Hammered Out Bits: Getting all the Toys?

‘
Getting
all
the TOYS ??
‘

Over
the period of varying personal isolation because of COVID, there has
been an explosion of internet available information related to
blacksmithing topics. With so many individuals having time available,
and stuck at home, many are using this as an opportunity to
concentrate on their ‘hobby’, even to the point of attempting to
turn it into a business. Social media and YouTube contributions
abound.

It
would be easy to launch into a critique of the inherent problems of
personal opinions, promotion over information, enthusiasm over
experience. Safe to say that ‘viewer beware’ certainly needs to
be considered.

But
what I wanted to talk about was what seems to be developing,
especially on Facebook ‘discussion’ groups, is a concept of ‘You
need ALL the toys, before you can start’.

Wrong!

All
you actually NEED :

–
a reasonably heavy, fairly flat, surface to hammer on.

–
a hammer of suitable weight

–
a method to heat a bar into at least red hot

–
Patience!

8th
century Blacksmith’s
tools – grave find, Staraya
Ladoga, Russia

Hammer
here
is
likely a jeweler’s or small raising type – not
for forging.

Given
my own interest in European history and the Settlement period, I
often fall back to looking
at what tools ancient blacksmiths had available to them.
There
is a lot of interest over the last decade in Viking Age objects,
swords and axes especially. The
smiths who made those objects (pre Christian) were most commonly
buried with tools. The well known tool box find from Mastermyr
(Gotland, Sweden) is a full inventory of blackmithing and woodworking
tools. Admittedly anvils themselves are uncommon as artifacts. Most
typically, a single mass of iron has formed into a simple block or L
shape. With the starting iron blooms in the range of 8 – 10 kg (10
– 22 lbs) the result is often hand width sized at best. The
other basic tools almost always found (and the first you would make)
are a straight cutting chisel, a round hole punch, and then a pair of
tongs. Hammers
used to forge those swords and axes? Most typically square faced
cross peens, in the size range of 700 to 1000 gms (that is 25
to 35 ounces for American readers). The forges used were most often
simple shallow bowls in the ground, fired with charcoal.

Having
a high temperature propane forge (capable of forge welding large
billets?) is nice, but not required at an entry level. Nor
a high speed belt sander. Or a power hammer, or hydraulic press. Ask
any of the old hands, just what they
had when they started?

Interest

Will

Perseverance

I
freely admit, that having
quality tools can
make work significantly easier. But the real truth is that good
work is based on practice.
(I worked on a piece of rail track for an anvil for at
least the
first three
years when I started,
a coal forge cobbled together from cast off parts with a vacuum
cleaner as blower).

So
my best advice?

Just
get started !

–
Skill will come with time.

–
Expect to work up to better tools, and more specialized equipment, as
your accumulated experience suggests.

–
There is no ‘absolute perfect’ hammer (despite what people
selling
hammers say, this is a highly personal choice, based primarily on
body type and working style).

–
Time spent developing hand technique will most definitely pay back,
even if later you invest in power assisted forging machines.

Some
related commentaries from this blog :

Basic
Tools for Blacksmithing

‘What
do I need?? Part 1, Forging’ – April 2020

https://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.com/2020/04/what-do-i-need.html

‘the
Big Box…’ (student tool set) – March 2018 :

https://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/big-box-jay-has-on-stage.html

On
Hammers :

‘Getting
Hammered’ (part
1, shapes) –
February 2018 :

https://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.com/2018/02/getting-hammered.html

‘Getting
Hammered 2 – Dynamics’ – March 2018

https://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/getting-hammered-2-dynamics.html

‘Getting
Hammered 3 – Setting Up’ – March 2018

https://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/getting-hammered-3-setting-up.html

(A
general search of the over 1000 commentaries on the blog is sure to
find other segments of interest!)

Author’s
Note : This is an expanded version from the original that appeared in
the Ontario Artisan Blacksmiths Association (OABA)
newsletter
‘The Iron Trillium’ in Fall 2021, prepared
on the request of Bill Ganoe of the Arizona Artist Blacksmith
Association (AABA)

©
2022, Darrell Markewitz (please contact the author before
re-printing)