Forging is the process of forming and shaping hot metal. Heating the metal before working with it makes the metal more malleable and means that less force is needed to form tight bends and twists. Most metals will bend a bit and then get stiffer and crack; this is called 'work hardening'. Working with the metal hot prevents this from happening.
During this course you will need to perform a number of forging tasks:
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.
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.
A blacksmith will use a range of different shape and weight hammers to form the metal.
Work will be held in tongs as the metal is too hot to hold by hand. Different tongs are for different shapes of metal