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I Forge Iron

Blackdot Rob

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Everything posted by Blackdot Rob

  1. In a four month season, I log over 2000 hours of demoing and glad handing. Now that the season is over and my forced smile has relaxed, I think it's safe to assume I was feeling a little burnt out. I intend to talk to my employer about the feasibility of welcoming a traveling smith to join me for one day a month. Seems like a good resolution to both my problems. The regional group wants nothing to do with us unless we join and pay dues. Is this forum something I can use to make invites? We also have a problem finding reliable, cheerful PT smiths.
  2. In this area, it's more common to get it from the locals working in the coal industry. Also conversation I try to avoid because our local stuff is great for emphysema and/or steaming across the Atlantic, not so much Blacksmithing.
  3. This "s#|+ vs Shineola" debate is proving to be a perfect illustration of the derailment to which I was referring. As a performer, I get paid to keep the show fun. Audience participation is something I encourage and enjoy. Braggarts and blowhards have their version of fun, so I have to play into that as well. I won't let my vanity toss off somone's poorly considered exuberance as "jealousy". I guess if I were giving a lecture on the proper use of denigrating colloquialisms, I should expect rejoining examples of such throughout. Some folks just can't help themselves. I've been a smith for 20 years and a performer for 2. I don't give demos to blacksmiths, they are just sometimes present. Local smiths in good spirits who enjoy the interaction with everyone and aren't just puffing their shirts usually get a job offer. For the most part, my audience has no indication that blacksmiths make anything other than swords and horseshoes or have something to do with MineCraft. The first smith I met was grossly egotistical and worked very hard during that initial (and only) conversation to discourage my interest in blacksmithing. I try not to become that man. The circumstances of my situation allow me to introduce blacksmithing to 20,000 people a year. The mosquito bites don't bother me, their itch fades every time I hear, "Mommy, I wanna be a Blacksmith". Just recently, I figured out that my favoirote thing to make is curiosity and crafting a trinket is, just like my hammer, mearly a tool in my employ. Thank you for the replies and the conversation.
  4. So... The long reply I just typed was gobbled up by a "403 Forbidden" page. I'll try an abridged version tomorrow. In the meantime, thanks for the responses.
  5. During my demonstrations, I receive the most irritation and/or interruptions from other smiths. I love it when audience members get involved, some have great stories and memories about past family members, some are amazed to see things made without a computer. Everyday and every crowd is different. But it's always the smiths who horne in and steal the oxygen. It seems they have need to show the audience how much they know, or promote their club, or just want to name drop. What gives? (I realize this is probably an incendiary question, but I'm hoping to compare notes and experiences with other performers.)
  6. Thanks for the comments and compliments, folks! The project seemed a little above my pay grade to begin with, but so was everything else I've made at one time or another. It is a bit "baroque", I'll admit, but this was a frivolous project and I laid it on thick so I could learn a couple things. About that hammer... I did it the old fashioned way... I bought it. Noticed two of you are from the greater Philly area, that's where I got my start as a smith. Cheers.
  7. While looking for something completely different I found an old wingnut which looks as though it was sand cast; texture, mould line, sprue nugget. Seemed a lot of work for a wingnut, so I made something to showcase its fantasticness.
  8. A customer and I were joking around and that was the result. Letter/bottle opener. He was pleased and didn't slice a vein using it. Then all of a sudden, I had customers lined up for them. Couldn't make them fast enough.
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