Greetings everyone! I would like to introduce myself to the community.
My name is Terry ( 57 years young!...lol) and I am a qualified Blacksmith having served a VERY Rare apprenticeship (7,280 hrs) and have my ticket as a Blacksmith. I served my apprenticeship at a major steel mill and completed it in 1981. I have spent the greatest part of my working career in the industrial sector and most of my work has been on a very large scale, both in terms of quantity and size of product.
I have made a wide ranging variety of tools for use in the steel industry, including hooks for overhead cranes (ranging from 15 to 100 ton capacity) and have extensive heat treat experience, especially with the class of "Tool Steels".
Prior to getting my apprenticeship I had worked in the steel plant in both electrical and mechanical maintenance and consequently worked throughout the different areas of the steel mill from coke making,to steel making, iron making, hot roll mills and cold work mills, so have had the opportunity to see and learn some of the processes involved.
I moved to the little Town of Gananoque (pronounced Gan-A-Knock-Way)in the heart of the Thousand Islands region on the shores of the St Lawrence River( for those less familiar with Canada about halfway between Toronto,Ontario and Montreal,Quebec) were I worked as a Blacksmith for a forging operation that produced auto parts. Our employer pulled up stakes and left us (85 employees) without a job in December of 2005. We worked our shift Fri and Sat morning there was a letter in our mailboxes saying the plant was closed!Not really my idea of an early retirement plan but nothing we could do about it, so now I have moved to the country and opened up a little Blacksmith shop to kind of fill the void.
Now is the time to learn to be a different kind of "creative" and apply my skills and knowledge to the general population. I am more than willing to share my experiences with anyone and look forward to learning a few new "tricks" myself!
It pleases me to find such an open and welcome community as found here on the I Forge Iron site as well as on Anvilfire and look forward to spending time with my fellow journeymen and those willing to try something that is both new and very time honoured!
Hello from Ontario!!
in Introduce Yourself
Posted
Greetings everyone! I would like to introduce myself to the community.
My name is Terry ( 57 years young!...lol) and I am a qualified Blacksmith having served a VERY Rare apprenticeship (7,280 hrs) and have my ticket as a Blacksmith. I served my apprenticeship at a major steel mill and completed it in 1981. I have spent the greatest part of my working career in the industrial sector and most of my work has been on a very large scale, both in terms of quantity and size of product.
I have made a wide ranging variety of tools for use in the steel industry, including hooks for overhead cranes (ranging from 15 to 100 ton capacity) and have extensive heat treat experience, especially with the class of "Tool Steels".
Prior to getting my apprenticeship I had worked in the steel plant in both electrical and mechanical maintenance and consequently worked throughout the different areas of the steel mill from coke making,to steel making, iron making, hot roll mills and cold work mills, so have had the opportunity to see and learn some of the processes involved.
I moved to the little Town of Gananoque (pronounced Gan-A-Knock-Way)in the heart of the Thousand Islands region on the shores of the St Lawrence River( for those less familiar with Canada about halfway between Toronto,Ontario and Montreal,Quebec) were I worked as a Blacksmith for a forging operation that produced auto parts. Our employer pulled up stakes and left us (85 employees) without a job in December of 2005. We worked our shift Fri and Sat morning there was a letter in our mailboxes saying the plant was closed!Not really my idea of an early retirement plan but nothing we could do about it, so now I have moved to the country and opened up a little Blacksmith shop to kind of fill the void.
Now is the time to learn to be a different kind of "creative" and apply my skills and knowledge to the general population. I am more than willing to share my experiences with anyone and look forward to learning a few new "tricks" myself!
It pleases me to find such an open and welcome community as found here on the I Forge Iron site as well as on Anvilfire and look forward to spending time with my fellow journeymen and those willing to try something that is both new and very time honoured!
Regards
Terry