JR Raeszler

Found me a 3 1/2" post vise. Has a mount welded to it, but it works and only set me back $15. Woot! Woot!

Very nice. Simple, yet well thought out and useful to boot! These are the kind of things that make me happy! Good work!

Holy cow! I never would have assumed that so many would have so positively commented on my post. I was just doing as the forum titled asked, introducing myself. Thanks for the welcome y'all. I will do my best to give my thoughts on posts made and offer my lack of knowledge to those that don't want it. I guess I may have misrepresented a bit as well. I don't consider my disability as a paraplegic as . Sometimes.....well, every time.....it just takes me a little longer to get things done because I now have to figure out how I can get it done. Honestly, I feel the SCI probably made me a better blacksmith....friend....husband....because I don't take anything for granted anymore. For example, if I am making a new bolster plate and all I have laying around is a horseshoe first I have to figure out how I am gonna get the darn shoe off the ground without falling on my face, then I gotta figure out how to get back up off the ground after I stuck the stupid horsehoe in my shirt pocket or down my pants, and so on. But once I am at the anvil and I have my hammers and the forge is making me sweat profusely under the leather apron and I am hammering away making this XXXX filled used horseshoe into something I can use I completely forget I have an SCI, I forget that my dog ate one of my chickens earlier that day, I simply loose track of time and all I can think about is how nice it will be to make the rivet I needed yesterday and how good a cold Coors is gonna taste when I stop cranking the handle on the blower. Anyways, I will work on getting pictures of some of the things I have done and post them in the appropriate categories for y'all to see. I prefer criticism versus praise. Seems to be on ongoing problem with most today, nobody likes criticism, they get defensive. Although it sure makes me feel good when someone I don't know...or even someone I do know....sees the gate pintle's I made and hammered into the railroad tie fence posts and says something about them. JR

Hello y'all/. My name is Jeremy R Raeszler....hence the JR Raeszler. I am now a 40 year old North Dakota kid that transplanted to Northeast Texas....than South Texas....than back to North Dakota...then to Iowa...then to Las Vegas, NV...then to Panguitch, Utah. I have worked on hot tubs my entire working career, my parents divorced when I was in Texas, somewhere...I don't remember where.....when I was just a boy. I grew up with my Momma and her 3 sisters and my sibling...which was a sister. Throughout my life I have always tried "manly" things because of all the women in my life. I have been married 4 times....ooops. Finally I met my match and we have been together for 12 years now. I recently turned 40 years old in July. We have NO kids, but we have 2 dogs, a 12 year old "purse" dog and a 1 year old red heeler. On February 3, 2008, a SUnday, I sustained a spinal cord injury riding a motorcycle. I am now what they call a T12 Incomplete Paraplegic. I have VERY limited mobility from the waist down. Anyways....to fast forward a bit I have always blacksmithed a bit. I still have the 88# Trenton Anvil I purchased as an 8th grader and it is still the ONLY anvil I have to this day. I guess I never considered myself an artist until I found this site a couple months back. I generally don't make things for other people...even by request....because I don't like the attention or the liability. After "lurking" iforgeiron.com for a couple months I am starting to reconsider. I generally don't make "pretty" things, but rather things I use daily....door latches and pintles, tools, truck parts, ect. With this said I will unlikely EVER post pictures of my work...because to me it is not anywhere near as perfect as what y'all do in my mind! Many ask and wonder how I can blacksmith as a paraplegic.....my answer is simple....because I want to. I work with an old coal forge that I bought in 8th grade that has concrete in the tray.....an old Trenton anvil that is not pretty, an ugly stool I made from steel fence posts and horseshoes to lean on (sit on)....and an assortment of tongs that I have made as well as an assortment of pliers that work as good as tongs. I simply love blacksmithing. I probably don't need to repeat it to y'all because from what I have read most of you LOVE blacksmithing....but I will, I LOVE BLACKSMITHING! There is not a better feeling than taking a truck leaf spring, or a truck coil spring, or a truck axle shaft, or a darn used horseshoe for that matter, and turning it into something that you use on a daily basis with fire and a few blows of a hammer. I have NEVER purchased steel, but I am sure I will someday. I buy coal from a supplier in Kanab, UT by the ton, and I break it up myself. Prior to this, as a rotten kid, I made my own....while I was catching frogs. Kids nowadays xxxx me off. You could call me prejudice, (I am a guy that hates all stupid people). Kids today don't have ANY respect for history. Now those of you with kids don't hate on me, I am sure you raised yours good....I just haven't met them. I want all the beginners to know that your work doesn't have to impress the "senior members", or anyone for that matter. If you can forge something that makes you proud and you can use it everyday than you ARE a BLACKMITH. I will attach a recent picture of myself, my assistant "Sticker" and my well used anvil. Maybe...someday....when you are visiting the great state of Utah, you will stop by and my wife and I will make you dinner and we can compare stories. I hope I didn't offend anyone, I want to be a part of this iforgeiron.com community. But this is who I am Jeremy