November 2023 Volume 5

FOUNDATION NEWS

How To Start a Forging Club By Mason Weems

So, you want to start a forge club at your school? You came to the right place! I’m Mason Weems, a PhD student at the Colorado School of Mines, and I’ll guide you through the steps I took in the last four years to start a forging club! Forging clubs are a great resource not only for educating students on the industry, but also for engaging students from different disciplines across your campus, meeting other excited blacksmiths from across the country, bolstering students with scholarships, manufacturing and teaching skillsets, and teamwork experiences! The best thing is that you don’t need much to get started: some open space on campus, a bit of funding, and passionate people!

On to equipment and tools: what is the bare minimum you need to start a successful forging club? First, safety again. What PPE is necessary to ensure that users are safe in the shop? At Mines, we require safety glasses, long pants, closed toe shoes, and for users to tie long hair back. Past this, we also require new users to wear long sleeves (non-synthetic!) and leather gloves on both their tong- and hammer-hand in order to protect from flying scale. Proper PPE can do a lot to make sure everyone stays safe, but adequate training is vitally important. Make sure every user prioritizes the safety of everyone in the shop with little actions such as carrying hot steel on the side of their body opposite from other users when going from forge to anvil.

For the forge itself, the size and design depend on how many students you have in the shop, and the nature of your laboratory. Do you have enough ventilation to support a coal forge? Do you have enough space to store propane tanks (tip: don’t get any tank under 100 pounds- they freeze with the high draw of a forge) for a gas forge? Do you have the electrical support for an induction forge? Mines uses a gas forge fed off of natural gas from the building’s lines. The number of burners and footprint of the forge can be variable, as you just need enough space for a few people to have the work heating at the same time. The most important thing is ease of entry to the forge. Large doors that open and close to seal off heat are impractical for long bars and unsafe for students just getting used to a high-heat environment. A forge with side ports or the like is critical. The number and size of anvils can also be variable. How many students do you want to be able to use the shop at the same time? Even a 70 pound low-quality anvil can do the trick as long as you take appropriate care. Two students can be assigned to an anvil at any time, where one student is actively working, and the other

Let’s start with the boring stuff: paperwork and appropriate permissions. Safety always comes first, and making sure that you have standard operating procedures for dangerous equipment and are aware of the workshop’s impact on the surrounding campus and environment is the first important step to take. You should be able to answer the following questions before you start swinging any hammers. Who is the building or lab manager, and what do they require for documentation? Where is the funding for equipment, tools, and stock coming from? What local equipment do you need to be aware of, such as sensitive lab equipment that may be damaged from constant power-hammer use next door? Who is in charge of the space and scheduling, so that you don’t overlap or endanger other users? It can be very productive to combine your forge shop with a welding or foundry space to support each other with tools and repair, but it can be complicated to ensure that no dangerous cross over occurs. What specific steps does your campus require to start a club, such as minimum number of members or officer positions?

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2023 70