Fitchburg Forge In competition 2021

allessence · #1 09-26-2021, 06:24 PM

This past saturday I went to do the forging competition in Fitchburg MA.

I took a 1st and 2nd place but did not finish on item 3.. I mean I handed it in, but it was not done.

The comp this year was all about art.. The judge Ellen Durken is kinda famous for body art..

Art is not my go to.. Was extremely challenging and session 3 was a wearable.

I challenged myself though I was fried from item 2..

I haven't been forging much since 2/2021 like 8 times so not enough practice to get in shape. This factor really had me.. I would putter out then regroup.

At the end I made some mistakes like shearing the head of the rivet off for the hinge while I was forging it.. Nearly done.. So had to do it again and then my hands were not working well on small parts so dropped a rivet 6 times till I used my scroll tongs to hold it.

And lastly the rivet in 1 scroll set (tendril) came out 2 times during working them.

I could have finished if I had another 5 to 8minutes but even then I was looking at the item as 2 dimensional vs 3D and I never put the curve into the shoulder straps..

Overall I'm happy but would have loved to have taken champion again..

But a lack of getting out and forging and getting in shape played in..