Blacksmithing Classes and future plans

Blacksmithing
#1

Greetings!

Just wanted to take a quick second to give some updates:

  • We know there is a demand for KMG Belt Sander classes along with Induction Forge. Keep an eye out for them as we will be posting them soon. They will increase in frequency as we get more instructors qualified

  • The next two Open Forges are at night so keep your eyes peeled for those as well!

  • We need instructors! If you want to teach, great! We could use the help! Just reply to this thread about what you want to teach and I will reach out to you so we can ā€œHammerā€ out the details.

  • We also know that there is a high demand for knifemaking classes as well. You are in luck, we have those in the works as well! I promise to update talk when those plans come to fruition!

R,

Jacob

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#2

Please, I would love to see more on the calendar!!!

#3

We elected @jbrown885 as our new chair and myself as the vice chair. Jacob was asked to be the education and training chair for blacksmithing, too.

I got trained on the induction forge, hydrolic press, KMG sander and cutoff saw and I plan to put up some classes on these tools, too. Look for them in the not too distant future.

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#4

Traditionally, weā€™ve taught the KMG, Induction forge, Crosscut saw and Hydrolic press clases on Tuesday nights at 7:00PM. I would like to move them to 7:30PM, but in general Iā€™m willing to continue to do this. However, I wanted to poll others and see if another night works better.

Also, there will be a $15 charge for this training, but we will be making a chisel during the training.
It will be a hands on class. Everyone will be required to perform their own work on their chisel. What weā€™re going to do is 1) heat the round stock (various sizes possible) in the induction forge 2) use the hydrolic press to flatten one end into a chisel shape 3) use the cross cut saw to sever the chisel (6"or so from the rod) and 4) use the KMG to dress the chisel. Finally, weā€™re going to return the chisel to the induction forge to heat treat it, by quinching it in water.

You should be able to leave with a hot cut chisel of your own. The class will be limited to six people. Any more and it will take too long for everyone to complete their chisel. By making the chisels you will develop the confidence to use the tools yourselves.

I have not yet put up a class.

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#5

Iā€™m interested in teaching a basics or knife making class for blacksmithing. Iā€™d love to talk more. Iā€™m on the Dallas Makerspace discord and my Iā€™d on discord is Ketsana#4276

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#6

Iā€™d recommend making the chisel longer: 6ā€ after forming the cutting edge puts the ā€˜smithā€™s holding hand very close to the hot work.

I make my chisel blanks from 7-9ā€ sucker rod, then lengthen the stock further by forging in the taper for the chisel.

Tapering in the struck end slightly improves the working of the tool, as does putting registration marks on the sides. Neither take much time/effort/skill to implement.

FYI, i put together a set of slides on making pouches and chisels a few years back. It is available on the Blacksmithing Committee drive. Doesnā€™t talk about the tools to use though (I like your idea of using several as a survey mechanism).

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#7

Ohh wow iā€™d be very interested in a knife making class. I think i could get some real utility out of that

#8

I agree Mike. Kelly taught us the same. Indexs and tapering are what I did in the class. Iā€™ll find the files on the shared drive.

#9

Iā€™d really like to submit a class to the calendar, I just need to know whether the propane forge can be used indoors or not.

#10

The propane and coal forges must all be used outside.

#11

Got it, was there any plans to setup ventilation indoors for the propane forge at any point? (I had heard talk about it)

#12

Yes, and the committe is working on it. The issue appears to be approval from the fire marshall.

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#13

Final question I swear. Iā€™m assuming Iā€™d need to supply my own propane and steel for a class, if so, is it allowed to ask for small donation to reimburse for those expenses?

#14

Actually, I think if you are teaching an official blacksmithing class where the committee receives some of the honorarium you can use the committees propane, however, if youā€™re just charging your students yourself, you should provide your own propane.

Iā€™d DM @Gearstorian, who is the committeeā€™s education person, for further details or to correct my assumptions.

#15

Thank you!

#16

If you are teaching and providing the supplies you can ask for a reimbursement. If you are using DMS materials and propane then you can request honorarium.

That being said, we can always talk through it and if it seems a bit much we can ask the board of directors how to handle it.

We need knife making instructors because it is the number one thing requested so letā€™s talk through what all you need and how your will be teaching so we can get all the good answers

#17

What class(es) were you thinking of teaching?

We routinely have 3 or 4 people available to help teach most classes: one member is the lead, but other have enough experience to help students. We usually refer to classes as ā€œIntroduction to Blacksmithing and open forgeā€ as some people may also come and work on their own projects while taking advantage of the already-running forges. I say ā€œforgesā€ (plural) since members will also bring in their own forges for common use. One forge can support 3-4 students (2-3 is better) before they get clogged with steel and keeping parts separate becomes an issue.

The Blacksmithing committee usually charges $10, and that covers the steel and fuel used. Steel usually three feet or less of A36, though sometimes weā€™ve used horse shoes, sucker rod, farriers rasps, stainless steel wire, et al for specific projects.

If your project requires special materials, a higher fee might be warranted, but mostly we try to cover costs.

Check with long-time members to see if we might already have suitable steel you might need for the project. We usually buy multiple full (20-24 foot) sticks from a steel/fencing supplier and cut them to size at DMS, as thatā€™s much more economical.

#18

Iā€™ve just put up a blacksmithing class for Tuesday May 31, 2022 in the blacksmithing room. It will cover the KMG, the induction forge, the hydronic press and the cut off saw.

We will be making chisels from a sucker rod. The class starts at 7:30pm and goes until 10:30pm. It should be up in a couple days.

There are 5 slots.

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#19

@coloneldan Is this class visible on the events page yet? I am in the process of joining DMS, but want to make sure there are classes available before I start my membership.

#20

All DMS classes take at least 48 hours before they become visible on the events page. They have to be reviewed by DMS leadership first. Iā€™d go ahead and sign up. This class will likely go fast. Blacksmithing classes usually do.

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