Hammer Time

I just spent a great week in a John Cogswell Forging Workshop. John is one of the nicest and most knowledgeable teachers I've ever had. He was open for every question (no matter how silly) and treated each person there with respect and encouragement. For five days, we learned how to stretch and form metal with a hammer and an anvil. He taught us how metal moves and what we need to do to make it move the way we want it to. Easier said than done! Well, it was easy for John, but a challenge for the rest of us. Here he is demonstrating for a couple of ladies in the class.



This copper necklace was our second class project. John whipped this one out from a piece of round copper wire in about an hour. It took the rest of us an entire day...some of us it took two days.



This is how people keep their forging hammers safe from getting marked up accidentally. Hmmmm...could this be Jessica's next knitting project? Hammer socks?




If anyone reading this has an opportunity to take one of John's workshops, don't hesitate. He's excellent.