Exit Interview

1. My essential question is: what is the most most important factor in effectually manipulating metal into a desired shape?    My first answer is: a hammer and coal forge. My second answer is: by creating tools to assist in the forging possess. My third and final answer is: By knowing every aspect of the metal.

My best answer is my second. By creating tools to assist in the forging prossess. This is my best answer is for a multitude of reasons. One of the first reasons is slightly philosophical. When every we encounter problems we try and over come them by making tools. This applies to everything not just in blacksmithing. my essential question also inquires about efficacy. By creating tools that are for a specific purpose the prossess of making the item or simply completing that step becomes very quick and very efficient. This is also something they teach in the shop. Before you start a project you must make every tool needed for that project whether it be a new type of hammer, a specific pair of tongs, a fuller, even a scribing tool. otherwise the project will take far longer than it would to make the tool and the piece as well. Some task are so complex that they cannot be completed without a specific tool. This is why this is my second answer is by best.


2. By asking my mentor questions about tools that she made I quickly learned the importance of them. Even though most tools are for a far too specif task. Most tools are only used once before they are thrown in a drawer while other are used until they break beyond repair.  Noticing how efficiently my mentor worked at the forge using tools that she herself made, it is not that far a jump to conclude that the tools aid in making the forging process more efficient and much easier.

3. I encountered few problems when trying to find my answers. This one in fact came to me in a epiphany while driving home from mentorship. Most of the answers came in the same way. The only problem I found was wording the answers and with a little help from my mentor quickly solved that problem. So if I did find a problem I solved them simply by asking for assistance.

4. My best two sources.

Dempsy, Jock. "Anvilfire FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)." Anvilfire FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). N.p., 2002. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.

Bush, Darren. "Working Iron: A Primer on Blacksmithing." The Art of Manliness. N.p., 2008. Web. 22 Aug. 2014.