Aug 26, 2009
For the last 5 weeks, ending yesterday, Cristin and I have been making a once-a-week journey to Oakland to take a introductory blacksmithing class at the Crucible. The Crucible (thecrucible.org) is a non-profit in Oakland which serves as a venue for the industrial arts in the community. They tend to focus on alot of arts related to fire, hence the name.
The class teaches you several basic blacksmithing techniques as you create 4 projects over 5 weeks. You create a hook, which is looks like an enormous fishing hook, but designed to hang on a wall. You create a knife, or a shiv out of rebar. You create a spoon - the two week project. Finally you create a 2-pronged fork. And most people create two of each - one piece heating up in the forge while the other piece is being worked on. Here is a photo of some of the steps in the various projects:
Cristin and I had a blast, so a small plug for these classes.