Gone are the days when a Scout could get his Metalworking Merit Badge by going down to the local blacksmith, tinsmith, silversmith, or foundry and hanging around watching them work. These days, most scouts don't have access to old-fashioned craftspeople, and instead, have to take a class such as this one.

This class satisfies the "lab" part of a Metalworking Merit Badge program run by a BSA authorized metalworking Merit Badge Counselor. Usually, the counselor will have already run a classroom session with the scouts in which they go over various bits of book-learning, mostly general in nature.

After that, they're ready to actually do some smithing, and that's where we come in. The class is split into two sessions. In Session One, the scouts learn a bit about safety in the smithy and basic smithing skills such as forging, bending, curling, twisting and annealing. They do so in a way that satisfies the BSA MB requirements to make a right-angle and a U-shaped bend, taper to a point, twist hot steel, and work-harden and anneal non-ferrous metal. During the course of all that, we have them make a useful and hopefully decorative wall hook, which we help them hot-punch so it can be hung up at home.

In Session 2, they make a simple center-punch, a temper-color index and a piece of their own design, using the skills they've learned and adding solid riveting as well. The design for this piece is to be vetted by the MB counselor before Session 2.