Stuck in the city. Now what?

[MrDarkNebulah]

Allright guys. I've been forging for almost two years now and I dont want to stop. However, I just moved into college. (Cooper Union in Manhattan if you're wondering). So now I'm stuck with wondering how do I continue forging when I have no space to do it. I know some people can do stock removal knives and heat treating on fire escapes. I dont have anywhere like that. I don't want to stop but it seems like thats my only option, especially on a college student budget.

[Daswulf]

First things first, try to find someone local that you can possibly use their setup with them. 

[JHCC]

Contact @TheoRockNazz in Brooklyn. 

[ThomasPowers]

Second: I've used a one soft firebrick forge powered by a simple propane torch to forge small objects in my basement in mid winter.  One of my students was in college and his dorm had propane grills chained to the fence out back of it---one of them had a propane forge hidden in it...

Something like my Y1K anvil would be easy to move about 

 

Does the college have a fine arts department with metal or pottery or even glass blowing studios?

The Idea Foundry in columbus OH has a smithy; might check for a maker space with welding where a small propane forge would not be out of place.

 

[Glenn]

What do you have to work with, and how much do you want to use a forge? 

All you really need is something to get the metal hot, something to hit on, and something to hit with. Does the school have an art department? Does the maintenance department have a building you can go beside or behind? Anyone on campus have a gas grill? Then make your gas forge look like a gas grill and occasionally cook a hot dog or two while you forge. 

Have you contacted the local blacksmithing groups and found out when and where they meet? 

If you REALLY want to do it,  you can find a way. 

[TheoRockNazz]

I am in Brooklyn, email or PM me and we'll work something out

[Charles R. Stevens]

Honestly a pretty good  year 1k set up or a small propaine forge and kit would take up less than 1/2 your trunk. Having Nazz close buy to help will be a great resorce

[Frosty]

If you can hook up with Theo maybe I'll get talked into finishing one of your blades.  Hmmm? This dark side stuff isn't half bad. Now if my skills would come along faster, I've really screwed up the ricasso on this blade but I'll get there. 

Don't sweat the future, there's a way. We'll help!  Here's a Frosty tip. Apply the TPAAAT to finding shop space and play mates. Hmmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

[mutant]

Congrats on getting in to Copper Union, I went to SVA. Not sure if there are any places in the city to do blacksmithing. You'll probably need to travel to Brooklyn or Jersey City. If you do happen to find something on Manhattan, let me know for sure. I still work there.

[bluesman7]

Check makerspaces  in your area.

[JHCC]

Dude! COOPER UNION HAS CASTING FACILITIES!!!! YOU CAN DO IT FOR CREDIT!!!!

Check out the webpage for the Sculpture Shop and the course offerings in the Fine Arts Curriculum.

9 hours ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

Honestly a pretty good  year 1k set up or a small propaine forge and kit would take up less than 1/2 your trunk.

It's Manhattan; no-one has a car.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Then go with an apliance dolly. We have a member that back packs in eastern Europe with a forge and anvil.

 

[Glenn]

There is an architectural blacksmithing business in your area somewhere. You may want to look them up. It could be worth just going to visit. 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Like my grandfather always said, "where there's a will, there's a way".

[MrDarkNebulah]

So I checked out the sculpture shop and I found some good news and bad news. The good news is that the shop has a forge, two anvils, plenty of tools, and a bunch of casting materials. The bad news is that it apparently only for art and architecture students. I'm an engineering student. So I think the next step is to write a few emails and meet with a few people to see what I can do to bend the rules. I was thinking about the whole setting up on the dorm terrace but I dont think it will work. They are super strict with restricted materials, and one of those things is no grills/propane. Plus, like JHCC said its manhattan. Its hard to bring some of those things in from my house where I have them stored.

[SLAG]

Mr. Nebula,

I strongly suggest that you do NOT rely on e-mail in order to get permission to the use the school's equipment and venue.

I have had much better luck with a personal meeting with the appropriate Dean. (less desirable the professor directly involved with the smithy).

Dress up for the occasion, be friendly, polite, cheerful when you meet the dean. It is even better if you can relate how you got into blacksmithing, also some of your accomplishments, & better yet how you can benefit the college, & its students).

It is considerably harder to blow off a person that has been in personal contact with the 'petitioner' than the sender of an impersonal e-mail.

You will be amazed how many and how much rules can be "bent, spindled & mutilated" using this technique.  (I speak from personal experience. I never let rules and policy get in the way to my desired goals.)

Good luck getting your goal. A progress report would be most interesting, & a solid recompense. 

SLAG.

[Charles R. Stevens]

What is architecture if not the blending of art and engineering? Show him some of your work, something you can teach his students. It won't hurt to have a good considered argument how revisiting such old technology can help one of his engineering student as well. A simple please will probably be sufficient, but come prepared  

[ThomasPowers]

What Slag says!!!!!!   (If you can mention all the ironwork Yellin did on the Federal Reserve Bank in NYC as a good example of smithing in Architecture; research it first please!)

[WL smith]

I don't think there is that much difference between architecture and engineering. There is an old school saying that comes into play here "Plan your work and work your plan"  You may find blending both disciplines satisfying. If you really want to find a way to forge you will push forward. Wishing you nothing but success.

[ThomasPowers]

You can astound and please many professors by showing ENTHUSIASM in a facet of their field so many of them are tired of the ones just trying to do the minimum to get by.

"You can lead a student to knowledge; but you can't make him think"

[JHCC]

The son of a friend of mine -- also an engineer -- had a problem at his engineering school. There was a mathematics course that all students were required to take for graduation, but he had covered its material (and significantly more advanced material as well) in high school. He had been told that he would get credit for the class, but found out a semester before graduation that he would not (they had immutable rules about transfer credit). Rather than delay graduation, he spoke with the head of the math department, the academic dean, and even the president of the school, and convinced them all that he had done the work (demonstrated by the HS syllabus, class assignments, and his grades), and even though there was no way for them to accept his HS coursework for credit, he got them all to sign off on simply waiving the requirement, something they'd never done before. He graduated on time.

In short, he showed them that he wasn't just some lazy idiot who'd forgotten to take the proper class, but that he had done the work, had the knowledge, and would still be a credit to their school. Their confidence in him was so high that they were willing to take the unprecedented (and creative) step of waiving a standard requirement.

The point is, if YOU can inspire that same level of confidence, if YOU can show them your maturity, intelligence, creativity, and responsibility, then you may get a shot at doing something outside of the usual rules. The trick is to BE that person that inspires trust.

[Frosty]

On 9/12/2017 at 6:42 PM, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

Like my grandfather always said, "where there's a will, there's a way".

My Mother used to say, "Where there's a will someone died."

Meeting the people in charge of the courses in person is a much better strategy than email or snail mail. Art and architecture are two of the main products of modern blacksmithing. YOU are offering them a significant improvement in their programs. Remember, take the secretary something nice, bribe the REAL power in the office. Card holders are nice but a flower/candle holder or picture stand look nice on a desk, heck even a cool paper weight. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

Oh yes; A Departmental Secretary Story:   Way back when I was finishing off a degree in computer science, working 50-60 hours a week at work, I had a 100 year old house and two young kids AND had undiagnosed diabetes and was feeling not like death warmed over but more like death left congealed on a plate for a long weekend that the cat was climbing on the table and getting into...

Anyway it was time for my degree audit and my "advisor", (who I had never seen before), told me I was 1 credit hour from graduating and so only 1 more course needed.  I didn't know that I could survive another course and he said I could do independent study (in my copious free time...).   Anyway I went and told the departmental secretary my woes; she said "Why did you go to Dr XYZ?"---"cause the letter the department sent told me to..."; "Well go talk with Dr QRS"  and I did and he looked over my transcripts (from my previous degree and the current one) and said "Your previous  courses were done on a semester basis and we're on trimesters so this course here actually counts a credit more when applied to our system."  He circled it, annotated it, signed it  and said "Congratulations; you're Graduating!"

Two months after graduation I was diagnosed with diabetes and getting that under control made life much better...I recall a line from MASH, maybe the book(s), about the virtues of knowing low people in high places...

[Charles R. Stevens]

If nothing else, the secretaries are the gate keepers to the folks you need to talk to. Be nice to them at all costs! More than one secretary has walked in with a paper and told the boss to sign it. 

[MrDarkNebulah]

Thank you guys for all the advice. I have already talked to the engineering dean, but he sent me to the art school dean, who isn't in the office supposedly until next week. So my plan was to send an email and then follow up in person early next week. I'm also planning on talking to some of my friends in engineering to see if they want to try to join the adventure of blacksmithing. That way there seems like a stronger student desire so it's more likely he will agree. From the times the art dean has talked before I get the feeling that he would be ok with this anyways, as he seems like a really chill/understanding guy.