Brown County Forge, Author at Brown County Forge

Friday Knife Making Class at Brown County Forge

Knife Making Class Near Me - Brown County Forge

Each week at Brown County Forge, students from Indiana and around the Midwest try their hands at blacksmithing.

The above photo shows the knife Mike, from the Valparaiso area, made in the Knife Making Fundamentals class.

He began the class with no forging experience and within a few hours produced an excellent first knife.

From No Forging Experience to Completed Projects

Since January 2016, I’ve been teaching people how to forge projects ranging from wall hooks to knives.

Most people arrive at the shop in Bloomington, Indiana with no prior experience.

They all leave with a completed project that they made themselves.

It’s an amazing process to be part of.

What Is Knife Class Like?

Blacksmithing Class Near Me - Brown County Forge

The knife making class at Brown County Forge has a set structure designed to help new blacksmiths get great results.

In simplified steps, this is what it looks like:

We start class with a safety talk including the specialized forging equipment we’ll be using.
The project for the day is laid out on the workbench in various stages of completion:
1. Freshly forged.
2. Beginning to grind.
3. Finish grinding and polishing.
4. Hardened knife.
5. Second polish.
6. Tempered blade.
7. Final polish and sharpening.
As the blacksmith, I then demonstrate the techniques the new student will use to forge their knife.
1. This involves a combination of flattening, drawing out, and controlling the profile of the knife.
After a few demonstration heats at the forge, the tongs are turned over to the student to start working the metal.
They then follow the steps laid out below Item #2 above: Forging, Grinding, Polishing, Hardening, Polishing, Tempering, Polishing, and Sharpening.

Great Results and An Awesome Experience

Coaching blacksmithing students over the years has been a lot of fun. We’re currently approaching 1000 successful student projects at the shop.

You are welcome to join a Friday knife making class or look at some of our weekend options.

If you have questions or are ready to book, please contact Terran Marks, the owner, at browncountyforge@gmail.com.

Buy Two Pairs of Tongs - Brown County Forge

There’s an age-old debate in the blacksmithing world between the Purists and the Producers.

The Purists will tell you to make your first set of tongs.

The Producers will say that’s great practice, but what if you want to make something else? You’re stuck making tongs for 6 weeks trying to get it right.

I appreciate the Purists and the Producers. However, I fall on the side of the Producers.

I learned how to blacksmith with manufactured tongs. The first two pairs of tongs I owned were also manufactured. (I still own and use them to this day.)

My tongs were made by the now-defunct Capricorn International. They’re a style called Tom Tongs.

I purchased the two pairs from one of my blacksmithing instructors for $45.

These are Tom Tongs next to a cross peen hammer - Brown County Forge — My first pairs of tongs and my first hammer in 2011.

Buying Tongs Will Free Up Time to Make Other Things

When I was learning how to forge I also took some time to make three pairs of tongs.

I wanted to figure it out.

[I still use one of those first pairs to hold on to pieces while I coat them in beeswax.]

BUT I was more interested in making other things:

Hooks, bottle openers, fire pokers, shovels, knives, toilet paper holders, different bottle openers, different hooks…

All those things are easier to make with professional-grade tongs.

What Tongs Should You Buy?

It depends on what you want to make at first. If you want to play with railroad spike knives, get some railroad spike tongs from Blacksmiths Depot.

Railroad Spike Tongs - Brown County Forge — These are RR spike tongs.

If you want to work with flat bar, square stock, and round bar, but have a small budget, buy Bolt Tongs from Centaur Forge.

Here’s what you should consider:

How big is the steel that I want to hold onto?
What shape is the steel?
What’s my budget?

I use 3/8″ V-bit Bolt tongs and 1/2″ Tom Tongs (they’re similar) for 85% of what I do.

The V-shaped jaws hold onto square, flat, and round bar. Good all-around tongs.

The 3/8″ Bolt tongs cost around $40 for a pair here.

Railroad spike tongs cost about $50 here.

Wolf Jaw tongs are also a popular choice. They cost $30-$40.

These are v-bit bolt tongs - Brown County Forge — These are v-bit bolt tongs.

Why Two Pairs of Tongs?

I would buy two very different pairs so you have a range of things you can do.

A pair for small stuff and a pair for big stuff, for example.

I bought two that were very similar when I started out. The only difference was 1/4-inch in the jaw width.

And, no surprise here, I mainly used one pair. The other one just kinda hung out until I had to do something goopy.

That second pair ended up being my waxy pair for finishing.

So buy a couple pairs if it’s in the budget, but make them different.

These are Wolf Jaw tongs - Brown County Forge — These are Wolf Jaw tongs.

Did You Miss the Anvil and Forge Posts?

You can get my recommendations on Anvils here:

4 Anvils Under $400

And my recommendations for Forges here:

5 Forges Under $500

These posts are part of a series on Setting Up Your Home Blacksmith Shop.

Next we’ll be talking about “The Best Blacksmith Hammer.”

Cheers,