Irish

An easy way to have things to scale is to use graph paper, cut out objects to the scale you want, and you can play around with the layout easily and get a good idea.+1 on David Gaddis' idea of moving out to the country to get away from all the red tape.

Thanks for the welcome yesteryearforge, have been loving this site. Very nice people and great information I must say.

I agree with what has been said about becoming good/great, then to get known. Though, I would disagree and say that he is not selling so much to a nitche market. If you were to take a poll, I think most people would choose between a hand forged quality tool vs. a big box store junk tool that will need to be replaced soon. The key, and I believe the secret is to make price not the main issue. Example. I asked my father in law if he would spend $200 or a little more on an axe, he laughed said he would drive to local big box store and buy one (which he had me do for him last year, and it broke before 3 months...) A few days later I showed him the John Neeman video, "The Birth Of A Tool. Part I. Axe Making" his reponse after the video before I said anything, "you know, buying quality like that will actually save me money in the long run...." I am new to blacksmithing but know a lot about buisness, and his video gives potential clients an intimate look into the "birth" of a tool - in that case, the axe - that people think they have an idea of how it is done, maybe... but how often are they shown in detail the true passion put into a product that they can buy? John is a great craftsman and I will be buying one of his axes,...those videos are very inspiring. This is my first post and am a new member to the site!