trinkets...

[jake pogrebinsky]

Thank you guys again for the kind feedback,and i do apologise for the blather(it hurts my head too,Michael),i don't indulge in such discussions lightly,or often...

Bob,i think that you've put it best.My hat's off to ya for such a clear view on things.I should read Pye,haven't come across his stuff yet.
Yes,at least a part of this goes clear to the mid-1800's,Ruskin,W.Morris,J.Ashton & "The Arts and Crafts Movement".I'm not an educated man,and only know of it all in a very shallow manner.

But that is a big part of what we struggle against,as craftsmen,as far as the informedness of a customer goes,the economy that values our labor,and more.

In a way,i view the hand-work as a way to sabotage all these tendencies.Attempt to work in such a way as to avoid the direct competition with the box-store culture,to go instead somewhere where they cannot follow.

I love machines(most of my time is swallowed by rebuilding an ancient steam engine right now),just like i love guns,it's just that to each tool-it's own correct usage.
And if the use of the powerhammer affects my design(and i believe that it does),affects my work,AND,puts me in direct competition with the forces that i'm powerless against,i tend to want to deal with it,somehow.

[beth]

i like this conversation - and i dont think any of the comments are contradictory really either - Jake your not making my head ache i know what your on about and i love the 'rooting around' and finding why things in history have looked good and how they still look so appealing. I also agree whole heartedly that the hand made goes entirely where the machine made cannot follow and thats why its so enduring and so compelling. Love the work pictures too - really like the fork handle! thanks for sharing pictures and thoughts :)

[NRunals]

I was waiting for someone to bring Pye into this. Jake, although I don't know you at all, you should check out his book "The Nature and Art of Workmanship" I really feel that you (and anyone else) will get something out of it. Good points made by all, I certainly enjoy reading everyone's opinions.

[Bentiron1946]

"like the pebbles and the stream"............This little phrase just kinda struck me right between the eyes somehow. Jake dose most of his work with a hammer in his hand and apparently uses the power hammer to modify large pieces of steel into somewhat smaller pieces of steel. The image of us as pebbles in the bottom of the clear waters of the stream of time passing on our skills as smiths to the next generation of craftsmen/women just overwhelms me. It is the hand and the eye for the flow of the metal, the working of the wood or fabric that gets lost to the bottom line yet we must live somehow off the skills we have or perish. I don't know how Jake makes his bread for daily living but for most of us that smith there isn't much of a living to be made from it, we all do something else, I know that for years I struggled to attain livelihood and never succeeded, yet the desire to create with metal is strong and the desire to pass along my skills equally strong. The pebble is laying in the stream and time flows over it. :blink:

[Mainely,Bob]

And if the use of the powerhammer affects my design(and i believe that it does),affects my work,AND,puts me in direct competition with the forces that i'm powerless against,i tend to want to deal with it,somehow.

Careful now Jake or we`ll have to start calling you "John Henry". ;)

[Bentiron1946]

'Jake Pogrebinsky was a steel driving man, Lord, Lord, Jake Pogrebinsky, was a......' Just doesn't sound quite the same but if we sing it enough we'll get it right, now swing that hammer! :P

[Mainely,Bob]

Well,we know Ol` Jake can hammer but can he whistle and can he sing?
Does he go to his anvil early in the mornin` just to hear his hammer ring?

Lord knows he`s a steel drivin man! :)

[jake pogrebinsky]

Here i try to be all serious and solemn,and look what happens!Till i got on this here internet i was the laughingstock of only the one small indian tribe...

No,Jonh Henry i ain't.He at least had the sense to get 'im a real job.

Bentiron,i make a living as an offical village idiot.Not that it pays very well,but at least nobody would let me starve to death(would make the whole community look bad).And all of it pays better than blacksmithing!

Here's what's for dinner.I'm actually surprised at what good shape this meat's in,it(we all)had a rough winter.It's for dinner till the fishing opens in June.Well,hopefully there will be some birds in there somewhere,if the spring ever comes.

[aquamanlr]

Jake
I think that would make a fine dinner if you would put it in a pot with, potatos, carrots, onions, and spices of the chef's choice.

Back to the trinkets, I like the paper towel rack. If it is ok, I might try to make I somewhat like it.


LeeRoy
aquamanlr

[jake pogrebinsky]

LeeRoy,thank you for asking,but i could never have any claim on any of the age-old forged shapes,it was all patented by the Creator a long time ago...
It would please me greatly if i,indeed,have stumbled across something that a fellow-smith would find useful,so please,forge away!Ahead!And all other directions!

Yes,all of the above vegetables would be nice!Provided that they were present in the sub-arctic most times of the year...I do need to address that garden,but it's the storage that is the biggest challenge around here.

[Bentiron1946]

Nice looking chunk o' meat you got hanging there, now you need to forge a meat rack for sale to the other locals or trade for the taters to go with the meat. Levity is one of the spices of a serious conversation in the matter of craftsmanship. I have enjoyed the read and rereading of this post very much. Thanks for the enlightenment. B)