website<\/a>. He said students have been visiting the 1750 Smithy, a preserved blacksmith workshop on the North Side on Main Street, to work in a traditional forge environment and practice basic techniques.<\/p>\nMoyer said the team had discussed building a lab for years but wasn\u2019t sure how to achieve it financially or where it would be located.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With student interest rising, Moyer said the idea for the blacksmithing club started to solidify two years ago when a student \u2014 now club president Josh Swavely, \u201826 \u2014 mentioned his passion for blacksmithing in one of Misiolek\u2019s classes.<\/p>\n
Under the guidance of Moyer and Misiolek, the group helped launch a one-credit blacksmithing elective offered each spring. Moyer said this course, now in its second year, is open to students of all majors, as is the club.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moyer also said they are hoping to grow the one-credit course that is currently offered for half a semester into a full-semester three-credit elective for students.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin the course we are developing, the idea is to balance time between the laboratory and the\u00a0lecture hall, between practice and theory,\u201d Misiolek said. \u201cIt will be much more of an opportunity to design your own products, analyze the proposed processes, and learn while you are going through the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moyer said the new laboratory will allow students to complete every stage of the design cycle in one place \u2014 from heating and shaping metal at the forge to examining the microstructure of their finished work.<\/p>\n
She said students will also be able to fabricate hooks, blades and small hardware entirely on campus supported by new ventilation hoods, anvils and space for larger tools.<\/p>\n
Misiolek said the club\u2019s growth has been driven by access to working forges across Bethlehem. Through its partnership with Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, students learn centuries-old techniques at the 1750 Smithy.<\/p>\n
He also said their work with the Lehigh Heavy Forge in Bethlehem allows students to witness a modern industrial facility that provides advanced forgings to clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are connecting the historical aspects of forging technology with hands-on experience and current industrial practices,\u201d Misiolek said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also said beyond traditional forging skills, the new lab will support lessons on heat treatments, controlled cooling and other methods that help students compare how different variables affect the strength and performance of their designs.<\/p>\n
Nick Rockwell, a researcher at the Loewy Institute, said community partnerships have been essential in turning the club\u2019s ideas into practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWith all the support we\u2019ve received, it\u2019s really helped us connect with Historic Bethlehem,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also said Mike Rex, the shop and laboratory operations supervisor, has been instrumental in building facilities for the lab and giving advice on how to best use the space.<\/p>\n
The club also gives students opportunities beyond the classroom. Members have participated in the Forging Industry Educational and Research Foundation\u2019s annual competition and secured funding from the nonprofit organization to support their work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pride ourselves in our hands-on approach,\u201d Moyer said. \u201cThere are a lot of materials science and engineering departments across the country, but many don\u2019t allow undergraduate students into labs or use highly specialized equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lehigh\u2019s Blacksmithing Club is preparing to move into its first dedicated lab space, marking a milestone for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[5877,8919,153,155,154,8039],"class_list":{"0":"post-39753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-4-minute-read","9":"tag-academics","10":"tag-bethlehem","11":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","12":"tag-bethlehem-news","13":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}