george m.

Dear Beth, This discussion probably deserves a separate thread and if you or anyone else responds to this post I suggest that a new thread be started, maybe under general blacksmithing. You have exactly stated the reasons I am suspicious of "Art." It is pretentious and demonstrates a significant amount of hubris for artists to think that they are a mirror of life and their goal is to "challenge" anyone else's perceptions and experiences or that they have any unique or special insights on life and the world. No one authorized them to perform that role and they are not particularly well prepared for it. Artists do not have a carte blanche to challenge my or anyone else's world view and they do not have any special knowledge or insight different from anyone else's. It has unfortunately been accepted artistic wisdom in the post-modern era that good art "challenges" the viewer and if the viewer is shocked that is all to the good. There is little encouragement to inspire, amuse, intertain, elevate, or otherwise have a positive impact on the viewer. "Beauty" is to be eschewed rather than pursued. It has been my experience that artist, as a whole, can be just as sheltered, insular, and self-satisfied as any other group of people. My experience in the world has been, for good or ill, pretty varied and I have exprienced things which would shock most artists out of their smug, artsy world. 40+ years ago I was an Infantry Platoon Leader in Viet Nam and some of those experiences I wouldn't care to share with an artist or anyone else. Combat is something that no one should have to see. That said, I would not want to share those experiences with someone just to challenge or shock them. If I don't have that right why should any artist have it? Rather, in my opinion, the goal of an artist whether a painter, sculptor, musician, poet, author, or blacksmith should be to leave a positive memory or impression on a viewer or listener. The person encountering the piece of art should leave enspired, uplifted, entertained, smiling, educated, or thoughtful and wanting to repeat the experience. If they are only challenged or shocked the artist has, in my opinion, failed and only accomplished a pretty epic fail. Craftily, George M. "So short the life, so long to learn the craft."

Dear All, Another thought about blacksmithing which I find compelling is the tradition of the craft. A Celtic smith of 500 BC and I could not understand a word of the other's language but we could work in the other's shop. (He would have to learn how a crank blower works and how to use a coal/coke fire and I would have to learn how to use his bellows and to manipulate a charcoal fire.) Every now and again, particularly when things are going well, I feel the shades of all the smiths before me looking over my shoulder. I also feel a responsibility to them and the craft to do things well. It's a bit like the story of the medieval sculptor who was carving the back of the statutes of saints which would never be seen in their places high in the cathederal. He was asked why he was spending so much time and effort on something which would never be seen. He replied that "If I didn't I would know and God would know." I really like being able to put old tools back into use. It seems to me that an object can have a purpose as much as a person. A tool is meant to be used. It breaks my heart to go into a restaurant and see old tools just hung on the wall as decor. Somehow, a tool seems "happier" when it is being used for the purpose for which it was made. I know this sounds kind of touchy-feely coming from someone who just posted a pretty pragmatic world view and is suspicious of "art" but it just goes to show that any one person can be somewhat internally contradictory. George M. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Dear Beth and Others, I suppose my distaste or suspicion of "art" is my experience is that many "artists" and art professors and historians are really just faking it and making it sound much more profound than it really is. Frankly, much of what passes for "art" these days is just dreck and involves very little skill or imagination. A lot of commentary on "art" is very long on content and short on meaning. My previous quote was an attempt to illustrate/parody this. I have heard "art" as defined as anything which arouses emotion. Maybe, but revulsion is an emotion and there are some things which demand a large amount of eye bleach and are worthy of the warning "that which has been seen cannot be unseen." "Performance art" is a good example. Is someone painting themselves blue and rolling around moaning really worthy of being called "art?" I have seen a fair amount of blacksmith art which I describe as the explosion in a spaghetti factory school. The people doing it seem so amazed that they can manipulate a static medium like steel into other shapes that the result is just an exercise in doing that rather than any other end. I'm just a simple country lawyer/blacksmith/geologist/veteran and maybe I'm not sophisicated enough to understand all the "arty" stuff but whatever "art" is I think that beauty and the creation of something pleasing to the eye in involved. Just making something "different" is not IMHO "art." I think that successful "art" is something that someone would be happy to look at every morning when they got up for the rest of their lives. I have paintings which have hung on my walls for decades which still give me pleasure to see every day. People a lot smarter than me have argued for centuries about the definition of "art." The line between "art" and "craft" is pretty vague and difficult to define. They may be different words for the same thing. I have heard on distinction which I am not at all sure I agree with that craft creates useful things and art creates things which are decorative. I am sure that what I produce at the anvil, whether beautiful or practical or both is craft. I am much less sure that it is "art," whatever that may be. Somewhat confusedly, George M. PS The Firesign Theater albums, including "I Think That We're All Bozos on This Bus" may be heard on Youtube. I listened to some last night and it is just as strange and surrealistic as it was 40 years ago. PPS Maybe the real differece between a craftsman blacksmith and an artist blacksmith is that the latter can charge more.

Dear Ianisa, I have always liked referring to blacksmithing as a craft and describing myself as a craftsman. I am not pretentious enough to be an "artist" and to describe my work as something "imaginatively and daringly manipulating a medium to demonstrate the innate plasticity of nature and materials." If I am able to create something of beauty which is pleasing to the beholder's eye and soul, well and good but I am usually aiming at functionality. The line between "art" and "craft" is subtle and subject to a lot of debate but I am proud to be a craftsman but suspicious of being called an artist. Practially, George M. PS I once had a friend who told me that I didn't have enough personality misfunctions to be a good artist. I've know a lot of stable artists but there is something of a grain of truth in that. Stereotypes don't often exist without some sort of basis in fact. Creativity (particularily great creativity) seems to be often associated with other personality issues. GM

PS In case you didn't know a "hot shut" is when you inadvertently fold over the side of a piece you are working on. It results in a fissure parallel to the work and at right angles to the force of your blow. It is also apparently known as "fish lips." As stated above it can pentrate surprisingly far into the finished piece and filing it or grinding it out can result in removing a LOT of metal. GM

I agree about the natural fibers. When burned some synthetic fibers will stick to skin. Not a good thing and may turn a minor burn into something much more serious and painful. Also, when sttting up your shop: The height of your anvil face should equal the height of you knuckles when standing. This is so that when you swing a hammer it's face will be parallel to the face of the anvil when it strikes. Higher or lower makes it more difficult to work accurately. The height of your vise should be the same as your elbow. This is so that if you are filing your forearm will be horizontal. This is probably less important than the anvil height because we do much less filing today than when that was about the only means of stock removal. Don't expect your first project(s) to be perfect. We all learn something everytime we make something and mistakes teach very well. Finally, if you watch a demonstration on Youtube or at a live event try to repeat it yourself as soon as possible. Muscle memory sticks much longer than visual memory. Frankly, most blacksmithing is just hand-eye-brain coordination, much like learning to play a video game. Advisedly, George M.

Dear All, I have been smithing since 1978 and it has generally been at a hobby level. I make a couple of $k/year which supports the hobby plus some. One of the things that has kept me in the craft is the mental health aspect. I work with words and paper all day (I'm an attorney) and to make something tangible which will last long after I am gone is very good for me mentally. Hitting hot iron is a great stress reliever. If more folk worked with their hands (cooking, carpertry, knitting, etc.) I think the mental health industry would take a hit. BTW, the bozos/bus reference goes back to the Firesign Theater, a very strange but funny '60s comedy group which did an album entitled "I think we're all bozos on this bus." Also, one thing that I've noticed is that craft seems to attract craft in relationships. My wife is a spinner and weaver and I know a number of smiths who are married to fiber folk. Has anyone else noticed a similar pattern? Craftily, George M.

Dear All, This is my first post to this forum. I'm finding this site facsinating. I've been a smith sincew the late '70s but have generally "toiled in the vineyard" by myself. A couple of comments on this thread: For a short history of chainmaking in the blackcountry and examples of tommy hammers see the Shire Publication "Chainmaking." Most of the photos are late 19th to early 20th century. There is a surviving water powered trip hammer at a monestary in the Pyrenees in Spain which has been dated to Visigothic (7-8th centuries). The relative value of materials vs. labor may be seen in surviving 18th century smith's account books. Making a horseshoe might be 6 pence but if the customer provided the iron the labor was only 2 pence. This is not an actual example but the actual entries are of about this scale. In the 21st century we have a hard time thinking of labor as being cheap and materials expensive but prior to the industrial revolution that was exactly the economics. Materials were produced on a much smaller scale and entailed much more relative cost. Think of what was involved in mining and smelting 100 pounds of iron before blast furnaces and the other machines of modern steel mills. Yours, George M. Ft. Morgan, CO