The body mechanics of blacksmithing by Caitlin Morris

What an enthusiastic presentation. And so educational! And how clear and infectious the explanation is!

“Don’t hurt yourself!”

During Caitlin's short intro she indicated that she was infected with the blacksmith virus but was less able to hit and move the material hard enough. She wondered what allowed other people to hit the material hard and fast enough. And what tweaks do you need to make to improve your hammer technique. After careful studies and movement analyses, she provides the answer to those questions.

Caitlin discovered that there are barriers to learning good hammer technique. Anyone can move the steel to some extent without good techniques.

However, good technique requires:

• Hit hard enough;
• Reduce muscle power;
• Use gravity;
• Suring your hammer more;
• Gaze looking;
• Shoulder-elbow-wrist-hand-whip.

But a good technique is not just about the physics of hammering. Making mistakes while hammering is essential to learning good technique. Your teacher should point out your mistakes to help you improve.

A tip for every teacher, even the most experienced ones besides the experienced blacksmiths, is that you should never be too afraid that someone might not be able to learn the craft. Improve the things that go well and concentrate on the other things at a later stage of the learning process. Use modeling clay to see the impact of your strokes.

And finally, the best way to learn is to teach yourself!

A very enthusiastically presented lecture with interesting examples in video and photo.

Caitlin found 14 very engaged listeners from 7 countries, with whom she shared her experiences and answered just as many questions.

Thanks to our cooperation with ABANA we will be publishing the recording of this Treff in not too far future.

The next Treff is on Oktober 21 with Kees Klaassen.
Start: 19.00 CEST
Room Open: 18.40 CEST