Thread: Local Blacksmith Guild Class

I found a local blacksmith guild that has an introductory class into blacksmithing. They go over the basics of the trade and every week I make something new using new techniques. Here is what I did in my first class yesterday.On top is a fire poker to tend the forge. In the middle is a shovel and on the bottom is a chicken flipper to turn meat on the grill.In two weeks I will be doing a chisel to learn about heat treating and a tomahawk for a forge weld. I am slowly getting the skills needed to make myself a razor! I will keep this updated as the classes continue.Marc

Your going to meet a whole bunch of good people in that group. Thats what I have found here in Minnesota.
The satisfaction of creating something tangible, that will last for many years, is very rewarding.
I would wish you good luck but I already know that you will have much more than that.
Enjoy

Great stuff man, but I warn you (probably too late) that you are treading in dangerously addictive waters!

good luck with your classes i thought about finding a local blacksmith that could teach me, i have made a few homemade machetes but there easy id like to make a good bootknife and a good razor.

The class looks like a lot of fun. I have been doing kind of the same thing here, I joined the local blacksmithing group. There sure are a lot of talented people who want to share there knowledge.

Charlie

Originally Posted by Deerhunter1995

good luck with your classes i thought about finding a local blacksmith that could teach me, i have made a few homemade machetes but there easy id like to make a good bootknife and a good razor.

Go to ABANA.org They will have listings of all the regional or local groups of smiths.

Secondary warning: TAD will include big stuff, like anvils. You don't come home with a smallish lightweight roll of new razors, you come home with trailers full of black things to explain. You won't mention anything about the stuff you left behind with promises to return with a larger trailer to pickup later...

What Mike said is correct.
Razors and hones are small, they don't draw much attention, and are generally indistinguishable enough that your wife doesn't know how many you actually have.

A 250 pound anvil otoh is pretty noticable.
And then there is the forge.
And the belt grinder.
And ...

True what Mike said,back in the day I was very heavy into steam engines and hit and miss motors,now that took big trailer

I think that there needs to be a disclaimer when someone signs up here that says we are all a bunch of enablers and that anything even remotely related to shaving is going to become a AD of some sort.

The best part of this whole adventure is SWMBO has given me these classes as our first anniversary gift knowing that I will be getting a forge and anvil. She is now telling me that the first successful razor that I make will be hers and she has even picked out curly maple for the scales. I keep wondering how I found a wife that is so supportive of my hobbies. Either that or she just gets tired of me talking about what I have found and says to go get it to keep me quite. No matter what the truth is I am happy that she lets me.

I might even have a line on a used anvil.

This is from my latest class. The chisel is made from a truck coil spring. It was straightened, hammered to shape, annealed and tempered. The treatment worked . The leaf was fun to make. It is my first one and I am happy with how it turned out. It is going to be used as part of my final project which is going to be a brush and razor stand. The forge weld is going to have to wait until the next class. I am having left shoulder problems and could not do a lot of heavy hammering.