into learning the trade. They want the skill handed to them or locate it in the bottom of the Fruit Loops box.

My students at school can't understand why they would ever need to know how to sharpen a drill bit or use a tap/die set. They are only happy when they can surf the www or text friends. 

[Charles R. Stevens]

I am glad I grew up a poor me mechanix son! Lol. Only wish I had payed closer attention to Mr. Bochanskie about using hand tools...

now its my preference

[SpankySmith]

If I could speak to myself right after my first intro class I'd say stop EVERYTHING you're doing and thinking about doing and FIRST make some tools.  I got so caught up in things I wanted to try and make and....never got around to tools.  So now I'm a couple years down the road and just NOW getting ready to stop and make tools and jigs and such.  Wish I'd done it first. 

[JHCC]

If I could speak to myself right after my first intro class I'd say stop EVERYTHING you're doing and thinking about doing and FIRST make some tools.  I got so caught up in things I wanted to try and make and....never got around to tools.  So now I'm a couple years down the road and just NOW getting ready to stop and make tools and jigs and such.  Wish I'd done it first. 

One advantage (perhaps the only one) of my long hiatus from smithing and the attendant loss of almost all my gear is that almost any project I want to do right now involves making tools first. 

[Charles R. Stevens]

To be sure, the lowly punch, chisel and drift embody many basic skills, add to that the rivet header and then the tongs one has masterd most of them.  Once you blank out and begin forging hardy tools and top tools you are well on your way. 

[SmoothBore]

If I could speak to myself right after my first intro class I'd say stop EVERYTHING you're doing and thinking about doing and FIRST make some tools.  I got so caught up in things I wanted to try and make and....never got around to tools.  So now I'm a couple years down the road and just NOW getting ready to stop and make tools and jigs and such.  Wish I'd done it first. 

When you're just getting interested, ... you really don't have the knowledge and experience to truly KNOW what tools you need, ... or how you prefer them to function.

I advocate using "store bought" tools, ... of proven design utility, ... until you become experienced enough to custom design your own.

 

.

[SReynolds]

I began years ago and employed all store bought tools. They are easily obtained locally from the dealer or web mail order. Was on my way to smithing projects. Now I am making tools cuz I can.

I did originally make some fullers as they are quite easy to fab. But the tongs and hardy cutters and hammers are all store bought early on.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Many affordible store bought tools are poorly desighned or dressed. Often because of liability isues. Soft hammers, chisels and punches being examples. Black smiths tools, made right by smiths for smiths are expensive. Even a good rounding hammer from a ferrier supply are steep. Do your students a favor and teach them about tool making and desighn. Thats where most of the old manuals start, and for good reason. 

[Rashelle]

Ok, maybe it's a new bug. I posted a reply a little bit ago and it showed up as posted. Now it's gone. So in short:

Instructional content project. A simple J hook. It shows drawing out, scrolling, bending, twisting, shouldering, punching. You can do different scrolls, twists, and finials. You can even make a leaf finial and or chisel in the twists adding in some chiseling or fullering to the list of skills.

For a website instructional how about a simple project like that and show the variation twists, scrolls, finials, etc. Lot of different skills that way.

(Hmmmmmmmmm I like this version of this post better anyways, better then my first reply, heehee.)

[Frosty]

Wow Mr. Reynolds: A student with an attitude like that usually doesn't come back for a second session and I've had a few. Are you a public school teacher in one form or another without 86 authority?

I've had a student or two who had never and I mean NEVER swung a hammer. One spent two sessions one unfinished nail first session and three okay nails his second. He found someone closer to where he lives and is developing basic eye hand skills by learning blacksmithing. I hope I see him next club meeting. He didn't quit he's worth the effort on my or someone's part.

The other kid not only had zero experience using a hammer, he needed instruction to use pliers. Pliers! He was finishing his last semester of High school and couldn't figure the area of a square, a SQUARE! I saw him at a couple meetings and he found a couple other guys to "teach" him. Unfortunately he seemed to thing BSing folk into doing things for him would make him a smith.

Sad cases, there are always sad cases, kids and adults who'll probably never be anything but a burden to others. Ultimately there's nothing I can do for them, things aren't run on my watch or "sink or swim" would be the rule of the land. Sure there are folk who genuinely need help and I'm there for them but lazy folk can get to know what hungry feels like. I don't know of better motivators than an empty belly, cold wet place to sleep and fear of failure. Then again I'm not a PC guy though I AM on the books as an instructor with the local school system. I work with "autistic" kids. (I have my own unflattering definition for folk who label hard to teach kids autistic)

"Autistic" kids don't get PC language, they understand direct, cause and affect terms. The hardest lesson I have teaching kids with learning and communication issues is, "I don't know." I had to threaten one kid with sweeping the floor if he wouldn't say, "I don't know."

People will live up to your expectations, expect them to be delicate flowers with sensitive feelings and that's what they'll be. Expect them to be do it yourself, problem solvers with good attitudes and that's what they'll be.

One of my biggest satisfactions with some of these kids is when we have a good laugh at a mistake and they start taking it apart to see what happened. It didn't necessarily go wrong, it just didn't work. Cause and affect rules the smithy, failure analysis is the rule of thumb for advancement. Rules of nature.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Think you should run for the school board...

tho, personaly I thing sensitive feelings and good attitudes are mutualy exclusive. One needs to develop a few caluses to protect them is all. I can lay bets on many of the grumpy old smiths here that get misty eyed over a succsess, life event or such. You, you old mossback are one of them

[JHCC]

<snip>

They want to make a 5 foot tall floor lamp

<snip>

 

A larger version of the one in your profile pic?

 

Edited October 6, 2015 by JHCC

[Frosty]

A larger version of the one in your profile pic?
 

A Christmas Story reference? Nice one, well shot.

Frosty The Lucky.

[SReynolds]

affirmative. I USED to teach a shop class. heavy mechanics such as diesel trucks, at a trade school. Now I teach blacksmithing for the (Ohio) Historical Society which is no longer known as a "society" because it is offensive to some. 

[Frosty]

affirmative. I USED to teach a shop class. heavy mechanics such as diesel trucks, at a trade school. Now I teach blacksmithing for the (Ohio) Historical Society which is no longer known as a "society" because it is offensive to some. 

That'd be really hard for me to deal with. I'm normally an easy going downright nice guy but not PC. I ASSIGN projects unless the student shows that level of expertise already. Bad attitudes know where the door is. That's in my shop though, even the Public school "special" kids come to my shop and operate by my rules.

I don't know how long I could teach anything with the PC police looking over my shoulder.

Frosty The Lucky.