How It All Began
I began my craft in the first months of 2019 after becoming interested in bushcraft and outdoor living the year prior. Whilst on YouTube, I stumbled across a gentleman using a dual-handled blade called a drawknife. At the time, I could easily have found one of these tools online or in an antique store for about $30. Not only was this a lot of money to my fourteen-year-old self, but I wanted to make this tool with my own two hands.
And so my journey began. I spent several weeks researching the subject of blacksmithing, enough to build a very crude forge from a rickety wooden stand, a tire rim, cat litter (clay), and a cheap leaf blower. It worked! I was able to heat and move steel with a hammer for the very first time, and it felt amazing.
Just two months later, I attended a beginner blacksmithing class for my birthday at a Rhode Island open air museum. There, a late 19th century blacksmith shop stood tall and mighty, equipped with most of the equipment you would typically find in a period shop. I was to forge a hook in this two hour class and in this time, I learned a great deal. More about myself than the craft actually. Using antique equipment for the first time was fascinating. The anvil, forge, tongs. All of it was new to me and exciting to use. Since then I have collected antique equipment; preserving and using everything that I can in my craft. I now focus on using historical techniques and tooling almost exclusively to produce my work.
Eventually a few of my parent's friends became interested in my work. I began to think of a product that people may want to purchase which would allow me to buy more tools. My dad suggested a fire poker after having his own break, which was a cheap, thin steel rod with a wooden handle that had come with a store-bought fire pit. So I designed and forged my first fire poker. To my surprise, it was a hit!
Today, I consider myself an artist-blacksmith who produces contemporary ironwork, inspired by tradition; hand crafting functional, decorative and long-lasting pieces of art that can be passed down to generations for years to come.
About My Craft: A Brief History
Blacksmithing appeared sometime around 1500B.C.E. near modern day Syria with the Hittite people. The Iron Age however, did not gain traction until a few hundred years later. The first workings of iron were crude. Many of the properties of this new material were not yet understood and so its full potential had not been realized. If we fast forward to the Medieval period (5th to 15th centuries C.E. respectively), we will begin to see blacksmiths starting to understand how to control certain properties of iron. Ironworkers were able to produce steel and blacksmiths began figuring out how to harden and temper the steel to make superior weapons, armor and tools. In reality, it is likely that a majority of these early weapons were produced accidentally.
It wasn't until the Industrial Revolution, beginning in the latter half of the 18th century that the popularity of blacksmithing began to slowly decline. By the early 20th century, automobiles had increased in popularity. Few people needed farriers for their horses anymore and many shops were being converted to accommodate motorized vehicles. Throughout history, blacksmiths played an essential role in society; making everything from basic cooking utensils to the weapons that protected life as it was known. Today however, blacksmiths share a special place in local communities with other artists, making functional, decorative and lasting products while displaying a beautiful and ancient craft.
But what does a blacksmith do? In simplicity, a blacksmith uses a very hot fire to soften iron/steel to be shaped using a hammer and anvil. The typical anvil is a block of iron, almost always with a hardened face plate to prevent wear, that provides a surface for shaping the work. What many people don’t understand is that iron is a plastic at high enough temperatures, meaning that it essentially has all of the same mechanical properties as wet clay!