Another Extra Blog post... Making Razors

This shows all the steps required for not only forging the metal but everything till the finished product from tempering and annealing to polishing and honing. Awesome video with plenty of information.

Blog 8: Research and Working EQ

1. My working EQ is :What is the most effective way to manipulate metal using a hammer and coal forge?

2. The best way to manipulate metal using a coal forge is by keeping the proper heat in the metal without which the metal becomes to hard to move.

3. The most important source i have found is my 8th : properties, identifications, and heat treatment of metals.

4. My mentor is Caroline at the Orange county heritage museum where their is a blacksmith shop so I work on making tools and materials their. 

Independent Component 1 Approval

1. I plan to create 3 products that have income potential. I will plan out how to create them, what materials are needed, and then how long it would take to make them utilizing the skills I am learning as a novice level blacksmith. I am currently working on my Level 1 certificate for which I must successfully complete the following:

Level I: Novice

This certificate will be awarded to those who have completed the Level 1, basic training or the equivalent. They will have presented to their instructor the Farm Gate Hook (see drawing below) and have passed a safety test. By doing so they have shown an understanding of the basic skills of a blacksmith, including:

• Safety
• Nomenclature of the hammer
• Hammers and types of hammer blow
• Tapers (Square octagon, round)
• Handheld punch in a round hole
• Hot cut (chisel or top tool)
• Heat treatment
• 7/8 x 1/8 slot Punch (or equivalent)
• Hammer, eye drift (½ by 7/8)
• Monkey tool (precursor to making a hammer – level 2)
• Butcher (chisel or top tool)
• Upsetting
• Round tenon
• Smoosh-a-matic
• Forge welding
• Bending over the bick or horn

Find Level I Classes »

Class Project

Farm Gate Hook: Level I project figure 1

Farm Gate Hook: Level I project figure 2

2. I will show my 30 hours of evidence by keeping a log of time spent on: showing detailed drawings of the project, lists and cost of materials, estimated and actual production steps, and finally the products themselves. Examples of projects and drawings can be found at: http://www.calsmith.org/resources/education

3. Blacksmithing is a lot more than hitting a hot piece of steel with a hammer. To create something there are a multitude of steps needed. First you must find a purpose for the piece or vice versa. Next you must find what type of metal is best suited for the purpose, a soft metal or hard for example. Then, the final step, you have to plan out how to hit the piece and how you plan on physically making the item with the hammer and other tools. I've already learned there are lots of tools. With this idea in mind I will learn all of the necessary step and how to execute them properly using the art and science of blacksmithing.

This Month

Yes, before you ask, I have made more stuff.  Lots of people ask me to make things for them as soon as they find out my topic is blacksmithing. They ask me for things ranging from knives to bracelets, but this past month I have had to put them on the back burner. I am mentoring at the Kellogg house heritage museum in Santa Ana. Instead of working on metal this week we decided to work on with wood. We decided to extend the roof out over a platform right next to the shop. This area would be covered by a ceiling but still outdoors because there will be no walls so the roof is more like an awning. On this platform we plan to build a new forge. This new forge will still be coal fead but instead of being on a raised platform it will be on a brick forge. Too make this all possible we needed to have lots of wood for the ceiling, so this past month we have painted quite a bit of wood. I will post pictures below.

PS: I have also completed my square punch and leaf key chain.

Blog 6 - 2nd Interview Preparation

1. My mentor is Kathy. Not sure where she works, but she is a special education teacher.

2. The questions I am going ask are:

          1. Where did you learn to blacksmith?
          2. How long have you been blacksmithing?
          3. What made you become interested in blacksmithing?
          4. What was the most difficult thing you have ever made.
          5.  How much time have you detected to blacksmithing?

Blog 5 - Mentorship Reflection

1. For my senior project i am doing blacksmithing. when I was younger, almost 7 years ago I went to a blacksmithing forge and started smithing. I stopped going and then when senior projects started being announced I immediately thought of blacksmithing agin. I went to the forge a few times over the summer and found out that it was defiantly the right choice for my senior project. I ended up making a few things such as the staple or the spring fuller and had lots of fun with it. I do not have one mentor but a group. They each work at the forge and tell me what to do and what not to do. and when ever I need help with a project they always provide assistance. If I had to chose one to be a mentor it would probably be Kathy because she is the most helpful and forthcoming without asking.

2. The most important article I have read so far is probably the "Anvil fire" it has lots of good information and directions in various locations on the site and it references great books that are also important in my research. So it is the most important because not only is it a great sours but it also has other sources I can use reference and ever recommended.

Mentorship

Mentorship 

My senior project is blacksmithing so over the past few months I have made a variety of things. The best part about learning to become a blacksmith is that most of the basic projects you do at first lead into the next project. For example, I  had to make a chisel out of a spring from a car. The next project then required me to use the chisel to make indentations. It is all very structured and planed out because they have had thousands of years to teach people how to blacksmith so they teaching methods are very well rounded. Just recently I made a spring fuller, a tool which is used to pinch metal, and then used it to make a leaf key chain. I have not completed I yet but I have done the leaf portion. Below are some pictures of the forge and of the leaf.