Striking: The Lost Language

Striking: The Lost Language

(Maximum of 4 people per class)

By GEDDES BLACKSMITHING QUEENSLAND
112 followers
112 followers

Date and time

Sat, 16 Aug 2025 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM AEST

Location

Ipswich Historical Society

1041 Redbank Plains Road New Chum, QLD 4303 Australia

Refund Policy

Refunds up to 7 days before event

Agenda

7:30 AM - 8:00 AM

Welcome, PPE check, sign in and overview of the day

8:00 AM - 8:30 AM

Teams to be sorted and locations in shop

8:30 AM - 9:00 AM

Sledge hammer talk and understanding of different types of sledges

9:00 AM - 9:30 AM

Lighting fires and heating steel and Tong check

9:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Demonstration, class activities

12:00 PM - 12:30 PM

lunch

12:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Demonstrations, class activities

About this event

  • Event lasts 8 hours

This class will take us back to the past, a forgotten past, when communication in the Blacksmith shop was solely done by the ring of the anvil, via the Hand Hammer and subtle gestures by the Blacksmith. These gestures were often missed by the untrained eye and indicated what the Blacksmith needed from his or her Striker. It was the Industrial Revolution that choked out these gestures which had evolved over centuries between the Blacksmith and the Striker.

This language was the creation of generations of Blacksmiths that knew yelling, "hit it", "go", "again" "softer", and "change Hammer," was no way to move through a day’s work swiftly and effectively. In the past, the journeymen had no time to study the local language, but knew they had to learn the language that was, in many cases, used for generations in each country.

We will together work as the Blacksmith and the Striker did centuries ago and revisit a part of man's evolutionary apprenticeship using hot metal, forge, and the lost language.

A strong emphasis on fire maintenance and safety will be discussed throughout the day.

Frequently asked questions

Why was the Striker an integral part of the Blacksmith Shop

The Striker was trained to use heavier hammers called sledgehammers, which could have weighed several times the weight of a hand hammer. It was used to displace more steel than the Blacksmiths hand hammer and also to assist the Blacksmith in driving other tooling down and through hot steel

Tags

Organised by

GEDDES BLACKSMITHING QUEENSLAND
112 followers

Welcome to Blacksmithingqld owned and run by Martin Geddes. Martin is a qualified Blacksmith and has over 45 years of experience in the Metal Fabrication industry - 14 of which were spent in a large variety of heavy fabrication sectors. He has been employed as a workplace assessor, and a qualified Boilermaker/Blacksmith teacher in the metals and engineering field for 30 years. Additionally, he has gained a Bachelor of Adult Vocational Education and international welding qualifications, one as a Welding Specialist and the other as a Welding Practitioner, and is a Welding Assessor for Weld Australia.

For the last several years Martin has found himself in an advisory role to Blacksmith training and delivery. In conjunction with this role, he has produced valuable resources specific to the Blacksmith trade. These resources are currently used in QLD.

Martin is currently in an advisory position to the Manufacturing Industry Skills Alliance group (MISA) and liaising with many Blacksmith groups based in each State to keep them abreast with the change process related to the curriculum changes he is proposing.

When interviewing Martin, it was clear that his enthusiasm and passion for the Blacksmith trade has not and will not waiver. He will continue to ensure that the trade is well represented for its skills and knowledge for future generations.

Michelle Eyles (interviewer)

$315Aug 16 · 7:30 AM AEST