3 hours - With an emphasis on reinforcing safety and
proper tool use, each student will work their way through a project that begins
with a simple 3/8" square bar and ends in a beautiful wall-hanging hook
that will include an organic leaf and stem design at the top as well as a
twisted body and a punched hole for the screw. This project is good
because it includes many of the 7 basic blacksmithing skills (drawing,
tapering, scrolling, twisting, and punching) all in a single piece that they
will feel great about when they are finished.
Enrollment is by prior approval only (class is in the Mount Vernon area, forge address will be provided upon enrollment). Cost is $100/student/3-hr session with a two student minimum (unless prior approval is granted).
The books I ask students to invest in are:
Book 1 - The Backyard Blacksmith by Lorelie Sims
At Level 2, most students will already own this first book from my Introductory class, so that book can be used again in the leaf hook class.
Book 2 - The Skills of a
Blacksmith, Volume I: Mastering the Fundamentals of Blacksmithing, by Mark
Aspery
http://www.amazon.com/The-Skills-Blacksmith-Volume-Blacksmithing/dp/B001HQN4FO
I use these books in
this class and in subsequent ones and both are an excellent reference that will
be able to use for years to come.
Tools:
The tools needed are specific to blacksmithing, so it is wise to let your skills and interest develop a bit first before investing a lot in tooling. I will have hammers and tongs to share during class, so nothing is needed to start if you would like to wait.
That said, if you are interested in having some of your own tools, one good thing to buy would be a hammer. They are not expensive and would be good to have as you learn hammer technique. Typically a 1.3-1.8lb (600-800g) German pattern hammer is good for youth. The typical adult size hammer to begin with is 2.2lb (1000g).
Tongs would also be a good thing to invest in. The most common type for beginners would be called "wolf jaw" tongs, which are good because they hold a few different sizes of material and are not expensive.