I would love to have you join me for a class at my school: Ms Caitlin’s School of Blacksmithing. We’re based in Frederick, Maryland, USA. See https://MsCaitlinsSchool.com to schedule a class. Check out https://diyblacksmith.blogspot.com/p/blacksmith-schools.html for a school near you if you live in the United States. Someone you know has gotten into blacksmithing and you're looking for an appropriate gift! Never fear! I can get you pointed in the right direction. I teach blacksmithing full-time at Ms Caitlin's School of Blacksmithing in Frederick, Maryland. People always want to know how they can support someone who is learning blacksmithing. I created this list to make it easy to get a gift that will be appreciated. Over the last EIGHT years, I've compiled, edited, and updated a truly epic list of gifts for the blacksmith on your gift list. I use these tools and products (or equivalent) in my shop unless noted. The annual updates to this list now take two full days to complete. The great news is that there are gifts that fit any budget that will be a great addition to any blacksmith shop -- large or small! So, without further ado, please check out 60+ Gift Ideas for Blacksmiths! ---UPDATED for 2023!--- Someone you know has gotten into blacksmithing and you're looking for an appropriate gift! Never fear! I can get you pointed in the right direction. Honestly, I've lost track of how many gift ideas are in this increasingly epic post. There were 60+ ideas here a few years ago. Compiling and updating this list takes a LOT of time and effort, so there are affiliate links that will give the school a tiny kick-back. Please feel free to comparison shop and leave me feedback if you find a better product or better deal. Tongs
I don't know of a single blacksmith who would turn down a well-made set of tongs. You could keep a blacksmith happy for years by buying a different size pair of tongs for every major gifting occasion. Marking and Measuring
Joinery
Finishing
Cutting & drilling
Education Classes I SUPER DUPER recommend getting your blacksmith at least one class a year. Yes, I know that classes can be expensive and can take up precious vacation time. But, it's the fastest way to recharge your blacksmith. They'll come home with new skills, projects, techniques, and ideas. And friends. This list is East-coast-centric, because that's where I've been able to take the most classes. If you run a school that you want included on this list, drop me a line! (In no particular order...)
The big tools Your blacksmith is just starting to set up their own shop and you want to help them get there. The most important tools for smithing (forge, forge stand, fuel, anvil, anvil stand, post vice, post vice stand, hammer) are actually the most challenging items to list in a gift guide because so much depends on their shop setup and their personal preferences.
Safety Eyes
Face
Hands/Arms
Workwear
First Aid
Fire safety
Other good stuff A blacksmith shop takes time and energy to maintain. Having good quality tools helps your smith spend time doing what they like best: forging. This part of the list includes the stuff that helps me stay productive in the shop.
Giving back
Maybe your blacksmith has it all! Or, perhaps you're interested in supporting the craft as a whole! You may support these organizations with funding to support daily functions, scholarships, or relief grants:
All of these organizations would be happy to work with you to set up regular donations or planned giving. My student had just made the transition from hammering with effort to hammering with ease and his face was alight with wonder.
Hammering with ease DOES feel joyful. Most folks come into my shop expecting to hammer with all their strength. And they do a great job showing me how strong they are. But the reality of it is that you don't need to be particularly strong to blacksmith. It can help, certainly, but it's not required. We are conditioned to believe that we must hold the hammer tightly, that we must hit with effort, that we must control the movement tightly. But hammering with tension in our body makes each blow less effective and makes us more prone to injury. Additionally, with tension in our body, we're less able to see the effects of each hammer blow and less able to notice the sensory feedback that helps us to make the next hammer blow better. (Don't even get me started talking about reaction time -- that's a post for another day!) The challenging part is that transitioning to hammering with ease can be challenging for folks who have years of experience: switching technique often means that the hammer control will be a bit funny for a few hours. Many folks find this temporary loss of accuracy frustrating and they may find themselves defaulting to their old method. The good news is that the accuracy comes back pretty quickly and the payoff can be joyful. We are really so so so so very excited to be throwing our doors open September 26 from 6-9PM.
You'll get to see some blacksmithing, get to eat some snacks, and get to meet some cool people! You MIGHT even walk away with some cool stuff! :D There will be opportunities to hear about what we're doing to support diversity in the craft (Ms Caitlin was a founding member of the Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths, and we're PASSIONATE about teaching blacksmithing in a way that is appropriate for YOU and YOUR individual needs), and ways that YOU can contribute to a scholarship fund to help get folks in the door who have financial barriers. Please note that there will be NO on-site parking available in the parking lot by the school -- this is all reserved for residents -- but there is street parking and parking in the Court Street Garage. Truly, we are SO excited to see you! <3 (This story is, uh, FIVE YEARS overdue! I have so many things to share with you, but, uh, things have been very busy!)
My studio mate and dear friend, Kest Schwartzman, of Vagabond Metalworks, made a pretty big announcement about buying a permanent location for Vagabond Metalworks in Western Massachusetts. Although nothing has been finalized yet, I am excited for them! (And sad, too. Kest and I have been sharing space since 2015!) Ms Caitlin's School will be staying in the existing space. If the deal goes through (it looks pretty good--but one never knows), there will be some disruption of class time as we navigate moving Kest's metal shop out--likely in late August or early September. Moving a metal shop is... well, to be honest, it's something I can't even comprehend. There's SO MANY HEAVY TOOLS! And moving out of state DURING a pandemic is just... complicated. And EXPENSIVE. And time-consuming. If you have a little extra to spare to help Vagabond Metalworks transition, I'd appreciate it! What does this mean for Ms Caitlin's School? EXCELLENT QUESTION! In the short term (end of August, early September), there will be some class session cancellations to execute the move. If this impacts you, I will contact you as soon as possible. In the medium short term (mid-Septemberish), classes will resume as normal. After that, well, I'm kicking around a lot of very exciting ideas. But the transaction has not been finalized yet and I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. :) In the meantime, stay tuned, donate to Kest's GoFundMe, and stay cool!
I used to struggle with making leaves. The leaf part would break off long before I finished working on the stem. I thought I was making the stem too thin. Turns out, I had some thin places which I could protect by making MORE of the stem thin.
If that sounds weird and backwards, check out why in this video! One of my students nudged me about my blog yesterday. Oh, right. I really should post something, even just to say, "yep, still here!"
Yep. Still here! It's been a whirlwind of a year since I last posted. I feel like I've traveled more than I've been home. I spent 4 incredible months at John C Campbell. I was filmed for a few episodes of Man at Arms. I got to teach at John C Campbell, Touchstone, Brookfield, Central Maryland Blacksmith Guild, and I'm prepping up now for a class at the Banton-Smith Center. I got to help found the Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths. I demoed for Central Virgina Blacksmith Guild, and will be demoing at NC-ABANA this weekend. In the spare moments in between, I've been teaching at my shop in Frederick, MD, doing some commissions, and sketching out curriculum for some new offerings! Each one of those experiences deserves to be its own blog post and, indeed, I have half-finished drafts that may, one day, get posted. I've learned a lot, but need some time to process all that into coherent blog posts. I am looking forward to spending some dedicated time shop in October, November, and December. I've just posted the class schedule for those three months. We're planning an open studio soon, so stay tuned! |
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