For my MFA thesis, I’m writing about my great-great grandfather, who apprenticed as a blacksmith in Cleveland, Ohio in the mid-nineteenth century. Here’s a picture of him.
Unfortunately, as a 20th/21st century woman, I don’t come across the blacksmith craft very often. So, my plan is to take a class this June at Old West Forge.
I know a metalworker named Pia, of B32 Metal Fabrications and the other day I was talking with her, nervously, about my upcoming class at Old West Forge.
“How should I prepare?” I asked her. “Lift weights? Walk on my hands?”
“I’d practice my aim,” Pia told me. “If you can hit the mark with your sledgehammer, it will be a lot less frustrating.”
I don’t have an anvil at home, but I do have a large cedar log. Hence, for Mother’s Day I asked my husband and kids for a set of large wood-carving tools, specifically a straight chisel, a gouge, and a small sledgehammer to pound with … and got them! I couldn’t be more delighted.
Already, I’ve been practicing my aim, and so far, haven’t done injury to myself. Somehow, though, I think it’s going to take more than this to measure up come June.
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