Forging metal is not a mainstream hobby, and it never will be. That said, there are still thousands of Canadians with a little bit of garage space and hidden talents that could be used to create beautiful and useful things with a hammer and anvil. One particular Canadian-made forge makes this quite practical.

The model I use comes from Mighty Forge (250.710.3494) and there are specific things I like about it. Besides being compact (it’s about the size of a small microwave), it’s also light enough to carry easily, very powerful and surprisingly quiet. You might not think that a forge that operates on propane could ever be loud, but most are. Quite loud, in fact, in a jet-taking-off kind of way. The quietness of the Mighty Forge, by contrast, makes it much more pleasant to operate than the roaring gas forge I used while learning to shoe horses in college. A 20 lbs propane tank of the sort used to fuel a barbecue connects to the Mighty Forge, providing energy to heat the steel inside red hot. Depending on the heat level you’ve dialed in, a tank will last hours.

Have you ever met a young child who didn’t like to create things? I haven’t, and though plenty of grown-ups claim they’re “just not the creative type”, I don’t buy the argument. Some kind of creativity is part of being a healthy human being. Maybe a forge is just what you’ve been looking for.