My New Hammer

I have always been interested in working with metal and had even made a couple metal sculptures but nothing ever really serious or focused. A little over 6 years ago I received a book about blacksmithing as a birthday present from my parents. As I was reading through it I began to think that this was something I would like to try. As I do with most things I am interested in, I began to research it. Looking online for blacksmithing websites and checking out the library and of course I ended up on YouTube.
As a research tool, YouTube is almost priceless. It allows me to access practical information regarding almost any subject I’m looking for. I began surfing through the pages and pages of videos from all over the world covering all kinds of things related to the topic I was interested in. I began to notice that two names kept popping up. One of the names was GaryHuston and the other was TechnicusJoe. I began watching and re-watching various videos these guys posted and I learned quite a bit. I sort of considered myself as their unofficial intercontinental apprentice.
Time went on and I joined a blacksmithing page on Facebook. One day I see that TechnicusJoe has joined this same page! I was jazzed so I sent him a friend request which he accepted. He then sent me a message saying hello! I will fully admit to being a little star struck. Here is a person, who lives in The Netherlands, whose channel I’ve been studying for years and has thousands of views sending me a message! I had to fight to contain myself. We chatted briefly and time moved on.
Recently, Joe’s YouTube channel hit 1 million views and he posted a video on the subject of raising money in order to continue to make videos and support himself. I sent him a message asking if he would consider commissioned work. I saw he had made a couple hammers and I was interested in maybe having him make me a 2.5 lbs. cross-peen. He replied saying that he could make me a hammer but that it would be very expensive and the cost of shipping would be high considering it was coming from The Netherlands.
I had previously priced out hand-forged hammers so I knew what to expect. We talked back and forth and negotiated a deal that worked out for both of us. He even offered to make a video of him making my hammer! I said I would do an honest video review of his hammer in turn. Here are those videos.


Joe Making My Hammer


Some pictures Joe sent me of my hammer being made

Footage of me using my hammer for the first time




My Review of the hammer Joe made me




As I said in my review video, Working with Joe on this was a wonderful experience. He was very accommodating and asked a variety of questions so that he could make me the best hammer possible. If you’re in the market for a custom made hammer that will last a lifetime and out-perform ANYTHING found in the stores, contact Joe HERE.

What's up with the forge??

It has been way too long since I posted here. Life has a way of getting in the way. Anyway, I thought I would bring everyone up to speed on events here at the forge. I stated in the last post that we were remodeling the smithy in order to have an indoor workshop. Those plans are still in effect but various details including site location have changed dramatically. We were originally going to build a small enclosed smithy on the site where the forge was located. Before doing this I wanted to get permission from the land owner so as to not step on anyone’s toes. It soon transpired that there was some dispute as to who actually owned that piece of land. One owner was the person who lives right next to the spot. He would regularly visit me while I was working. The other potential owner was a Farmer who lives up the road from the location and owns the surrounding fields. I diplomatically got permission from both parties and began acquiring materials. I was working with a good friend and co-worker named Steve. I know what I wanted but it was Steve that came up with the design and even donated some material in addition to his time and knowledge. We began building the day after Thanksgiving 2012 and after several weekends in the cold and rain and snow we were ¾ of the way done when one of the owners contacted me and told me I had to take it down for tax and insurance reasons. We were crushed. All that effort and money was going to be wasted. The other land owner in question found out and immediately began researching where his property line ended and eventually discovered that it ended about 10 feet from one of the walls of our shop. There was no other recourse. It took weeks before I could even go down to the site and look at it. I told Steve we had to take it down and a few days later he came to me and said after discussing it with his wife, he would like to offer space on his property to set up the smithy. It wouldn’t be as big but it would eventually be enclosed. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and accepted. While we were building the smithy, I was also helping him remodel the other half of the duplex he owns as a “work in trade” sort of deal. His Mother had been living there but has suffered a bad fall and required an assisted living environment. He offered the opportunity for me to rent it and I jumped at the chance. Not only was this a massive upgrade in living quarters, it would allow me access to the smithy at any time. I moved the hearth and other vital supplies over to the location Steve set aside for me and set it up. He also had someone at work draw up and burn a sign for the forge out of some steel so we put that up as well.

Yesterday, we finally went out to the old site and tore down the building. I will clean up the site and salvage what I can. It’s been a long frustrating year but I have been able to do some things. I built a prototype paper towel rack.

I did an artistic modification to a machete for a costume.

And I made a snake out of a small spike.

I look forward to increasing the production from FRF. I will be sure to keep you all in the loop.