Blacksmithing & Fabrication
Hand-Forged Metalwork
An ongoing project building a fully functional propane forge and burner from scratch, then using it to develop fundamental blacksmithing skills — drawing out, tapering, upsetting, and eventually bladesmithing. Every piece here was made by hand at the anvil, start to finish.
The Forge & Burner
Built from scratchFirst test of Venturi effect forge burner. Click to expand.
In progress leaf keychain ring. Forge is made from light-weight refractory bricks and coated with satanite refractory cement.
Forge will heat steel white hot and sparking in direct sun. More than hot enough to forge weld.
Cool night shot, also showing how hot the burner gets.
Practice Pieces
Learning the craft
Start of a session — tools laid out, anvil front and center, ready to light the forge.
One of my most recent leaves, drawn out and textured with a cross-peen hammer.
My many successes and failures. Learning requires repetition.
Bespoke letter opener. One of the first functional pieces, later filed and waxed.
Forged steel dice — faces filed flat and numbers stamped by hand.
The finished burner — a 3/4" naturally aspirated design built from pipe fittings.
Working a piece at the anvil — drawing out the profile with a rounding hammer.
Cutting off a failed piece. The sparks will never not be fun.
The Knife
Sub-projectAfter some time at the anvil, I got the itch to start a blade making project. I sketched and cut out a knife from bar stock, hand filed the bevel, heat-treated, and finished the handle. The full process is documented on its own page.
Hand-Forged Knife
19 photos — finished shots & full build process