TASMITH Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 A new thread posted today by Johannes has brought to mind a subject that I feel is of particular importance to newbies and young Blacksmiths. That is the issue of your health and Blacksmithing. In Johannes case he didn't say that he received his injury in his forge, but the type of work he does in there can aggravate it and greatly extend his healing process. Frosty has stated that he was injured at one time but started back to work in his forge much too soon and ended up with a far longer recovery period than he would have if he hadn't pushed it. A lot of us have probably done the same thing, particularly when we were younger (and more or less invincible...in our own minds anyway!) and as we have gotten older we again pay for our past transgressions (a polite way of saying foolish) as some of the old injuries come back to haunt us.I know that a lot of young healthy people figure that it will not happen to them or that they will just bounce right back(because they are young) but that is one of the quickest ways to ensure paying the price when you are older. Another group that also needs to be aware of the physical aspects of the trade are those who have spent most of their lives doing non-physical jobs. Many have no experience in heavy manual labour and others have no background at all in any type of physical work.This can be and for many of us is/was a very demanding physical trade. It some aspects of this trade you must be physically strong in order to handle some of the work.Technique is one of the biggest factors in working with heavy forgings on power hammers but a great deal of physical strength is also required. However it is also demanding physically when you are doing lighter work on the anvil as well. A two pound hammer doesn't sound like much but if you are not familiar with hammering something for a good length of time, or not using good technique you can cause yourself serious injuries to your wrist and elbow. A 1 lb bar doesn't seem to be much weight, but clamp it in a pair of tongs and the weight is suddenly multiplied by the mechanical leverage of the tongs themselves. If you are just starting out you must make yourself aware of the things around you that you may try and pick-up or move. Anvils are heavy as is that neat little potable forge you just built for yourself, and you must be aware of proper lifting technique before you go and move them. This is a subject that I could go on with for pages but I will let others chime in here and add their bit. I do know that I speak from experience in the fact that your past will catch up to you. I have spent thirty years at the trade and now and the ripe old age of 58, I am on permanent disability with three degenrative disks, two herniated disks and spinal stenosis. My past indestructable days of youth have come back to haunt me and I hope that maybe I can help some others avoid the same fate. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Thank you for excellently written reminder. There are also a hundred or so safety reminders that could added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Remember too that a lot of young folks today haven't had any hard labour in their backgrounds. I have college kids help me load/unload at times and it still amazes me that I'm better at lifting some of the heavy stuff then they are and I've toned it way back from when I was their age! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 I have a very bad back, surgery bad if I ever get my weight down. Well a few years back I sold one of my anvils, 125#, and the two young men that bought it couldn't get it off of the ground. I was so afraid that between then they were going to slip a disk that I finally just lifted it up off of the ground and put it in their little Toyota truck. Where upon they just shut the tailgate and took off refusing my offer of a rope to tie it down. They came back in about ten minutes to get the rope after the first stop. It seems that the horn went through the front of the bed and dented the cab. If I knew the things about safety and smithing that I know now when I first started I think that my health would be better. My hearing I know for sure would be better and my lungs, with coal smoke who needs cigarettes for lung damage. My vision would be better because I would get the glasses with UV filter so looking at the hot part of the fire wouldn't damage my eyes. And no matter how hot I should have worn my leathers more when welding for long periods, its not good to be sunburned through your clothes. Finally I would wait for help in lifting really heavy things because you know I wasn't invincible.:cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 how weak people are amazes me also ... ime verry overweight (390) but i do smith quite a bit and routinely lift 75-100 lbs items . i can lift my 200 pound shop anvil tho i dont do that very often .... and when i do pickup things like that people look at me like ime superman or sumthing... kinda wierd .... Ive got a friend who works as a pipefitter in the shipyard .. he is small and wiry (120 lbs soaking wet) and HE can lift the 200 lb anvil .. that to me is alot more inpressive but if you go back in time 75-100 years you see people lifting this kind of weight routinely...but i did learn how to lift when i was younger.. The correct mechanics make a big difference (bend the knees) anyway just figured to add my 2 cents worth (thats about a buck nowadays) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Eyes, hearing, back, lungs, now add feet. I learned about wearing steel toe work shoes in a steel mill 40 years ago running annealing furnaces. I've worn them ever since a piece of 2"wall 8" stainless tube bounced of the toe of my left foot. My strength has gone down a lot since my automobile accident. It is a lot harder to recover from an accident at 60 than it is at twenty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 It is absolutely amazing how comfortable PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is when you actually need it! Makes you wonder why you ever *didn't* wear it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reid Neilsen Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 As they say - "Your lungs are your life". I think many people do not take this one seriously enough. Be careful what you breathe in - coal smoke, grinding residue, welding fumes, chemicals, etc. it wil dramatically shorten your life. A $30 respirator and adequate ventilation will make you live longer. I know several people who have worked around coal/metals their whole lives and ended up dying of lung cancer or job related illnesses - one was a miner and the other a machinist. Neither of them were smokers... both died before 65... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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