Will silversmithing help me get where I want to be?

[A.skelton]

Hello everyone,

I have been trying to "find a way" into the Blacksmithing field for some time.. When I was younger I never had access to the facilities/ a local smith to "shadow" in order to get experience.. And so, it was books and videos that gave me my fix! Haha.

It has only been until now where I was in a position to start a Course at University that supposedly allowed you to specialise in Artistic Blacksmithing.. I went for my interview today for the course and passed with flying colours!

However, only to find out "sorry, we do not offer this anymore" and it is much more focused on "small metals" and "silversmithing".. The only university in my area that offered it and it no longer does anymore!! Very frustrating..

My question is; would doing this course and specialising in small metal work and Silversmithing, still be beneficial to me? would the knowledge gained from doing this course still be valuable?

Does anyone know the processes of Silversmithing, what sort of "things" can be made with it? With wax carving/ casting etc?

I have read books and watched videos for far too long.. I need to do atleast SOMETHING! Haha.

Thank you all for reading,

Andrew

[Dodge]

Silver smithing, to my knowledge offers elements of many aspects found in blacksmithing; just different metals. There's heating and beating as well as foundry/casting and cold forming. So I would say... Yeah; while its on a smaller scale as a rule and often geared more toward jewelry and finer arts such as vessels (tea pots etc) and such silversmithing would give you a chance to test the waters. You may even find a niche in it that you enjoy enough to specialize in silver. No shame in that :)

 

Hope this is helpful

Scott

[njanvilman]

Many great smiths started out in the jewelery field.  These slowly started to incorporate elements into their work out of iron.  An knowledge is knowledge.  Just keep your day job.  It is much easier to dabble in these fields if you know where your paycheck is coming from.

[Frank Turley]

In some respects, it's related. A good video* from Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia, shows advanced silver raising, a coffeepot being formed and finished. The film beginning shows the metal being hammered hot, which is hardly done anymore, but which can be done.

 

*The Silversmith of Williamsburg

[John McPherson]

I am going to beat Frosty to the punch for once and ask you to put your general location in your heading and profile. There are lots of resources hiding right under your nose, wherever you are.

 

The NC state community college system does not recognize any** blacksmithing, bladesmithing or ornamental iron courses under the Welding Technologies umbrella. So, if you go to a school that offers an Ornamental Iron or Bladesmith certificate, you will end up taking Art/Jewelry classes and Professional Crafts Jewelry/Sculpture classes in the welding lab. Just scaled up, and in ferrous metals.

 

Old line jewelry schools still teach how to forge and heat treat your own custom small punches and stamps out of steel. Tim McCreight's books are a good start.

 

And yes, high end "Art" knives are very much akin to jewelry. Many bladesmiths have transitioned into the field from jewelry, like Delana. Yeah, one name, like Elvis. Table on the front row at the Blade Show, $10K each, sold out on Friday. Taking orders.

 

Albert Paley is probably the most famous blacksmith/sculptor to come out of a jewelry background. Google his work.

 

 

 

**Yet. Still working on it. Give me another decade.........

[billyO]

I am going to beat Frosty to the punch for once and ask you to put your general location in your heading and profile.

 

 

Careful John, I tried this once and got an a$$ chewing.... ;)

[beammeupscotty]

This video will show you one aspect of silversmithing that greatly resembles blacksmithing.

 

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365104352/

[Ted T]

I believe every bit of experience and information you can obtain in life will add to your ability to be a stellar blacksmith. 

That would include all of the things you learned to do, and the things NOT to do.

 

First: Is a question:  How strong and committed is your desire to become a proficient blacksmith?

How anyone (he or she) answers that question with their associated energy and actions will have a solid bearing on the eventual outcome.

 

By learning the disciplines of other crafts and experiencing everyday life’s challenges, provides a person with an opportunity to learn how to approach

solving a problem; and that can be a good thing.

But that is true only if a person has paid attention.

 

Blacksmithing presents a series’ of special types of challenges that are “only problems” if you are not trained properly in the skill of forging.

 

I believe “Proper Training” is the key:

 

Hopefully during a persons life experience they have learned the value of why a “process has been initiated and used over and over again” safely.

 

The “order of operation” (The WHEN, What, How, How Many, How long, How hard, How Hot, and What Time is Dinner, and On and On) is all a part

of understanding the “Order of Operation” as it is applied to any given process.

Oh, I forgot; “And when is payday?”

 

All of the techniques and values necessary to become a skilled blacksmith can be learned if given proper instruction and examples.

 

Otherwise; you will learn that there is an “Order of Operation” involved in each process. 

With-in the arms of safety, use each skillset one at a time, and at the right time, or combine them when necessary as you are taught.

Then you will experience success as a blacksmith as opposed to failure.  

 

My very best to you as you enjoy the process of obtaining the skillsets of becoming a blacksmith.

[Alan Evans]

Hello everyone,
I have been trying to "find a way" into the Blacksmithing field for some time.. When I was younger I never had access to the facilities/ a local smith to "shadow" in order to get experience.. And so, it was books and videos that gave me my fix! Haha.
It has only been until now where I was in a position to start a Course at University that supposedly allowed you to specialise in Artistic Blacksmithing.. I went for my interview today for the course and passed with flying colours!
However, only to find out "sorry, we do not offer this anymore" and it is much more focused on "small metals" and "silversmithing".. The only university in my area that offered it and it no longer does anymore!! Very frustrating..
My question is; would doing this course and specialising in small metal work and Silversmithing, still be beneficial to me? would the knowledge gained from doing this course still be valuable?
Does anyone know the processes of Silversmithing, what sort of "things" can be made with it? With wax carving/ casting etc?
I have read books and watched videos for far too long.. I need to do atleast SOMETHING! Haha.
Thank you all for reading,
Andrew

 

Short answer yes. I supported myself by bench work in non ferrous metalwork for four or five years after I left College while I was learning a bit of blacksmithery and acquiring tools. Most of that period I worked in silver; sad fact of life that people will pay more for your labour in silver than in brass or indeed in gold as opposed to silver. I was cold forging most of my jewellery pieces in silver as opposed to casting so when I went full time on iron, it was really just a matter of picking up bigger hammers...

Alan

[bigfootnampa]

Having considerable jewelry type metalsmithing experience before I became interested in blacksmithing... I would say that it has been quite helpful to me!  I fell in love with the forging process working copper and silver!  As a blacksmith I feel that I have progressed much faster and further than my experience would normally allow, because of my experience in metalsmithing!  My jewelry forging was mostly all done cold, but the metal moves similarly.  Detail work is still a strength of my smithing skill set and easily traceable to my jewelry experience!

[Alan Evans]

Snip... Detail work is still a strength of my smithing skill set and easily traceable to my jewelry experience!

 

I find it a real mixed blessing. On the one hand great surface quality/detail may make ones work distinctive, on the other I have always had the sneaking suspicion that I was not a real blacksmith because I was so prissy about surface. :) And then there are the practical and financial disadvantages concomitant with trying to microscopically control the detail of a lump of 100mm (4") square weighing half a tonne! :)

 

Maybe the OP would be better off finding another route! :)

 

Just kidding Andrew. I really think that any experience is valuable.

 

If it is a leisure or part time course rather than a full time one you are considering, you might find that you can do an informal apprenticeship with a local smith in exchange for helping out Saturdays or something. You don't need to restrict yourself to institutional provision.

 

Alan

[bigfootnampa]

I am able to turn my perfectionist tendencies on or off at will... so I can get the benefits of my jewelry experiences and avoid most of the pitfalls.  My experiences as a wood finisher helped me a great deal here!  I had a customer who wanted a distressed finish on her cabinetry... "the more distressed the better" were her instructions!  I had not been a real fan of that type work, but this job was HUGE... around 40 cabinets... by the time I finished it I had become a convert!  I have done numerous similar looks since and find that it translates to smithy work quite nicely as well!  Now it is a central theme of much of my work, in all mediums!  Skillfully done, I find the rustic looks to be the most interesting of ALL!  So I have learned to EMBRACE imperfection and WELCOME it into my designs and finishes!!!  Once it becomes an old friend, you cease to FIGHT it!  Invite it into your work and your shop/home, it will reward you with beauty and efficiency, your work will gain depth and durability!  You will be ENRICHED!!!

[Alan Evans]

I am able to turn my perfectionist tendencies on or off at will…   snip... Skillfully done, I find the rustic looks to be the most interesting of ALL!  

 

Ha! spot the non sequitur! :)

 

That is exactly what I am talking about….even one's random rustic is controlled!

 

I really do not think this is a bad thing. Once you are aware of surface and form you cannot unlearn it. It always informs your work :)

 

It is just perfect rusticity! :)

 

Wearing my serious hat though, although it is not hard and fast or a "rule" I always tend to like everything left from the hammer, the surface recording the forming process. Every part of the process and every hammer blow being eloquent, informing and supporting / contributing to the spirit of the piece. And that has followed me throughout my making career in silver, wood and steel.

 

Alan