Good pieces for a demo

[BayardStrachan]

I am starting to think about doing a few demos sometime in the future. What are some projects that you guys would reccomend that are crowd pleasers. I want to start practicing now so that I don't make an absolute fool of myself in front of other people

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

It kinda depends on the crowd your demoing for,

but just for general public at a festival or something id say quick easy projects, like, S hooks, or nails, or some small scrolls, 

I think George said something awhile back about making rings from horse shoe nails for a demo,

you don’t wanna do anything real complicated that takes a super long time because some people will get bored watching an waiting an then walk off,

Also i wouldn’t do no forge welding around spectators, the last thing you wanna do is shoot molten metals out an hit someone in the crowd,

also quick easy projects you can sell a lot of cheap to the crowd!

I think you’d do way better making an sellin $5 $10 $20 NZD to spectators that only take a few minutes to make then a five hour long $500 project,

[ThomasPowers]

Things made from horse shoes for "Horse events".

[BillyBones]

Scrolled bottle openers, J hooks, drive hooks, pendants, key fobs, meat skewers, etc. Like TW said quick things to keep peoples attention. 

Also like TW said no welding, a lot of kids eyes are at anvil height. 

 

[PHDforge]

Doing simple things with a twist. Kids seem to like seeing a twist. I do S-hooks with a twist in the middle. 

[George N. M.]

If you are at an event where other merchants are selling things like shawls and blankets penannular brooches are good.

There was one year where I was demonstrating at the Colorado Highland Festival at Estes Park when the weather was authentically Scottish, intermittent rain and blustery.  All the fabric merchants quickly sold out of shawls and blankets and I couldn't make penannulars fast enough for everyone who wanted one.  Also, folk would huddle around the forge to get warm and then feel obligated to buy something.  I did very well that year.  Standing under my fly beside the forge I was perfectly comfortable.

Also, making miniature "swords" out of double headed construction nails for the kids is always popular.

Nothing complex or time consuming.  I would say that the longest time you should allow for one item for which folk will watch is no more than 15-20 minutes and maybe not that long.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[BayardStrachan]

Thanks for the ideas everyone, I'll get cracking. The demo will most likely be at a Saturday market so lots of variety 

[George N. M.]

Let us know how it goes.  One thing that I have learned is that you cannot demo and sell at the same time.  You can do one or the other but not both.  If you want to do both you will need to take someone else along to handle the sales.  You can keep up a patter with the spectators while forging but you can't show folk things, make change, etc. while running the forge.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[BayardStrachan]

54 minutes ago, George N. M. said:

Let us know how it goes.

Yep, will do I think that it'll be a while away but thanks for the advice.

[BillyBones]

You may also want to think about making a few bigger pieces to take with you. You can sell them for one but if you make a coat rack with some nice J hooks mounted on a nice piece of wood it will give people ideas on what they can do with them. So rather than them buying 1 or 2 hooks they may buy half a dozen to make a coat rack with too. 

Edit:  Having more complex pieces will also show people that you can do much more than just quick simple things and they may contact a fire set or something. 

Edited October 14, 2022 by BillyBones
forgot ssomething

[Dave Murray]

Good ideas from everyone. Can also make bottle openers, a quick knife out of a RR spike,a snake out of rebar all the little boys will want it. Even just making a horseshoe from a flat bar keeps them interested. Good luck.

[BayardStrachan]

Thanks, fun fact, in NZ railroad spikes barely exist, they are like literally 15 bucks apiece.

[George N. M.]

What did they use to fasten the rails to the ties in NZ?  I know in some places around the world, particularly where wood is scarce and expensive (not a problem in NZ) athey use steel ties with the rails bolted on.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[ThomasPowers]

Here in the USA the HC RR spikes are NOT a good alloy for blades

[Frosty]

As a rule of thumb I keep projects to under 20 minutes, that's about as long as spectators want to stick around one place. Under $20 that fits in a pocket or purse sell well. Having a larger project to work on between crowds is a good way to draw an audience. Big glowing iron and anvil noise is attractive you know.  

Can you maintain a patter, describe the step you're doing and why, answer questions and make friendly jokes WHILE working at the anvil? This is a valuable demonstrator skill.

Frosty The Lucky.

[BayardStrachan]

15 hours ago, George N. M. said:

What did they use to fasten the rails to the ties in NZ?  I know in some places around the world, particularly where wood is scarce and expensive (not a problem in NZ) athey use steel ties with the rails bolted on.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

I'm not too sure actually, back when NZ was brand new, (only about 150 years ago lol) they used wood toes but I don't know how they fastened them, now they use concrete ties and bolt the rails to them. 

29 minutes ago, Frosty said:

As a rule of thumb I keep projects to under 20 minutes, that's about as long as spectators want to stick around one place. Under $20 that fits in a pocket or purse sell well. Having a larger project to work on between crowds is a good way to draw an audience. Big glowing iron and anvil noise is attractive you know.  

Can you maintain a patter, describe the step you're doing and why, answer questions and make friendly jokes WHILE working at the anvil? This is a valuable demonstrator skill.

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks frosty, I'm pretty sure I can talk while I work, never done it before though. 

[Frosty]

IIRC they used Gum trees for ties down under and drilled and screwed rail plates to them. They worked so well one of the rail roads this side of the equator imported and planted Blue Gum Eucalyptus in California where the climate was similar only to discover it has a twisting very fibrous grain that can't be kept from warping and you can't drive a spike into. Seasoned and dreed well enough they stopped warping and they couldn't mill lumber. So they ended up all over S. Cal as windbreaks and decorative trees. We had two giants in our back yard and shorter broader ones on the fence lines. Dad brought the two giants down and the dang stuff didn't burn worth spit in the fireplace either. Love the smell of eucalyptus though.

Frosty The Lucky.  

[ThomasPowers]

Learning "nice" ways of correcting common misconceptions helps with the demo patter too.  I sometimes get that "pattern welding" was used in Europe to mimic the "true Damascus" that the Europeans had run into during the crusades....Of course they were pattern welding in Western Europe *centuries* before the first crusade and in fact pattern welding was decreasing in use by the time of the first crusade.   Instead of saying that the person was *wrong*!  I have found that saying; 'that was a common belief; however modern archeology has shown that European pattern welding predated the crusades by several centuries and while blacksmiths are *good*; they still don't foretell the future so well....you met many rich smiths'?

[George N. M.]

You will also get some odd suggestions.  One which, while not common, that I've gotten a number of times is that if you quench a work piece between heats it will heat up faster when you put it back into the forge.  This, of course, violates several laws of thermodynamics.  It is hard for me to deal with something that is so patently wrong.  I usually say something like I've been doing it this way for years and it would be tough for me to change my ways.

A common question is if I shoe horses.  I say, "Sure, shoo, horse, shoo." (while making shooing motions with my hands).  I also say that it as a farrier's job and that all I know about horses is that one end kicks and the other end bites.

You will also have to explain that steel is a poor conductor of heat when folk see you holding the end of a piece of steel of which the other end is orange hot.

GNM

[BillyBones]

19 hours ago, BayardStrachan said:

I'm pretty sure I can talk while I work, never done it before though. 

I talk a lot when i work... to myself that is. 

2 questions i always get are "Do you make knives?" and "Can you make me a sword?" I have only had 1 person ask about horse shoes. 

[ThomasPowers]

The latter one I generally say "Yes, crawl into my forge and I'll get a bigger hammer so I can make *you* a sword!"

[wicon]

11 hours ago, George N. M. said:

A common question is if I shoe horses.

My answer is: I'm a blacksmith. A farrier is a shoemaker, an orthopedic schoemaker for horses.

 

...and all my attempts in forging swords end up like this:

 

[ThomasPowers]

You can also tell them that in medieval times sword making was a specific craft and general blacksmiths didn't do it at all!  (Unlike what Hollywood and the internet would have you believe...)

[Frosty]

My reply to, do I shoe horses is, "Nope, shoeing is a specialized field of blacksmithing and requires expensive training and certification." I'm a hobbyist I blacksmith because it requires I play with fire and hit things with hammers. It's dirty, dangerous, sweaty hard work, you're supposed to be dirty and smelly, what could be better?

To diffuse a typical question I'll sometimes ask who's grandfather was a blacksmith. Occasionally you hear it from someone who expects I be impressed so I'll play along a little and ask if HE ever took up the noble trade or how many of his Father, Grandfather' smithing tools he kept. Yiu don't have to be tricky about it, the pompous usually reveal themselves if give a bit of rope. Once in a while I'll flip my hammer around and offer it. I've never had that one accepted but if a youngster over 18 or so asks I'll let them take a lash at demos. Instructing a first timer at a demo is a good demo. 

Remember, demonstrations are theater, be entertaining while you're being informative. More people will come to see what's happening if they hear laughter. Demos are the only time I deliberately tap the anvil and my Soderfors rings painfully LOUD. It's like a dinner bell at a logging camp. 

Twists are always a show stopper, you almost always hear oohs and aws when scale starts raining off in sheets when you twist. I  make a point of putting a twist onto anything I can squeeze one.

And be flexible, if what you're demonstrating isn't drawing an audience change until you find something people want to watch. Be a variety show, NOT an infomercial!

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[George N. M.]

I think the "my grandfather was a blacksmith" comes from the fact that many farmers had a small forge and anvil to do small repairs to avoid having to go into town.  It's not unlike the fact than many, if not most, shops and farms have a welder of some sort.  In a couple of generations folk will be saying, "My grandfather was a welder."

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."