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I Forge Iron

Senior Paper, The lost art of Blacksmithing


Clayton M.

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I'm gearing up to write my senior research paper. I love this site and the people that frequent it, everyone here is always willing to share the knowledge that they have. My paper is on the lost art of blacksmithing, and honestly the things that I could and have found online aren't what I'm looking for. I don't care to read articles written by people who say the art has died out when there are still thousands of hobbyist that practice blacksmithing.

 

I'm looking for stories on how you became a blacksmith and how you got hooked on it. If you know where I could go to find some great articles about the revival of blacksmithing as a hobby, please pass them on to me. Your contributions will make my paper stronger and will show that blacksmithing still lives on today.

 

 

When I'm done with my paper I"ll post it here for those who contributed to see and others to see as well.

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One of the most frequent comments I get at my forge refers to the 'lost art'. People will look whimsically into the forge, shake their heads and say "Ah, there's not many of you left nowadays - it's a lost art". I usually tell them that are are probably fewer smiths around today making buggy wheel rims and axles, but the blacksmiths art is still alive and well.

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Thomas - I was just poking a little fun on that - I still get leery on papers for school as in are "we" suppose to do the leg work on them?  

 

I wasn't asking anyone to do the "leg work" for me. Was I asking for you to write my paper for me? All I wanted was a few stories about how you got into blacksmithing. I wanted your opinion on blacksmithing and not a paper to use. I don't cheat; every paper I have produced for school, whether an English paper or a lab report, they are all original. All I needed was a professional source and this was the place, iforgeiron. I don't mean to come across as rude in any way, I just wanted to set a few things straight. No hard feelings here.

 

Thanks for the information and the suggestions. I really appreciate it! 

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Folks talk about the lost art with me at demos all the time, it's a perfect example of how "common knowledge" is so often seriously uninformed. The "everybody knows" phrase is a red flag warning of ignorant opinion. End rant. <grin>

 

When folk talk about the lost art I like the expression on their face when I tell them there are probably more blacksmiths alive in America to day than at any other time in the past. EVERYBODY knows THAT! :rolleyes:

 

Blacksmithing is no longer an industrial standard for general iron working but there are still lots of us. My "got started" story is here somewhere, I'll spare the others retelling it. . . . Again. Whether there's a big demand or not, as long as there are humans, we'll want to play with fire and most of us will find stress relief and satisfying fun making useful stuff by hitting things. Blacksmithing will never die as long as humans is around. ;)

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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I don't think that the "Art" of blacksmithing was ever lost, I just figured it moved from Main street to a side street or out in the country off the beaten path.  The same goes for Harness Making, Carriage building and Repair. gunsmithing for that matter.  In our area we had a number of blacksmiths that later became known as Farriers and most never did change their titles.  Is it fair to call it an Art or is it just Knowledge?  I prefer Knowledge myself. 

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Frosty I remember long talks back in the early 1980's on how to adapt smithing for lunar or orbital conditions...I'd be happy to go prove in our conclusions!

 

I recall brushing on the topic of lunar or micro gravity forging in the past, mid 80's maybe. I don't recall a lot and if the discussions had been involved I would've been in, hip deep. Speculative space exploration, lunar and belt have been a love of mine for a long LONG time. Did we know each other back when "theforge list" was cutting edge?

 

In my Sci fi universe, (some stories and lots of drafts and outlines) we catapult ourselves into LEO and lunar orbits. We mine the moon for the al, ti, silicates, ceramics a little iron and H3. The lunar catapults send ships throughout the solar system. Outside of attitude adjustment fuel is only burned to orbit with torch engines.

 

What say we set up a smithy in an inflated asteroid the other side of Mars?

 

Oh and the lunar catapult is the Heinlein launch facility.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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