The “making” part of the Blacksmithing 101 class can vary by the teacher or the 101 topics may be rolled into a project class, so the instruction on how to forge a piece like an S-hook or a bottle-opener can be very dissimilar.  The following topics should be covered in any Blacksmithing Safety Sign-Off regardless of the class “content”.

Safety Briefing

• Fire Extinguisher location
• First aide location
• Ear protection location
• Don’t trust black metal; assume everything is hot!
• Forges are hot
• Natural fiber clothes & why
• Leather or canvas shoes
• No gloves for 101 & why
• Eye protection

Types of hammers (hot & cold)

How to hold a hammer

How to swing a hammer

Parts of the anvil

Moving metal from the forge to a worksite

• Piece down, tongs close to body
• Announce your movement to nearby smiths (“hot metal to the press!”)