Blacksmithing Research Paper

Words: 695
Pages: 3

I often lose track of time while doing a hobby that I love. A hobby mixed with many of my interests and talents, an old and seldom used practice. My beloved hobby is blacksmithing, an art form of skill and imagination. Blacksmithing is the act of creating art from wrought iron and steel by manipulating the metal with certain tools such as a hammer, anvil, and forge. These certain tools are a necessity for any blacksmith; now a hammer is an easy tool to come by, all that took was a trip to Home Depot, but a blacksmith foundry and an anvil are not so cheap nor easily found. So instead of spending 300 plus dollars, I decided I would make a foundry and anvil. The anvil was simple all I needed was a large piece of metal to hammer on, so I used a brake plate. A foundry is comprised of an enclosed space, constant flame, and extreme heat. For this, I used an old grill, a hairdryer, and a lot of charcoal. The grill kept the heat enclosed, the hairdryer kept the fire at a constant high, and the charcoal is the hottest source for a reasonable price. The reason I decided to start blacksmithing of all things was due to my love of history. The thing I do most in my free time is to learn more about history and art. So …show more content…
The ideology behind blacksmithing, besides for necessity, is to make something useful or beautiful from something shabby or broken. I will often walk up and down the railroad tracks looking for discarded, broken, or rusted away railroad spikes to then reforge into art, tools, or accessories. In addition to forging artwork I also Blacksmith to relieve stress and anxiety. It helps me so much to take my mind off of the everyday troubles of school and family. This is when I really lose track of time; I'll put in my ear buds, turn on some music, and hammer away for hours at a time. Although hammering metal is fun and all I still need to know what exactly I am