Moving Metal Magazine

Contributing smith and Forged In Fire champion, Derek Melton, writes to clear some of the confusion around the Chinese-made 15kw machines and to provide some guidance for those looking to add one to their shop. My first exposure to an induction forge was at the shop of Clay Spencer in 2019. I took a power hammer tooling class in which we used the induction machine to do some of the forging. I was unable to stop thinking about these incredible machines for months afterwards. I don’t pretend to know all there is about the science and technology behind an induction machine, but I can cover the basics. As I understand it, an induction heater uses electromagnetic induction to create friction in the molecules of a conductive material, such as steel. The heater is built with an electronic oscillator that sends high-frequency AC power through the magnet creating a magnetic field into which a steel can be passed. The resistance of the molecules of the steel causes it to heat from inside. Growin...

I’m a third-generation craftsman. For as long as I can remember, I’ve worked with my hands. My father has a background in construction and drywall that he learned from his father, and in the early 1990s he began refinishing and selling antiques. He launched into antiques full time and from there he developed an eye for old world European furniture and design. He used those skills to start a business reproducing architectural elements patterned after the old-world styles. Instead of taking old wood and refinishing it, he began building new pieces and distressing them to look centuries old. He builds book cases, tables, fireplace mantles and beams for high-end homes around the country. My brothers, sisters and I grew up working summers in his business. I remember when I was six my dad would sit me in his lap in front of the bandsaw and teach me to cut out shapes from the wood. At 14 I was introduced to the world of blacksmithing. Growing up on a farm I was always carrying knives in the w...

One of our goals at Moving Metal Magazine is to help grow the craft by featuring young people taking up the hammer. Here we introduce you to teen blacksmith Savannah Taylor. She lives with her parents, and doting dog Darcy, on their 21-acre hobby farm in Statesville, North Carolina. MM: Savannah, you indicated your fascination with blacksmithing began at age 13. How did you get exposed that it captured your attention so? Taylor: I heard about blacksmithing because a few people I knew at the time were getting interested in it. I really wanted to try it because I’ve always loved working with my hands and creating. My parents were very supportive and found a local blacksmith that I could get a couple classes from.  MM: Still just 17, many will be surprised at your craftsmanship. Do you think being a teen blacksmith limits you in any way? Taylor: I’ve found it very difficult at times to keep up with school and still have enough time to keep up with orders. Also, because of my age I’ve ...

by Billy Salyers Blacksmithing has been called the king of crafts. It’s also been called a dying art. Nearly pushed to extinction by the industrial revolution and the digital age. How wonderful that its resurrection can be partially credited to the factors that caused its decline. Digital media provides a means for aspiring smiths to learn, on some level, from talented smiths across the world. Industry provides affordable tools easily sourced by any beginner until such a time he or she can begin to forge higher quality tools.  Mine is such a story. I’ve been a hands-on guy my entire life. Taking apart toys as a kid to see how they worked, I saw something in my children’s generation that was missing, a love for manual labor and a lack of skill for it in the absence of that love. I set out to fix that, at least with my children. We started summer projects, building sailboats, raising chickens, etc. But it was when we decided to use my grandfather’s anvil and hammers and learn to forg...

Pickup tong design I came up with this design for these tongs after working with Alfred Habermann (1930-2008), one of the great European artist blacksmiths. He was made an honorary ABANA member in 1980. He did not use tongs exactly like these for hammer making. I have always called them a modified Habermann pickup tong. They have a few modifications that make them the best tong that I have ever seen or used for making top tools and hammers.  The first modification is the hole placement which came as a result of adding the drawn out corner at the first bend. Not only does this make it easier to make this style of tong, but it allows you to open the jaws wider without having your reins open as wide. You can hold everything from a sledgehammer to the smallest tool with a comfortable grip. Habermann’s rivet was closer to the first bend. The next modification is the proportion of the jaw arms. The shorter arm to the longer arm proportion is important for holding all sizes of tools secur...

by ABANA education committee and Janie Grela, ABANA Executive Director This year has been a year of development for the Artist-Blacksmith Association of North America. ABANA is the primary national organization for blacksmiths and has perpetuated the noble art of blacksmithing for nearly 50 years. Established in 1973 by a group of smiths who recognized that the skills and traditions of blacksmithing needed to be preserved and passed on through teaching. ABANA's new international headquarters in Johnstown, Pennsylvania ABANA membership is now more than 3,100 strong and more than 50 affiliates all over the country and also representing members in thirty-two countries. In the spirit of ABANA’s founding vision, the association is embarking on a new endeavor: the ABANA National Curriculum. Launching the curriculum ABANA Education Committee Co-chair, Doug Eichert, visited Southern California in 2018 and was impressed with educational offerings that the California Blacksmith Association (...