Blacksmithing

May 2024

Have you ever wanted to blacksmith? Create something out of a hunk of metal? Poke fires till your tools turn glowing yellow?

If you haven't, I still highly recommend doing it! I went with a coworker and my man down to Lawless Forge in Seattle and we made our own knives out of horseshoes. At first, I was a little nervous about it. I had doubts about would I be strong enough to actually reshape the metal, and nerves about working around so many incredibly hot things. But once we got started, I got really into it. Heating the metal in the forge till it glowed made it soft enough that even though my hammer swings might not have been as powerful and some of the guys, I was still making a difference. I decided to work smarter, not harder, for myself and just put it back in the forge more often than some people in order to keep the metal hot and malleable.

The process was well explained by the instructor, one step at a time to keep the group together and on track, and he was very friendly and open to helping out whenever needed. This made the project feel approachable and once I got comfortable with how to hold the awkward tools in the thick leather gloves, I was golden. There's something super satisfying about hammering metal and seeing it start to conform to how you want it to look. The steam when I dipped the piece in the water at the end, and the sparks from the grinder as I sharpened it definitely made me feel like a real blacksmith. Although I will admit that my hammer muscles are not quite as on board with that idea, my right arm was sore for days.

Next step is to get my own forge and anvil for at home use, right?! Okay, maybe not the most reasonable idea I've ever had...