Mike Turner Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 Hi all here is a shoe I made for a customer she wanted a shoe to use to keep the tension on the yarn of her loom. I asked her about putting something on the shoe so as not to rust on her and she said that anything on it would transfer to the yarn, so I decided to make the shoe and out of SS this way it won't rust and we don't have to worry about anything transferring to the yarn. I left some of the hammer marks in it as I like to see that it was hand made, I knocked the scale off and buffed it so it was smooth and would not snag. Hope ya like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feukair Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 I like the hammer marks too. My dad always wants me to grind them off everthing i make... but i love the hammered look, proves it was "forged". L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Turner Posted January 2, 2007 Author Share Posted January 2, 2007 Thanks guys I thought the hammer marks would be really appropriate as she also does pioneer re-enactments and it says it was forged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 The big problem with this is that in pioneer times *smooth* was what was wanted. The "hammered" look came in in around 1900 with the Arts and Crafts movement. In pioneer times *everything* was handmade, no hammer marks needed and so the skill of the smith was to hide them. The Arts and Crafts Movement was fighting against the "souless machine made stuff" and so leaving the hammer marks in (or even adding them!) was done to show that it is hand made. (BTW this also happens with handspinning where people want it to look crude and lumpy to be handmade; so they priduce a yarn that would get a 7 year old whipped for wasting wool if it was done 500 years ago) This is a big problem with folks who don't know the history throughly enough and assume that old stuff must be crude----I usually refer them to the Sutton Hoo find to see what stuff from before 1000 ad looked like... Another is when they want to make stuff look just like the ones in the nuseum---that have several hundred years of wear and weathering whereas they should look *new* if they are trying to portray a certain period with just the daily wear you would expect from use. Nice shoe BTW... Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Turner Posted January 2, 2007 Author Share Posted January 2, 2007 Thanks Thomas that was very informative, I had never thought about the handmade look being the result of trying to compete against the machine. You are absolutely right about old does not mean that it is crude in anyway. Some of the finest work is very old. Not only did I want to see some of the forging marks I really did not have the time to really hammer finish the shoe. BTW thanks for the comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 Thanks for taking it in the manner it was intended! There are some exceptions---one is work done by not properly trained people in remote areas and the other is work that was "fast and dirty" and was intended to be as cheaply done as possible---so someone banging out a repair shoe on a wagon wheel tyre for an anvil and a buffalo dung fueled forge would very likely be done in a more "crude" style. Still a very nice shoe and a great one to mount outside for "luck" as it won't rust! Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easilyconfused Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 As my friend said, people want symmetry. This was after my dad pointed out on the wreath we made out of barbed wire and lariats, that the bow was not hanging directly below the loop for hanging it. Ironically, when we were making it, my friend glued the bow off center because she prefers off-symmetry, or unsymmetrical which ever is the real word. I admit, I'm one of the worst offenders for wanting a "smoother" finish, because I feel that hammer marks in a piece shows not poorer quality, just that it is unfinished. I do leave them if it looks good in the piece though. Just in case people misconstrued my rant, I'm not bad mouthing rougher pieces, and your shoe is one of those that looks good with the hammer marks, I'm just posting my views on rough finishes and why I "selectively" use them, and by selectively, I mean when I don't decide I've had enough and don't want to screw the piece up anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feukair Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 I just think the hammer marks look cool... hehe L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolano Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 Nice work. On the topic of hammer marks, I generally move the metal by really putting my arm into it, which leaves lots of marks, then smooth it over with softer, more controller blows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easilyconfused Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 I work the same way Nolano. I got taught, and it works for me that to smooth it over, faster is sometimes better. Quick, light, controlled blows. On another note, to me there is a difference between "hammer marks" and what I'll call "forging marks" for differentiation during my rant. "Hammer marks" are the deep dings from the edge of an improperly dress hammer face or a bad blow and can cause cold shuts that can crack later, while "forging marks" are the smoother rounder divots that occur. "Hammer marks" have no place on a piece in my mind. But, I'm pretty sure we all are talking about "forging marks" which is what I usually call hammer marks too. This has been another rant brought to you by the letters P and Q.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted T Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 Mike, I like your shoe. It will serve the purpose it was intended for. That is what counts. WOW, good topic! I have given a lot of thought about this very topic many times. It has to do with marketing for me. Question: To what degree of hammer mark finish to leave? From reading the posts it seems like several individual factors or a combination of factors may determine the desirability of leaving hammer marks or not! It sounds like those factors of what degree a product should be hammer finished could be as follows, but not limited to the following: a. Blacksmiths Preference, b. Consumers Requirements and or Preference, c. Skill, d. Costs, e. Time, and f. Nature of the Product or its Use. No question about the skills of yesteryears blacksmiths. The reason for rough finished work was most likely as it has been expressed in the preceding posts by Thomas Powers and others. I have seen the old smiths I worked for hand hammer so well it made the product look as though it was machined. I have to cheat and use a flatter, file, and lots of time. Fast forwarding to the present time and the accompanying market for hand forged products. After listening to some of my customers in the past, they helped me develop an idea of what a lot of them wanted. I believe that in today’s market for hand forged goods, people desire that we provide a symbol of the perceived past for the most part. And that is to include the reflection of the supposed icon (symbol) of the “rugged past” in our art. This vision seems to represent a time period when people and goods were supposed to be strong, rugged, tough, and crude, but simply functional. Blacksmithing to day (not including Ferrier’s) is a TIME INTENSIVE craft. Most of us must make our products interesting and desirable, in order to sale. We can do that by wrapping our products with information that includes the mystique of the “Blacksmithing Process and History”. This concept has been a part of my marketing strategy in the past in order to make it profitable. And sometime we can do that with a few hammer marks! Just my take on it. Be safe, be safe! Ted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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