#blacksmithing

[soy-sauce-and-mothra]

Hey! Are there blacksmiths in your story? I'm a hobbyist blacksmith and I'm here to help!

Blacksmithing is one of those things that a lot of people get wrong because they don't realize it stuck around past the advent of the assembly line. Here's a list of some common misconceptions I see and what to do instead!

Not all blacksmiths are gigantic terrifying muscly guys with beards and deep voices. I am 5'8, skinny as a twig, have the muscle mass of wet bread, and exist on Tumblr. Anybody who is strong enough to pick up a hammer and understands fire safety can be a blacksmith.

You can make more than just swords with blacksmithing. Though swords are undeniably practical, they're not the only things that can be made. I've made candle holders, wall hooks, kebab skewers, fire pokers, and more. Look up things other people have made, it's really amazing what can be done.

"Red-hot" is actually not that hot by blacksmith terms. when heated up, the metal goes from black, to red, to orange, to yellow, to white. (for temperature reference, I got a second degree burn from picking up a piece of metal on black heat) The ideal color to work with the metal is yellow. White is not ideal at all, because the metal starts sparking and gets all weird and lumpy when it cools. (At no point in this process does the metal get even close to melting. It gets soft enough to work with, but I have never once seen metal become a liquid.)

Blacksmithing takes fucking forever. Not even taking into account starting the forge, selecting and preparing metal, etc. etc. it takes me around an hour to make one (1) fancy skewer. The metals blacksmiths work with heat up and cool down incredibly fast. When the forge is going good, it only takes like 20 seconds to get your metal hot enough to work with, but it takes about the same time for it to cool down, sometimes even less.

As long as you are careful, it is actually stupidly easy to not get hurt while blacksmithing. When I picked up this hobby I was like "okay, cool! I'm gonna make stuff, and I'm gonna end up in the hospital at some point!" Thus far, the latter has yet to occur. I've been doing this for nearly a year. I have earned myself a new scar from the aforementioned second degree burn, and one singe mark on my jeans. I don't even wear gloves half the time. Literally just eye protection, common sense, and fast reflexes and you'll probably be fine. (Accidents still happen of course, but I have found adequate safety weirdly easy to achieve with this hobby)

A forge is not a fire. The forge is the thing blacksmiths put their metal in to heat it up. It starts as a small fire, usually with newspaper or something else that's relatively small and burns easily, which we then put in the forge itself, which is sort of a fireplace-esque thing (there's a lot of different types of forge, look into it and try to figure out what sort of forge would make the most sense for the context you're writing about) and we cover it with coal, which then catches fire and heats up. The forge gets really hot, and sometimes really bright. Sometimes when I stare at the forge for too long it's like staring into the sun. The forge is also not a waterfall of lava, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.

Welding and blacksmithing are not the same thing. They often go hand-in-hand, but you cannot connected two pieces of metal with traditional blacksmithing alone. There is something called forge welding, where you heat your metal, sprinkle borax (or the in-universe equivalent) on it to prevent the metal from oxidizing/being non-weldable, and hammer the pieces together very quickly. Forge welding also sends sparks flying everywhere, and if you're working in a small space with other blacksmiths, you usually want to announce that you're welding before you do, so that everyone in a five-foot radius can get out of that five-foot radius. You also cannot just stuck some random pebbles into the forge and get a decent piece of metal that you can actually make something with, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.

Anvils are really fucking heavy. Nothing else to add here.

Making jewelry is not a blacksmithing thing unless you want jewelry made of steel. And it will be very ugly if you try. Blacksmithing wasn't invented to make small things.

If there's anything here I didn't mention, just ask and I'll do my best to answer.

[midnight-roses-candy]

Want to learn blacksmithing so I can be one of those hot lesbian blacksmiths and so I can make a sword to stab transphobes with.

[jaraxles]

Really enjoying making these little snake pendants lately

[warclad]

Been sick but getting better. Tried my hand at forging a bracelet, ended up more of a bangle. But I like it! I tried a few new things, like adding twists, and I can see my hammer work improving.

[full-metal-femme]

Some shenanigans from this past week! I also may have slightly got another tattoo

Completely unrelated - hey! Who wants some jewellery? 😂

Or if you want metalworking/making things tips, I have a (free) patreon where you can request explainations, advice, etc.

[sgt-cookie-2]

Here's a free worldbuilding idea for you:

The reason that dwarven smitheries are so large isn't necessarily due to them being a more industrial people, but that because the smithery is also the community center! So, where are dwarven cities usually located? Deep underground, where it's cold and damp, necessitating a need for warmth. Now, I don't need to tell you that blacksmiths aren't just warm, they're stifling. But, they need to be in order to get the metal hot enough to be workable. As a result, this makes the dwarven smithery the warmest, dryest place around. Not to mention, the heat doesn't really have anywhere to go, in the sense that warm air isn't just going to float up into the atmosphere. Since the forge is going to need to consume vast amounts of fuel anyway, without necessarily being able to acquire more very easily, there isn't going to be much fuel to go around for other purposes. So, obviously Urist McBlacksmith's family would likely be with him in the smithery. The warmth is going to be there anyway, so it only makes sense. Over time, less immediate family members and friends would gather at the smithery, then friends of friends and so on and so forth. Of course, this gathering would mean that the smithery building needs expanding, some areas being adjusted to not be directly related to smithing, but for the comfort of the others. Eventually, this would inevitably evolve into larger and more communal areas. As the areas get larger, the smitheries themselves would also get larger. After all, not only does it make heating the larger area easier, one large smithery is going to be more fuel efficient than two smaller ones. To add onto this, the smitheries themselves would likely end up being seen as communal as well, something that anyone can simply wander up to and start using. As a result, in a dwarven community not being able to do at least basic blacksmithing would be akin to an IRL human not knowing how to cook, which would inevitably feed back into the cultural importance of smitheries.

[threeriversforge]

A working smithy and cobbler's shop in Tasmania. He might be on the other side of the world, but we speak the same language.

[angiethewitch]

went to a forge today and made this snazzy little knife

[gaileyfrey]

Who has a Bell Guy

I posted this on Bluesky originally but I think Tumblr also has good Bell Energy. Who knows someone who can either make or source me an iron bell? I need one about the size of a canteloupe. Flexible on shape and design although personally I am very unsettled by tubular bells (the shape and the song). I am in touch with a blacksmith and an antiques dealer but I want more resources in case they can't help me with this. Thanks in advance for any Bell Knowledge you feel like sharing

[spiritboundtwins]

[soy-sauce-and-mothra]

Hi I just saw your post about blacksmiths.

I am writing a story where my mc is a girl in early 20s who's training to be a blacksmith. So I wanted to ask if there are any gear you wear on your hands for protection?

Some people I know wear leather gloves when they smith to avoid getting burned. I prefer to work without gloves, as do most blacksmiths, but I wear them occasionally when I have a cut on my hand that I don't want to get infected, or if I burn myself/almost burn myself I get kinda freaked out and put on gloves for the rest of the time I'm working for that day. Most blacksmiths don't recommend wearing any sort of gloves, since it can get you too accustomed to picking up metal that would be way too hot to handle with just your bare hands. All in all, i think it comes down to your characters comfort level and what experience they've got.

[bigmeatpete69420]

One blacksmith inspecting another's work

"Weld done"

[rederiswrites]

Our inaugural Hammer-In was very successful, despite grim portents (snow and a power loss) the night before. We drew a pretty good crowd for a first-time event on a snowy day, and the raffle made enough to defray the bulk of the costs, so with the state arts grant included we aren't out of pocket for hosting. The overall atmosphere was cheerful and engaged, with a good crowd always watching the demonstrator raptly, and knots of people everywhere cheerfully talking (jawin', if you're country).

We got lots of cool donations for the "Iron in the Hat" raffle. The local guild loaned us a sound system that worked without a hitch, made the demonstrator clearly audible everywhere in the main shop, and had the unexpected effect of also reminding people of what the space was for and keeping them from talking over the demo. The raffle basically paid for the demonstrator's travel costs. I think he enjoyed himself and he was a very good demonstrator.

Jacob's shop was very much admired, and of course advertising it was part of the point, and it in fact a ludicrous shop, not matched even by the shops of most full-time blacksmiths. Definitely part of why we bought this place--both to have the ridiculous shop and also to share it with people.

The guy who imported Jacob's biggest (power) hammer from Bulgaria made it to the event and got to see 'his' hammer set up. It featured heavily in the demonstration.

Here is what a power hammer looks like, if you don't have a mental image, with demonstrator Drew Alexander at work:

And of course the OG power hammer was the human striker, usually a journeyman or apprentice. The ancestors of the power hammer above go all the way back to the Han Dynasty and Roman Empire, but even now sometimes the precision and flexibility of another human is pretty great to have around.

And this is the piece Drew was making:

The kids and I sold drinks, which was a fun way to have a flexible task that we could pass between the three of us and also start up conversations with many different people, plus we made a little more money back while offering a fairly necessary service. Hot cocoa was wildly popular, and I'm sure coffee would have been even more so, if my only means of making coffee wasn't two cups at a time in a French Press.

Jacob is happy, so I'm happy.

[warclad]

Finally finished with adjustments and got the bees wax finish on this. I'm very happy with how it worked out, especially for a first try, and I can't wait to make more. Should be something fun to do when I'm ready to teach. I'll also keep this in mind for possible videos next year.

If you like it, keep your eyes peeled on the etsy shop next week! Or feel free to reach out to me to snag it early ;). Hope you all have a great weekend!

[systimming]

Kai Ninjago fictive board with swords + kinetic sand + fire + blacksmithing stims!

- Mod Primarina.

((Sources of gifs: x, x, x | x, x, x | x, x, x ))

[foldingfittedsheets]

For their birthday I’m taking my betrothed @aorryn47 to forge a knife. There’s classes at a forge not too far from us and we’re gonna make a knife out of rebar. Got a bunch of friends to go and do it together.

I fully expect my knife will be so garbage but I’m terribly excited to make it anyway. (Theirs will probably be quite nice).