Forging

Equipment:

PPE:

• This is really important because the metal being worked will be white hot, sparks and small flecks of metal can come off the worked piece and land on the blacksmith. The following PPE should be worn: Leather Gloves; Goggles; Leather apron; Steel Toe-capped boots;

Forge:

Metal is headed in a forge, this is either powered by gas (like an oven) or coke which is a refined form of coal. Either form allows the blacksmith to heat metal to 1500 deg C.

Anvil:

This provides the striking surface on which the metal will be worked. Anvils are usually made from Cast Iron which is very hard, the top of the anvil will be hardened further to prevent wear. DIfferent parts of the anvil allow for different shapes to be formed and other attachments to be added.

Hammers

A blacksmith will use a range of different shape and weight hammers to form the metal.

Tongs for holding work

Work will be held in tongs as the metal is too hot to hold by hand. Different tongs are for different shapes of metal

Twisting:

• This process is mostly used to create decorative sections on railings and gates. To perform a good twist, the section should be heated to the same colour. Any area not being twisted should be quenched (cooled in water) so that they don't twist at all.

Drawing down:

• This is the process of hammering a bar to a point. The process involves hammering the bar on an anvil but it is important to treat all sides of the bar equally otherwise the point will not be in the middle. In the video, see how the the blacksmith rotates the bar between each hammer blow.

Bar bending:

• This video goes through the process of forging a poker. The eye at the end is an example of bar-bending and can be done with round, flat or square bar,

Strip bending:

• Strip bending refers to bending flat bar on edge. This process is tricky as the bar tends to buckle sideways. Watch the video to see how an expert blacksmith keeps the bend flat.