Bert145

It takes money to make money, no matter what the trade, craft, art or skill you're talking about. It's tough to start from nothing and make something. But, it can be done. I remember an old timer who once told me, "...if you've got a pick up truck, if you can't make $50,000 a year, you ain't tryin." I'm like a lot of others on this thread, with tens of thousands of dollars invested in a trade (mine happens to be heavy equipment repair). A lot of my tools work well with my hobby of blacksmithing. But, to translate my hobby of blacksmithing into a money making venture, it'd take many thousands of dollars. On the other hand, I've only spent a couple of hundred dollars on making my blacksmithing hobby viable for producing Christmas gifts for my kids, practicle items for my wife's garden, things for around the house... All hobbies cost money. All businesses cost a LOT of money. You've just got to evaluate the return. Best regards to all, Bert

mcbruce, CurlyGeorge, Mark and Swamptroll, thanks for the welcome. mcbruce, you're right, I've found more answers to blacksmithing questions here than on any other web site. CurlyGeorge, I appreciate your advice on posting pix here, but I think I'll hold off on loading up the IFI web masters' work until I'm doing something that merits either closer examination for problems or real specific questions I've got. In the meantime, the simpleton stuff I'm doing is on my web site. Mark, yeah I've got something of a feel for how metals act - but I've got to say, I'm glad I kept my mouth shut around here. I've been humbled by the difference between welding/fabricating and blacksmithing. Swamptroll, I did things kind of bass akwards - joined ABANA first, then found out about the NYSDB. I'll be joining up as soon as I can afford it and afford the time - which will probably work out to around mid to late winter. Looking forward to meeting you too! Again, thanks to you all, Best regards, Bert

Hello. The name's Bert Olton. My wife Bonnie and I live in Palmyra, NY which is a little village about 20 miles east south east of Rochester, NY. Nope, we're not Mormons but we do have six kids and one grand son on the way. I've been a heavy equipment mechanic/operator, truck mechanic/driver, certified welder and rigger for more than 30 years and for most of that time blacksmithing has been at the back of my mind. I've read about it over the years and drooled over pictures of other people's work on line and in the ABANA magazine. 25 or so years ago I even purchased a little starter set from a guy named Don Newcomb, a blacksmith in the greater Rochester, NY area. But, until a little while ago, I never had the time to get going with it all. Well, I've finally forced myself to get started and am enjoying the heck out of it. This forum has been a real inspiration and an incredible resource. I want to thank all of you for the incredible amount of information you post here. Every time I log in, I learn something, jot down notes, and book mark pages. I probably won't post much - there's still too much to learn, but again, my real thanks to you all. Best regards, Bert