Blacksmithing with Isaac
It was a beautiful fall day. The sky was a blue usually only seen in glaciers (that link is definitely worth a click). The temperature was supposed to be around 70. We had just finished big boy swim lessons when we drove past a park in downtown Fitchburg. I knew there was a little fair going on and that it was the 10th Annual Blacksmith Festival. I was not sure, however, if Isaac would like it. Feeling adventurous, we decided to pull in.
There were about 25 blacksmiths all working feverishly. The festival is actually a contest with three classes of competitors, newbies, amateurs, and pros. Their set ups were pretty awesome as all of them had some kind of portable forge. Isaac and I had watched a video on YouTube on Friday night in case we made it, so he knew what was going on. He loved watching the sparks fly off the metal as the blacksmiths hammered it into shape. He squealed when they dipped them into water tubs sending up a cloud of steam. And he really got excited when the fires were burning.
We toured around for about an hour listening to the music of hammers pinging off of anvils and smelling the odors of pure, unadulterated heat rolling out of the ovens. The coolest ones were cranking out 1700 degrees of heat and the high end ones hit around 2000 degrees.
Here are the tools of Hephaestus:
And here is our boy enjoying the sights and sounds and a sucker:
And yes, that is his devilish look. There is a river with rocks exactly where he is looking and he is fantasizing about some serious rock chucking. Unfortunately we couldn't get down there as there are signs warning against going on the rocks.
Overall, it was a great way to spend an hour. Isaac even has his own blacksmithing video that I will post soon.
There were about 25 blacksmiths all working feverishly. The festival is actually a contest with three classes of competitors, newbies, amateurs, and pros. Their set ups were pretty awesome as all of them had some kind of portable forge. Isaac and I had watched a video on YouTube on Friday night in case we made it, so he knew what was going on. He loved watching the sparks fly off the metal as the blacksmiths hammered it into shape. He squealed when they dipped them into water tubs sending up a cloud of steam. And he really got excited when the fires were burning.
We toured around for about an hour listening to the music of hammers pinging off of anvils and smelling the odors of pure, unadulterated heat rolling out of the ovens. The coolest ones were cranking out 1700 degrees of heat and the high end ones hit around 2000 degrees.
Here are the tools of Hephaestus:
And here is our boy enjoying the sights and sounds and a sucker:
And yes, that is his devilish look. There is a river with rocks exactly where he is looking and he is fantasizing about some serious rock chucking. Unfortunately we couldn't get down there as there are signs warning against going on the rocks.
Overall, it was a great way to spend an hour. Isaac even has his own blacksmithing video that I will post soon.