Well, back in May I felt like I wasn’t being kept busy enough, so I decided to go to The Crucible and check out their blacksmithing class.

It was really awesome. I had no idea what to expect from blacksmithing, except that there was going to be a lot of hot fires and lots of banging(that’s what she said).

The Crucible is really cool. It’s this huge warehouse, that’s segmented into different areas of speciality: blacksmithing, glassworking, mold-making, wood-working, etc. Everything that has to do with industrial arts and/or fire, you’ll find at the Crucible. They have welding classes and glass blowing. It’s really, really cool.

For our first class we got to make hooks. It’s a great project since it teaches you the basic techniques that you can use on a lot of other projects. Things like tapering, twisting, bending, punching, etc. Once you have a good handle on these basics, you’ll be using them a lot on other projects.

So that’s my anvil. Your standard blacksmith tools are, of course, the hammer, a pair of tongs to pull the metal from the furnace. The anvil of course as well, and a glove to wear on your tongs hand cuz i’m still a pansy, and the furnace is NO JOKE.

Speaking of the furnace, there it is. It’s gas powered, and it’s hot as hell. Having your arm close to the opening for more than 2-3 seconds and your hand starts to feel like it’s burning.

My anvil-neighbor grabbing her metal from the furnace.

Some of the knives we learned to make. Yes it’s rebar. Those things are pretty tough to work with. They’re dense, but kinda brittle too. It’s a nice little introduction to making knives. My plan is to take the “bladesmithing” class in the fall.

So if you’re at all interested in these kinds of art classes, check out the Crucible. It’s really fun, hands-on classes.