This week at IASTUDIOS
Hello everybody.
This has been quite a productive week at IAStudios. Dan has been working on a commission for a gate, Elliot started the week with paperwork but once his knee was suitably repaired started work on some new axe prototypes, and Joe has been working behind the scenes on the website and the emails. We also have had a busy weekend of courses in the forge with students attending our 4hr taster classes and our 1 day knifemaking classes.
One gate commission in progess
Our demonstration gate, what the commission will look like once complete.
As seen above, Dan is in the process of making a gate for a commission we have. This is going to be part of a set of railings which run along a wall and then culminates in a gate. We will be making the gate and railings and then we shall also be installing them on site. Gate and railing projects tend to be quite long processes, so expect to see progress updates in future blogs.
Students forging the tang of their knife by “smith and striking”
Two happy customers with their complete knives
Elliott demonstrating how to forge the point of the knife.
The freshly finished knives up close
Here we can see two students on our 1 day knife making course. The action shots above show the students using the “smith and striker” method to work on the tang sections of their knives and Elliott demonstrating how to forge the point of the knife. “Smith and striking” is when two blacksmiths work together on a piece of work, typically with one smith wielding a sledgehammer to provide a bit more oomph to the work. The one holding the sledgehammer is the “striker” whilst the one holding the hot thing is the “smith”. The “smith” will typically hold a one handed hammer or a top tool and they are in charge of the work. Working together like this generally increases the speed of work by up to 3 times.
Dan demonstrating how to forge out the handle of a scroll knife
The students, attempting to forge out the handles themselves.
The finished scroll knife letter openers plus some extra hooks!
The students above are on our 4 hour taster course. On this course they are learning how to make a scroll knife - a good exercise for learning different processes of forging steel. This is our shortest course, generally aimed at being a teaser into the world of blacksmithing. It is a great way to get a taste of blacksmithing before taking the plunge into one of our larger more in-depth courses.
Cheers to a busy week,
~ IAStudios