As a young child, Iain Hamilton couldn’t tear himself away when a blacksmith was at work in Old Sydney Town, local shows or even in movies. Making his first knife at fifteen, Iain bought his own anvil by twenty-two and never looked back. That anvil is still used today at Mother Mountain Forge in Dignams Creek, where Iain teaches people to make knives, including from Damascus steel, and do basic blacksmithing.
The first thing Iain made was a pair of tongs. ‘That’s the great thing about blacksmithing. You make all your own tools. You can start quite basic and increase your tools and skills by doing it instead of buying stuff.’ Working night jobs for cash, Iain created basic items for market stalls to increase his skills, ‘In the knife-making community, there are shows where you can recoup your costs but also learn from others. I started to teach at a mate’s forge around Canberra and then, in 2009, we found Dignams Creek. It took four years to build this forge and I’ve now been doing blacksmithing full time for eight years with the help of Sarah.’
Knife-making is the most popular course, with participants making two knives of their own design in a long weekend. Axe-making and basic blacksmithing are similar length courses. Damascus knives are made by mixing two different alloys, a shiny high nickel steel with a black high carbon steel. Stretching and folding the steels welds them together. Then twisting and cutting the metal changes the pattern in the knife blade, with a beautiful, contrasted pattern of black and shiny steel, finished by dipping in acid.
Iain assures me that you do not need to be strong to be a blacksmith; you need to build up a technique of letting the tools do the work. ‘I will forge for eight hours a day,’ he explains, ‘but my anvil will do fifty per cent of the work because it bounces the hammer back up. I always equate it to golf. Someone young and fit can smash a golf ball to nowhere, and a slight older grey person can make the ball fly with the right technique. Yes, you want to have some strength and body coordination, and after doing it for twenty-three years my body has certainly changed, but anyone can do this.’
Iain is the co-founder of the Cobargo Community Tree Project, inspired by a Victorian blacksmith who called for solidarity from blacksmiths around the world who sent leaves and gum nuts for a tree in Victoria. Iain decided to involve the Cobargo community that had been directly affected by the fires. ‘I want everyone who experienced Black Summer together to make a leaf, including the Sikh community, the family members who came to help fight fires or clean up … everyone. We survived this together.’
Iain is excited about the vision of the community sculpture, but also concerned that the project is running out of time. ‘Our deadline is the October long weekend. Before then, please come and make a leaf for yourself. If you’ve already made one, come and make one for someone who was here during the fires. Everyone is welcome. I recently handed a 97-year-old woman a hammer out here, and kids love it. If you call Cobargo your town, we want you to be part of this.’
The result will be spectacular, but the process has been pretty magic too. ‘Especially when four people from different areas come, it’s amazing to hear stories about the fires from slightly different angles. People might have known of each other, or seen their cars go by during the fires, and then they meet each other. Or sometimes a group of friends come. Some people are still really suffering, and others are doing better. Sharing the stories can sometimes make it easier for everyone. And together we are going to make a tree that won’t ever burn; it’s not going anywhere for the next thousand years. In a hundred years’ time your great grandkids will come and see your name.”
Please book in today by visiting the Cobargo community tree project
Learn blacksmithing or come to Dignams Creek to make your own axe and knives by making a booking on the Mother Mountain Forge website