Leland

Well done, sir! Now, perhaps you'll give Kipling his due and provide a byline... ;)

So now you're a Unibrow, welcome to the club. Unless you're a mouth-breathing knuckle dragger, or Sicilian like me (and yes, the mainland Italians think that's the same thing!) your membership is only temporary. Glad it wasn't worse! :)

The first blacksmith I ever worked with was a farrier who, while enviously buff, was not an enormous man. Had he worn a suit, he might have been mistaken for an insurance salesman, professor, banker, or any of a number of other professionals. As if looking good were not annoying enough, he had the disgusting trait of working in a gleaming white tee-shirt, which always started in the morning freshly-pressed (no, I'm not kidding -- there were creases!), then ended the day in exactly the same pristine condition. I, on the other hand, having endured the same work day but having done -- at best -- 1/3 the amount of work he did, wound up looking like a character Dickens might have dreamt up to populate one of his novels describing the horrible conditions of Industrial Age London...then discarded said character, as being too wretched to be believable! Leland

Say, that is a nice blade! But -- just outta curiosity -- why'd the rings idea get nixxed?

Guys! Am I the only one whose capitalist heart fondly recalls the character "Lowell" on the NBC comedy show "Wings"? This greedy dimwit, when asked "How much to fix _______ on my airplane?" invariably responded, "$25,000.00!" The manager of the airport would laugh, and mockingly ask, "How many people do you think will pay that much for an airplane repair?" To which Lowell would quietly answer, "All I need...is one." I raise my mug to a fellow, if overly optimistic, smith, and wish him luck in finding that "one!" Leland

Well, it was like this guys...I held the wooden blank up like a cob of corn, see, and then I spun it REAL fast, see, and... Yeah, okay, let's say it was whittled...thanks for the kind words! :D

Hey, Guys! I was kinda pleased with the way this one came out: It's a spring steel blade, forged bolster, epoxy-set tang with a copper cap ferrule and an Osage orange wood handle. It cuts b-yu-tifully -- the shearing action REALLY makes the wood just melt apart! Anyway, thanks for looking, Leland

The topic of "the economy" is constantly discussed in my home, as my wife and I are both self-employed. We spoke of the recession this morning. It occurred to me that an economic downturn, unlike a tsunami, earthquake, plague, drought, or other natural disaster, is entirely man-made and controllable. Unlike the Great Depression, there is no concurrent Dust Bowl or similar act of nature exacerbating the economic malaise. The recession we're facing now is entirely emotional in nature (we "feel" confident about buying, or we "fear" losing money and don't spend) and this takes the "Domino Effect" to a much grander and costly scale when the dominoes start falling. The bad economy appears to be the result of our fearful imaginations combined with the our tendency towards "herd mentality." Unlike GM, my wife and I haven't shut down or gotten a bail-out, we've simply changed our marketing and pricing. And yes, we've had to cut back. But maybe the long term answer is as simple as enough people saying to themselves, "I refuse to participate in the recession." And then acting accordingly.

But muscles must be trained to remember properly, or the hundred blades will only teach the smith to do it badly a hundred times more efficiently. What steps would you recommend to encourage the development of good muscle memory? Filing or grinding or both? Jigged or freehand grinding? Stationary grinding equipment or hand held portable?

My "day job" is contracting, where I occupy the lower echelons of the construction industry. (Insert your favourite "please don't tell my folks I'm a ______, they think I'm the piano player in a..." joke here.) No new construction, no remodeling, only residential repair and improvement sized for a one-man shop. My income flat-lined for most of 2008, and in September when the housing bubble burst, my contracting income plummeted: Far more than 50% of it vanished in a one week period. Jobs in the pipeline pulled out; jobs on the horizon never pulled in. (There are good reasons why Dad advised me to never place all my eggs in one basket, but I was down to feathers for a while!) At any rate, I cobbled together an income from various enterprises. The financial flow is nowhere close to pre-September 2008 levels, but it is trickling more steadily and...at least in my little corner of the GNP...it looks as though the ice is thawing. Then again, it looked that way in the engine room of the Titanic, didn't it? Leland

Did turn out to be an interesting and thought-provoking conversation; newbie smith 1 (the guy who claimed that rationality could not be defined, only recognised) brought nothing to the table but arbitrary (and thus useless) observation/pontification. Newbie smiths 2 & 3 (with philosophy backgrounds) noted that rationality, while lacking a consensus view, classically consists of beliefs or views based on true information. Yours truly, being an Educated Donkey, then asked whether an imaginary purple beach ball (which everyone could instantly envision) was an example of rationality or irrationality. Theoretical examples could be multiplied, and perhaps the conversation will continue. On a tortilla note, I got a great tip from my neighbour, who suggested adding plain yogurt to the dough. Makes the softest, fluffiest tortillas I've ever had.

Ya meet all kinds of people in a blacksmith shop, including the crew of academics I ran into yesterday. My own fault, I suppose, for using the word "epistemological," but the next thing I knew I was knee-deep in a conversation about the nature of "rationality." Turns out (according to one new smith) that rationality can't be defined but is recognisable when seen. My response, naturally, was that rationality is thus the same as obscenity. Discussion of rationality...among a bunch of people who'd lit a fire on an 80 degree day. Go figure. And how's YOUR Memorial Day weekend going? Leland

Hm. If Geiger and Alessandro Massucotelli had met at a bar in the wee hours, had a little too much schnapps and absinthe, argued, drank some more and then drew...they mighta come up with something like this!

Reading your post reminded me to light a candle to my patron saint -- Adam Smith! My son enjoys hearing about the citizens of the early US, who turned their noses up at the painted tinware that was -- thanks to the fits and starts of progress that would later pick up steam and become the Industrial Revolution -- becoming both plentiful and cheap in America. Seems no one wanted painted tin, no matter how useful and inexpensive it might have been. Until an enterprising Yankee merchant ignited the market's imagination with a new type of metal implements, in the French fashion no less, known as "t

Hey, Bill: Good luck selling the products of your craft! Cost of production data can help you establish a selling price point below which you cannot sell a product or service and remain in business, but the COP has no relevance to the actual retail price of a good or service. Selling price is determined by the buyer (or an aggregate of buyers, known collectively and anonymously as the "market"). What "X" cost to produce is irrelevant to this buyer, whose demand is the only determining factor in making a purchase decision. Supply and demand -- you know, basic economics. In my business, I add a desired profit to my COP and use that as my initial offering price for "X." If demand is strong, I raise the price until sales of "X" flatten out. If demand is weak, the price drops accordingly.