I was approached recently, to
potentially create a chandelier for someone's home. It would
certainly be the largest single forging project I have undertaken,
both in size and in scope. So I spent some time earlier this month
at the Wareham Forge (www.warehamforge.ca) with friend and mentor
Darrell Markewitz. As a blacksmith with some 30 years of experience
and expertise he helped walk me through the potential trouble spots
of the project, as well as pointing out some of the best ways to
execute things.
One of the things we discussed was the texturing of the material, and just how much work that was going to really involve. Darrell suggested that we develop a texturing tool and I do some of the heavier work under an airhammer. Despite my longtime friendship with David Robertson of Hammer and Tongs Forge and the artistblacksmith.com website, I do not have an airhammer. And the truth was, that every time I had attempted to use a mechanical hammer or an airhammer - not very often - at other shops I had felt a distinct lack of ability to control my material.
So, with some trepidation Darrell
convinced me to give it a go. He developed a simple texturing face
from a railway spike and gave it a test run. Darrell is an excellent
teacher and was patient and encouraging as he helped me to develop
the confidence to work under the airhammer. Darrell's airhammer is
one of David's early prototype machines - they have undergone some
significant improvements since he first began building them and even
working on this early version, they are an excellent piece of
machinery. It didn't take long, and with some helpful suggestions I
was working away at a pace I certainly never could have managed on
the material I was using without the aid of the airhammer.
It really did make all the difference
in the world and I managed to get the first basic steps of a sample
piece - complete with different texturing possibilities and samples
of two possible end finishings finished and assembled. I chose to
make the piece not exactly as it would appear if I build the
chandelier, but as a piece that I could later put mirror glass into
and have as a stand alone piece - and it may just be the prototype
for a series of mirrors now too.
So...while the truth is and will always
be that if you don't understand how to do it by hand you can't do it
with an airhammer it is also true that the airhammer is a great help
and not to be feared. Especially when you are a tiny elf sized
blacksmith - and no, I don't mean a Tolkien elf...I'm a Kelly elf and
while there is little I can't manage to do, the difference in the
amount accomplished before the fatigue point was elephantine. With a
little help from my friends the scope of this project has become far
more manageable.
If you are interested in learning more
about blacksmithing, airhammers or other related items, I highly
suggest you look at both David's and Darrell's websites - and they
are both excellent teachers who run courses regularly every year. David also builds and sells airhammers and propane forges and both have DVDs that are both instructional and educational available for purchase from their website.
David Robertson - www.artistblacksmith.com
Darrell Markewitz - www.warehamforge.ca
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