Humbling Experience

[Jeff Bly]

Well I finally went to my fist blacksmith meeting. I had a great time and learned a lot of valuable information in a relatively short amount of time.

However, my limitations are completely recognized, and I have a lot of work to do before I even become relatively o.k. at this. My first attempt ever was yesterday, and that was to create a hook. Now maybe I had too many people making suggestions, or maybe I really do suck at this, but it has definitely encouraged me to do more and try to get much better.

My hook was an utter disaster! I don't even want to put a picture of it on here in fear of being banned for embarrasing the trade. Let's just say that I need more time and I am excited to get better at this.

[unkle spike]

You have done more already than some. You Started....

I look back on my first projects, they were "learning experiences" to say the least. I liken blacksmithing to coloring, it takes a while to "stay between the lines".

Don't get discouraged, keep going.

[Quenchcrack]

Jeff, this is not a skill you are born with; it is acquired over time. Beyond a healthy discipline, be gentle with yourself.

[divermike]

Jeff,
making stuff with a bunch of people around is pretty hard, I like to watch the demonstrators, then go do it in my own firge, and then ask questions on what I did wrong, when needed, generally I would say that perfecting one technique at a time is a good way to go. For instance, practice drawing out a point on 5-or 6 pieces, when you feel good about that start, then maybe do a twist on each one, and so on, this method has worked for me very well, also find something you like to do to warm up, prior to trying any technical stuff, like make a small nail or 5, if you spend time, you will improve, happy hammerin!

[Sweany]

As my old neighbor lady would say.
"You'll do better when you know better"

[Frosty]

Don't be discouraged Jeff, even the simplest things are a lot more involved than they appear. There's almost nothing worse than trying something new with several people giving directions. Just be happy you weren't trying to load a trailer or something with a bunch of yahoos yammering at you!

For instance I made a couple basic hold fasts as a demo at our meeting last Saturday. It took me two heats to get enough upset to make the foot and I finished the rest in one more heat, 4-5 mins including patter.

Then I spent a good half hour talking several guys through the process. None tried the second type hold fast I made though it was a lot easier.

Just drawing a taper takes practice and a short taper is harder than a long taper and making two just the same is WAY harder.

Keep your first hook and every once in a while when you're feeling discouraged because something isn't coming to you like you think it should get it out and see how far you've come.

That first made object is the only magic thing you'll ever make at the forge, it's the one that wrought the spell of making on you. Cherish it.

Frosty

[Glenn]

Keep the first of any project when learning. Then do 25, 50, 100 more and keep the best of the lot. Compare and you can tell how far you have advanced. Later when you find them in the back of a drawer, well, it is humbling. (grin)

[dablacksmith]

ya this one case where repetion makes better... after the first 500 or so you will get it down pat... ime talking about things like s hooks ive probably made 5000 of them over the years .. it helps to do a bunch as you will get better! kep plugging away ... maybee start with tent pegs . I make um from 1 ft of 3/8 sq point one end and bend the other in the shape of a J upside down .. they sell and dont hafta be real good just hafta work . as you get better they will go faster and be easyier to make .. have fun!

[DKForge]

Jeff keep that hook and then look back 6 months from now and say...wow look how far I have come! Every time you heat some iron and hit it while on the anvil you are learning something and that is what it is all about. Great job for taking the step to actually do it. Many never do.

[Charlotte]

Indeed, keep the hook and look at it frequently. I used to take the first pair of tongs I made to demonstrations just so other smiths could ask me "What the is that??????" Not that I needed to remind my self to be humble.
With the quality of work some of the other demonstrators were putting out I had plenty of humble for my pie.:D

[ThomasPowers]

Think of it being like sports---who would expect to walk to the pitcher's mound and the first time they have ever touched a baseball throw a no-hitter!

Yet we get loads of folks who expect to start blacksmithing at the "professional" level. (worried about knifemaking and pattern welding before they can even hammer straight)

Like sports: Practice! Practice! Practice!

I had one student who literally had not used a hammer before---he's selling knives now because he did not quit when he wasn't happy with his work---he did more until he got good!

[Jeff Bly]

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone. It means a lot. I thought for sure I would pick up that hammer and be like, "Cool! Look what I made." Instead it was more like, "What the heck did I make!" LOL

I don't mind, I was just a bit surprised is all. It definitely makes me want to get right back into it. I know I can do better than that. Well my next event is at the Ashokan Center. It's the spring meet put on by the Northeast Blacksmith Association May 1-3. Bob Patrick is the demonstrator. I'm pretty excited about going. I signed up to do hands on work so that I can learn some more.

Again, thanks to all for your kind words of wisdom.

[Mark Emig]

To quote Mark Aspery from his book "to get to the hall of fame, you must first build a wall of shame" (sorry if the quote isn't just right). When I first started I made a LOT of ugly crap. It takes the mistakes to get better at forging. SAVE THEM and look at them later. My Uncle came by the shop not too long ago with a really ugly contraption of some sort,I couldn't tell what it was for. I asked him "What the **** is THAT?" He said "You made it 15 years ago and I keep it to show how far you've come in your craft." Pretty cool idea, I thought. Wish I'd kept some of that ugly stuff instead of hide and scrap it.
Mark

[Pault17]

Jeff,
what they have all said!!
I still easy around the first leaf I ever made:o
but I also carry one of my more recent ones for comparison

I usually give the new one away, but will always keep the first.

[Reid Neilsen]

LOL!

I can't stress enough the importance of repetition!!!

I remember clearly the firts project my first teacher had me do - he had me make a whole mess of little biddy S-hooks out of 1/4 roundstock. He showed me the techniques needed to do them as he wanted, gave me about 20 feet of 1/4 stock and said "have at it - make em all look EXACTLY like that if possible". Oh-Good-God...you should have seen the box of S-hooks I came back with in a few days. It was ugly. He didn't care, the point of the project was to get me doing something to practice repetition. It was really perfect because it was a good hammer control exercise, taught me about drawing a taper, hammer-bending over the horn, and most imporantly, the importace of repetition. People arent good at this thing ten minutes after picking up a hammer. Like any art worth doing, it takes practice, skill and repetition.

Welcome to the club - I think we all have our moments where we are humbled! I feel like I have those about once a week...;)

[Mike Ameling]

I noticed that nobody gave you the standard WARNING!!!! Blacksmithing is ADDICTIVE!!!

For years, my standard ... schpeel ... when describing what I did was to tell people that

I torture a lot of iron, and occasionally make something!
That way there is no "false advertising".

Or even called myself and

Alleged Blacksmith and Known Iron Torturer


There comes a time when learning about blacksmithing that you just have to pick up a hammer and start beating up iron. It's the only way to really know HOW the metal works under the hammer.

And then one day, some better known and more experienced blacksmith will walk by and give you that little "that's nice" or "I like that" comment. At that point it will take you a while to get your concentration back and get back to working on whatever you were doing.

As to gaining experience. The best story I have about that happened many years ago. I was at a mountain man rendezvous gathering. A young man showed up with a few minimal blacksmithing tools and pieces of assorted found "scrap iron". And then he started to work. His skill level was at that early "learning" stage. Well, somebody asked him about getting a simple camp fire set - that classic two uprights and crossbar for hanging pots over a fire. Well, the "kid" talked with the guy a bit, they shook hands, and he proceeded to make the set. But he didn't have enough square stock to really make it. (I think he couldn't afford to buy much new stock at that time.) So he took a pair of COIL SPRINGS (from a car) that he had brought along, straightened them out, HAMMERED them SQUARE, then made the two uprights and crossbar! WOW! The work involved in that! But he made them right there, got a lot of extra experience doing it, and they really looked good when he was done. And a lot of people watched him working on that project.

So like most things, skill comes with experience.

And then there are those kids you talk through making a simple S hook as a first project. And then they pick up a big chunk of iron and ask: Can I make a sword out of this? You don't want to discourage them, but you do have to tell them No. And then explain that success on one minor little project does not instantly turn them into a master swordsmith!

Blacksmithing - Humbling experiences just come with the territory.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
--- with a scrap/junker pile to be proud of!

[Doug C]

Jeff, Your hook does not suck. You tried something new and learned some stuff along the way. It may not be pretty but it taught you a few things along the way. That is beautiful. every one you make has that same beauty. Sometimes it is an inner beauty because it taught you something and other times it has outer beauty because you put the lessonms to use. Just keep doing it.

[Old South Creations]

My first hook kinda sucked too but at the same time I was proud that I FINALLY gave it a try. I think hooks are an excellent beginner project...there are so many different types and they're all functional...even if a little ugly Keep at it!

[sawyer04]

Hey, I can run a close race with ya. I just like to work with iron.

[Ten Hammers]

Jeff, I don't see anything that tells of your experiences in life. Smithing ( read hot steel, iron, non ferrous etc ) is forging something from one shape into another (broad statement).

Learning to ride a bike in my life was a skill. You had to learn to pedal and then learn to run the pedal back to stop. One does not have to have the skills of Tiger Woods to know the importance of english on a little white ball and the force involved to make that ball go a given distance. I don't golf.

If you consider setting here at a desk in comparison to smithing, you have a start. You are using organizational skills. Your keyboard is at a comfortable height and your mouse is accessable ( and the switches on the mouse are adjustable for your given needs and skills ). The CPU is accessable to be turned on and off. CD's etc are accessable yada yada. Your chair is at the right height.

These simple skills in organizing were for a large part already in motion. Desks are for a large part a standard height as are chairs. You organize your own desktop (physical) for your needs ( left handed/right handed/eyesight etc). Your own smithy is the same thing. Solid fuel forges ( coal/charcoal/coke) will have a height that is somewhere close to anvil height. Gas forges may or may not be a little higher. Regardless, you have other furniture in the area surrounding the forge and anvil. Hammer/tong racks. Vises or tables or benches. You have access to these things as you do setting here and they should be at arms length or short step away ( like the trash can is setting here ). When you realize that your own setup is the way for you to learn things, you can stop worrying about a few things and concentrate on some really important basics. Once you can remove something from the fire ( without tongs, use a longer piece for now to draw an end ) and access the anvil and hammer as you would your mouse and cd's here, you will be more comfortable.

Stock to be forged should be removed from the fire at roughly the same heat each time. This gives you the knowledge of how hard to hit the stock and your experience builds. This is the thing. Each time you strike hot stock that is at roughly the same heat, you learn how that stock moves under the hammer. As the tong (or stock holding hand) hand rotates the stock, the hammer is prepared to strike the stock. Try using the same size stock for a while. Draw some points on a half dozen pieces and let them set to cool as you add another in the fire to heat to draw another point. Make these pieces 16" long. Try and make all the points the same and compare each to the first one you forged. If the heats are the same and the hammer blows are the same you can then concentrate on the rotation of the stock and number of blows. Just draw the points square tapered for now. Make a chalk mark on the anvil from a given point so you can measure the points length hot. After you have one end pointed you may either cut to 8" (from the raw stock end) or just draw that end and make long hooks).

In drawing the other end ( after cutting or not) you learn to match the taper on the other end and gain skills. If you keep your mind clear of other things ( like wheither or not to make a pigtail on the end before you make the hook and by the way what size am I going to make the hook) you can concentrate on ONE thing at a time. Your own multi - tasking skills will predicate these things and your mileage will vary. What I am trying to do ( in a rather wordy diatribe ) is to show you that with a few really simple skill building tricks and steps you can be gaining experience in a short time and not really spend much money on stock. The fire has not been mentioned on this thread. Fire building and maintanance is another thing entirely and will be subject to scrutiny as well. Have fun. Plan your work and work your plan.

Edited April 25, 2009 by Ten Hammers