Blacksmithing



  • Honestly, no. I've been interested in blacksmithing for as long as I can remember. In fact, my brothers and I were interested enough that we got a hold of a tiny 15lb anvil back in the '90s but were never able to get the rest of the resources to put it to use (tools, heat source, etc.)

    On another note, here's my newest completed project…

    Hammer
    The weight of the head is stamped on the top near the face (2 lbs 5 oz/1.05 kg) and my initials are stamped on the side.

    The handle is made of straight-grain hickory. It was carved by my teacher using a belt grinder, and once the head was fitted and set we applied a preservative which gave it the lovely colour you see in the picture.

    I've used this hammer for two class periods now. I have to say, there's something very satisfying about using a tool that you forged yourself to create other pieces.

    I've also added a link on the original post to a slideshow of all my projects so it's a bit more convenient to view them instead of scrolling through the entire thread. 🙂



  • Be honest, did Narf inspire you to try blacksmithing?


  • Legion

    That's actually very cool.

    Like the FB junkie that I am, I keep looking for the "Like" button when I see your stuff!



  • Door Latch

    My teacher wanted to take a break from our large projects and do a small, quick half-a-day piece. There's a specific name for this type of latch, but I can't remember (I think it originated in Spain).

    I didn't like the area of blank stock between the eye and the lock so I quickly carved "WELCOME" in Anglo-Saxon runes. It's not pretty, but at least gives it more appeal.



  • Thankfully you didn't have to mine the iron yourself. 😛



  • @a5c65435ca=yertleturtle67:

    The thong clip looks unbelievably uncomfortable.

    Fixed the typo. :lol:



  • The thong clip looks unbelievably uncomfortable.



  • Took us 3 weeks (15 class hours) to make these (yeah, that sounds like a lot of time, but my teacher just loves to talk so we really spent only 7-8 hours of actual work on this project).

    Blacksmithing Tongs

    These tongs were designed by my teacher himself sometime during his career, and they're absolutely wonderful. They're multi-functional in that they can hold onto square, round, and rectangular stock of various sizes, where as many smiths would have a separate pair for each type of stock giving themselves more tools to lug around. Needless to say, it's nice being able to rely on one pair to get the job done instead of multiple.



  • My brother had a hand and a half sword personally made for him by a weaponsmith. It's length, characteristics and balance were designed for his stature and physique.

    It's remarkably cool. I never asked him how much it cost.



  • Just last week I watched a video of some current age professional blacksmithing company making video-game sword replicas with tempered steel and I was impressed.

    There are quite a few videos from those guys, pretty nice to watch.



  • Here's some more!

    Ball Fullers

    These are tools I made to punch the divots in the bottle opener below.

    Bottle Opener (yes, it does work)

    I should have a couple more projects done soon. More to follow!



  • I'm totally ordering weapons and armor from you, once you master this blacksmithing deal. Now if only I could find an enchanter…



  • it's nice to see Art.



  • Very nice! So rewarding to create something with a tangible result, not to mention actually useful as well as aesthetically pleasing! Thanks for sharing (and make a lightning bolt kitteh next!!).



  • Let me know when you get to Masterwork Steel weapons, can never be ready enough for the Apocalypse. 😄