The_Real_Nelson

Hello!

I am Nelson! I began blacksmithing at the ripe age of 8 1/2, when my uncle came to my house and taught me how to cold forge little swords out of nails. Around 3-4 months later (if memory serves me correctly), I went to his house and for the first time I watched him operate a coal forge, which he obligingly allowed me to throw a few swings at a railroad spike.

July 10, 2012 I committed my life to Jesus Christ and received forgiveness, grace, love, and purpose!

When I was 11 1/2 - 12 years old, my parents divorced and my father, brother, and I stayed at my grandparents, where my father, my now late (Rest in the arms of Jesus 8/17/2022) grandfather, and his best friend worked together to weld, saw, and piece together a coal fueled brakedrum forge with a simple hairdryer and a dust trap- It all worked like a charm! I made many screwed up, half-finished knives, leaf trinkets, a couple ax heads, and an incredible pair of tongs from steel round bar. I continued practicing my tapers, twists, draw outs, upsets, flares, punches, splits, and the likes.

We moved back into our original house when I was around 13 1/2, and I didn't get the forge again until I was around 14-15 due to a lack of interest. I made my first unfinished billet of wood-grain damascus from soft stock steel when I was between 15 and 16, shaping it into a small spearhead (it's nothing significant), and it rests still on my shelf of unfinished projects (haha).

When I was 16 I started my online three year degree in Biblical Apologetics, finishing it when I was 19. In my last semester of Biblical Apologetics, I started my associates degree in Horticulture, finishing it May 10th of 2023.

I am now 21 and jumping back into blacksmithing - starting with constructing a proper gas forge to more efficiently resume my art. Cheers to the blacksmiths!

**Life's been rough, but it don't matter how bad it gets if you don't keep picking yourself up.

**Failure is only failure when you give up!

**Can't never could if you can't never tried!

**Joshua 1:8-9 "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."