Teaching at Penland
On August 21, 2014 by jaustinI got the opportunity to teach a course in the Iron Studio at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. The name of the course is “Silver Overlay for Blacksmiths”. In it I will lead students in the forging of small articles of iron which they will then decorate with pure silver by the
From Beach Sand to Blade
On July 23, 2014 by jaustinMy friend Jeff Pringle has been using his own method to smelt magnetite sand from the beach into high-carbon steel for years. About a week ago we used a slightly new approach to make a small “biscuit” of very sound metal which was large enough to yield two knife blades. Here are some pictures of
Steel Bits for an Antique Adze and Two New Axes
On July 23, 2014 by jaustinA friend brought me an adze forged from wrought iron that had surfaced on the agricultural land that his family has owned since 1845. He asked me to re-steel it so, …after overcoming my reluctance to risk a historical artifact on my first attempt at re-steeling, I set a piece of 1075 onto it. I
Forging a Small Block Anvil
On July 15, 2014 by jaustinOne of my goals as a blacksmith is to forge my own version of a beautiful bickhorn that resides in the smithy in Bavaria where I did my apprenticeship. To accomplish this will take a lot of practice and planning. Last weekend I took a step in that direction by forging a 13 pound anvil
Tools and Materials for Teaching Axe-Forging in Santa Fe
On July 15, 2014 by jaustinI’ve been busy forging special tools and preparing materials for the axe-forging class that I will be teaching at Helmut Hillenkamp’s blacksmithing shop in Santa Fe next week (July 25th – 27th). This is the first class that I will lead on the asymmetric wrap technique for forge welding Viking style axes. Wish me and