[TheForge] blind smithing - was Pennsic survived

[Saint Phlip]

Well, I found the whole thing interesting. As we all (should) know, we
use more than just our eyes to smith. For example, I had some of my
students convinced I had eyes in the back of my head, because I'd be
talking to someone else and suddenly tell them the steel was too cold,
and to put it back in the fire. Obviously, I was listening to the
sound of the metal being hit, and when it went from the "thud" of soft
metal, to the "tink" of hard metal. Maxx picked this up pretty
quickly. And, the time he missed with the hammer, and hit the anvil
was pretty much self correcting- the "clank" it made hurt his ears
sufficiently, that he never made THAT mistake again ;-)

But, there was a good bit of learning for all of us- little things,
like making a scratch with a file on the bar stock, so he could orient
the piece in the fire. Some things he was better at than the sighted
folks- finding the notch for cutting the long bar stock, for example-
a couple tries, and he was actually faster at it than any of my
sighted students.

And, we learned that to help him "feel" things, he could use the
hammer as a sensing device. We had originally tried with a rod of
steel, but that added one more item to keep track of, and make sure it
was cool, so we switched to the hammer, which worked pretty well.

He did make one of the usual beginner mistakes- got too casual with
the steel, and burned himself. Had been telling him and telling him,
to feel the steel throughout its length, rather than tapping it every
couple of inches or so, and sure enough, he tapped it every couple of
inches, and hit a hot spot.

But, over all, although it took longer than it might have with a
sighted student (although I've had sighted students who would have
taken as long- some people just don't have a talent, and need to
substitute hard work) he did, in fact, get his piece done, by himself,
and helped the others a bit as well.

Over all, I'm very pleased, and look forward to him trying again next year.

On Mon, Aug 18, 2008 at 9:28 AM, Eric Klaus <eric.klaus at gmail.com> wrote:
> Harlan Krueger, a member of the PBA (Prairie Blacksmith Association) is the
> primary blacksmith at Rock Creek Station in Nebraska.  He said one of his
> biggest thrills was when a group of blind children came to visit ... ages
> ranged from 10 to 16.  He talked their leaders into letting them pound some
> steel.  Once he got them positioned, he said they could repeatedly hit the
> same mark that he would first tap with his hammer.  Every one of them got
> the chance, and at the end of the session, they had 2 foot piece of steel to
> take back that they had all pounded on.  He received a thank-you note from
> the leaders that brings tears to your eyes.  The kids pass that piece of
> steel around their story circle and tell about the day they all got to be
> blacksmiths.  The leaders of that group now schedule with him yearly to come
> down and spend time at the shop.
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-- 
Saint Phlip

Heat it up
Hit it hard
Repent as necessary.

Priorities:

It's the smith who makes the tools, not the tools which make the smith.

.I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary
notices I have read with pleasure. -Clarence Darrow