Blacksmith School Went to Blacksmith School. It was pretty fascinating. Most of my work involves a computer and the phone. If I’m lucky, I get to travel. I don’t work with my hands often. I certainly don’t create anything out of iron. The school was in Alameda. First time visiting. Took the Ferry over from SF. Walked the mile or so to the school. Alameda is another world from SF. My teacher was fantastic. He was enthusiastic about his craft, without being boring. Everything I needed to know, and nothing I didn’t. My kind of class. The goal of the class was to take a simple iron rod and turn it into a letter opener. What I learned is that blacksmithing is both nuanced and about brute force. Nuanced, because you only apply the amount of heat needed and nothing more. Beginners apply too much heat. Unnecessary. Brute force, because you slam the metal as hard as possible, most of the time, because metal is stubborn. After you shape the metal, you apply high heat, and then twist it to create a handle. The final step is to sand and polish the metal. Mission accomplished. No surprise, the letter opener is my favorite tool I own. The whole process really made me appreciate how hard it is to create “things” in the modern world. As a civilization, we’re so lucky to have harnessed the power of mechanical energy. Creating tools by hand is tough work. There’s a Nigerian proverb I heard once: “A piece of iron can only become what the blacksmith says it should become”. So true. Chris, Mihir, Dan, Paul, Ibrahim, and Excelerator – I think you guys would like this.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 16:17:13 +0000
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