Interview with Louie Raffloer, blacksmith
I recently did an email interview with blacksmith Louie Raffloer of Seattle’s Black Dog Forge; I also visited the forge to see a demonstration of his induction forge. The shop is an amazing place, with a huge assortment of equipment, art, anvils, and racks bristling with tools - a collection that’s obviously taken years to acquire. Blacksmiths make everything - forges are built with fire brick, tools are forged in the shop, everything is very hands-on. Black Dog Forge does commission and art pieces ranging from beds, tables, and other furniture to door hinges, gates, and masks. Louie also teaches classes in repoussé, a surprisingly delicate process that creates a raised design on sheet metal and uses no heat.
Working metal is a process that takes an eye for reading the heat in the metal and a lot of finesse. There’s a certain amount of working time after you heat a section of metal that depends on a number of factors: the type of metal, the thickness of the piece, how hot it is, and your skill and speed. The act of hammering can sustain the heat - you can actually hammer a cold piece of metal and create enough heat to light a fire. Black Dog has traditionally used natural gas and propane for forging, but Louie demonstrated his electric induction forge - it can heat a metal rod to red hot working temperature within seconds. It’s really a revolutionary tool for the blacksmith - it heats very specific points on your work without heating up the whole work area, it heats FAST, and it uses considerably less energy than traditional methods. The video above shows the heating (and subsequent breaking) of a piece of pipe - you can see how quickly the small section got red-hot.
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Original post by Patti Schiendelman