Dan P. Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 On the question of getting the job done, I am very liberal in terms of my definition of what is a blacksmith, or what is blacksmith's work, but I'm inclined to agree with BlackHammerForge's instructor on the fire welding thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 When you can fill out a XXL pair of bib overalls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 well :( unless i become pregnant again ( and thats not gonna happen!!) i can forget masterblacksmith status... i do think thats the clearest way to test though timothy - nice one :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Aw, Tim didn't say with what Beth. Most any of us could fill em with BS without even trying. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McCarthy Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Aw, Tim didn't say with what Beth. Most any of us could fill em with BS without even trying. Frosty The Lucky. That's about the funniest thing I've heard all day. Thanks for the smile Forsty. That little wack on the head hasn't dimmed the lights any has it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacock Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I started to think I might be a blacksmith when I could make the second third and forth, parts match the first. Then I tried to make a mirror image of the first piece and lost my status for a while. Now some days I may be the next not sure. I really think when you can make the tools you need that you don't have for a job, and then you make tools for the other craftsmen, Stone cutter, woodworker, butchers, bakers, candlestick makers, well you get the idea. When you can turn some ones idea into what they wanted and you are both pleased with the item you are starting to get there. I don't call myself a blacksmith, but I do claim to do blacksmith work. I'll let others decide what they want to call me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 frosty that made me laugh out loud :) ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmith Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Welding and machining experience and education aside, If you can make a piece of steel glow in any sort of forge and smack it with hammer with any result the world will refer to you as a blacksmith, several people called me that when I was forging in reinactment, but I knew better, any eager kid who spent a little time at my forge could go home with an S hook, when someone I regarded to be a real smith referred to me as one thats different. Still by the standards of 100 years ago I might just be an apprentice. Theres nothing wrong with saying, Im learning blacksmithing, even a "master" should fall in this catagory, I ounce said, "Im not really a blacksmith, but I did stay at a holiday Inn express last night" in public. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Lake Forge Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Here is what i think, If you have hammered sttel into a desired shape useing a forge, hammer, and anvil and continued on with the trade then you are a blacksmith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pug}{maN Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 The first time I bent a piece of hot metal I was performing the act of blacksmithing, that in turn made the handler of the metal a blacksmith... Cut and dry.... But let's don't get into that it never ends good! Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I'm sure many of you change the oil in your car. Does that make you an auto mechanic? It's like the old saying " Just cause the kittens were born in the oven it doesn't mean they are biscuits" :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry H Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Well said Doc, ......one of my thoughts :...when you're capable of concentrating on what you have to do with hot metal rather than what anvil or hammer is available,......... a tool is but an extension of a mans hand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I'm sure many of you change the oil in your car. Does that make you an auto mechanic? It's like the old saying " Just cause the kittens were born in the oven it doesn't mean they are biscuits" :) Well said Doc, ......one of my thoughts :...when you're capable of concentrating on what you have to do with hot metal rather than what anvil or hammer is available,......... a tool is but an extension of a mans hand What do you guys know your only "Junior Members". :ph34r: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry H Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 What do you guys know your only "Junior Members". :ph34r: wadau tawkin about........I'll be lookin' fa yoo at Ashoken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Blythin Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Hmm, I'd forgotten about this thread. Thought it was an interesting read last time. I believe it to be more of a litmus test sort of a thing... If you can go into the shop of a known, reputable, full-time working blacksmith; walk up to him/her, look him/her in the eye and with a straight face, confidently say "I'm a blacksmith too"... then by all means, call yourself one. If you would be embarrassed to proclaim yourself to be a blacksmith to that person, then don't call yourself one to anyone else. Personally, I'm not quite there yet. I say that I do a bit of blacksmithing, or that I'm currently studying/learning blacksmithing. When I do decide that I'm ready to call myself a "blacksmith" - then I'd be willing to say it to anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 wadau tawkin about........I'll be lookin' fa yoo at Ashoken Yoo's right Larry we better keep an eye on that Miller tuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pug}{maN Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I'm sure many of you change the oil in your car. Does that make you an auto mechanic? It's like the old saying " Just cause the kittens were born in the oven it doesn't mean they are biscuits" :) At that point in time right then you are a mechanic . Just can't understand why it's so hard for some to see if your doing the job that's what you are.. I think they call it jack of all trades master of none Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 At that point in time right then you are a mechanic . Just can't understand why it's so hard for some to see if your doing the job that's what you are.. I think they call it jack of all trades master of none Because Blacksmith is an occupational title just because in the last 30 years a bunch of people started doing it as a hobby doesn't change that fact. I don't know if you realize it but you are going back and forth with a smith with 40 years in the trade who is also a widely recognized teacher. I sweep the floor in my shop sometimes but that don't make me the janitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pug}{maN Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I'm sorry I don't usually get into discussions like this but I'm telling you right now I'm a blacksmith and try to tell me I am NOT... I knew I shouldn't have posted, and this is my last post in this thread Peace out Chris the blacksmith... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron woodrow Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 hey i pulled a metal splinter out of my foot, i even had to make an incision first! I AM NOW A FULLY QUALIFIED DOCTOR!!!! (my wife would say vet!) that is how i feel when confronted by a first time basher telling me they are a blacksmith, when i did hard time for four years to get my trade ticket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pug}{maN Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Okay I lied but this is ridiculous.. Don't be dumb about your answers just to get the last word, no your not a certified doctor. But guess what in that time when you were doctoring your foot you sir were a doctor.. Someone else on here said it really good, fishing, he never went to school for it, never got taught by master fisherman, never made money off the fish he caught , so I guess when he takes his rod and reel to the lake he's not a fisherman? I know there's different levels . But we don't have a specific way to distinguish each 1 . Let's go back to the doctors there's nurses nurse practitioners doctors all different levels . But for us there or not. I sir a year in am a blacksmith, that guy that just made his first piece he's a blacksmith. You of 40 years or whatever is a blacksmith... We're all freakin blacksmiths! You bend the hot iron so you are... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyO Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Hi all (I say with mild trepidation as I stick my toe into the water while searching my pocket for my dos centavos. Tossing them in...) This conversation reminds me of a situation I ran into about 10 years ago in my profession. As a physical therapist who had to go to medical school and take out student loans, has practiced for 17 years, has started and owned outpatient clinics, and who is consistently reviewing his practice techniques, I can honestly say that 70-80% of what I do, which is to teach patients the proper and safe exercises to maximize recovery, anyone can do. Anyone who has read and is able to apply basic exercise priciples can teach people the safe way to perfoms exrecises. But that's not the entirety of phsycial therapy. About 10-12 years ago, in the city where I had just opened a new practice, one of my paitents owned a health club, and after working with me for a few months rehabbing a torn rotator cuff (and, apparently, paying attention to how I treated patients), started advertising that he and his health club provided "physical therapy" services, but had no Licensed PT on staff. At first, I laughed it off, but other therapists in the area convinced me to join them in forcing him to stop the false advertising because of (here's the crux of the matter) the potential impact on our livelihoods. We could do this because there are laws regulating that only licensed PTs can advertise as providing PT services. He could teach exercises, but there was no guarantee that the exercises would be appropriate for each persons specific medial condition. I guess the question is, "what percentage of the knowledge of the craft is necessary to claim the title?" So....I agree with the thought the thoughts that you can call yourself a Blacksmith if you are smithing, but realize that for those who actually make a living at it may not agree with you. And they have good reasons for pointing out the differences, their livelihood depends on setting themselves apart from the rest of us. Unfortunately, the only way to solve this once and for all is to create a law defining what a smith is, something I'm NOT proposing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciladog Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 BillyO, you make a good point but I think it has more to do with ego than protecting one’s livelihood. This is the third time that I remember that a thread has dealt with the topic and it always comes out the same way. There are those, for whatever their reason, need to see themselves in a certain light and I for one don’t care what they call themselves. I will decide for myself, based on their work, their history, skill, etc., whether or not they are a blacksmith. Now for the people that climbed up the ranks, served apprenticeships, worked 10, 20, 30, or 40 years at blacksmithing and made a living at it, it is all self-evident. The others just live in an alternative universe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielC Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 There is no teir system in this trade besides apprenticeship. Apprenticeships are not the easiest things to come by either for one reason or another. Until there is a generally accepted system out there that labels each person whatever they qualify for, then no one can really take the title of blacksmith away from another. Novice, Adept, Master and Grandmaster are perfectly acceptable titles that have been used to describe positions in trades through history if I recall correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcc Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 When are you considered a Blacksmith? When people think or believe you are a blacksmith. When are you a blacksmith? Whenever you want to be called a blacksmith. When does it matter? When you are trying to make money or a trade union gets organized and decides to sue you for calling yourself one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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