Glenn Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 What is Blacksmithing? Is it a trade, a craft, a weekend event, or something you just pick up for a while? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SReynolds Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 A craft today. In "them days" it was a trade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Yes, all the above. It is what you make of it, some are satisfied to make knife shaped objects, others make indescribably beautiful knives, others make art every time they pick up a hammer, twisting wrench or step up to a forging hammer/press. Using humanities two oldest tools, fire and something to bash with to have our way with iron or steel is art in itself. It's good for the soul. Frosty the Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Many moons ago, I was apprenticing as a farrier, and I ran across an old English book, "The Art of Horse-Shoeing" I was working with a knowledgeable mentor, and I asked him if he thought horseshoeing was an art. He replied, "Frank, it's an art, a craft, a science, and a trade." That also sums it up for me in terms of blacksmithing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRobb Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 It's stress relief, an addiction, personal expression and a personal passion. It's fun!! Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 It's 50% art, 50% science, 50% sweat, 100% passion. And unlike hotrodding and fishing, others can enjoy what I do. Well, except for the neighbors, they didn't care for the big blocks or the ring of the anvil. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 In my opinion, it is the most difficult and rewarding of the tactile arts and trades, i.e. crafts of the hand. I have always been attracted to working with stone, glass and metals; but I believe blacksmithing to be the king of them all. As Francis Whitaker said, "So much to learn, so little time". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 It is what you make of it Frosty the Lucky.That's exactly what I was thinking ..... And I suspect that it's true of most things. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel.85 Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Currently an obsession, later a career, hopefully :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 A whole heck of a lot of fun, and pays for itself, at least a little bit, which helps mightily with the wife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry H Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 They call us " Tradesmen " officially. Still listed on the union rolls. However, when someone sees something forged well they say "You're an artist " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigcity Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 its a hobby that i love to do and i hope to make money at in the future:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Just something you pick up for a while---me I'm going on 31 years so far and expect to continue until I can't and then advise the grandkids and great grandkids till I stop talking and get scattered over the Ozark land that's coming down to me from my Great grandpa that was the smith in that small Arkansas hill town... (and note that what blacksmithing is to you can change even back and forth over the years!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWHII Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 My sanity! :wacko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan P. Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Most of the time it's a pain in my xxx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Dan; you're doing it wrong!---Try using tongs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan P. Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Dan; you're doing it wrong!---Try using tongs! The pain in question was paintbrush induced. Painting ironwork cancels out all of the fun parts... with ease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basher Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 it gets ya thinking ! I call it the path of steel . a long winding road sometimes up hill , or a dead end but always with an interesting path to take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whirly Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Glen, it can be all of those things, depends on where you're looking at it from I guess. Personaly I won't call myself a Blacksmith 'cause I haven't done an apprentiship in the trade. I weld pretty good, real good, but I won't claim to be a Boilermaker, I can build in timber and make furniture, but arn't a Cabinet Maker or Carpenter, for the same reason- haven't done the training time. I say when asked "I've been doing some Blacksmithing" and elaborate from there. What is Blacksmithing to me? A whole new world of possibilities....and I have to say it's this site and the people on it who make 'smithing possible, interesting and rewarding for just about anyone who wants to try their hand at it. I'm lovin' it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 it takes a little time to under stand but a life time to master. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 it gets ya thinking ! I call it the path of steel . a long winding road sometimes up hill , or a dead end but always with an interesting path to take. Tekkou Do is the online Japanese - English dictionary translation of iron/steel way. Or, "The way of steel", as close as I could get without spending the whole darned morning searching or calling someone who speaks Japanese. Do is from memory studying martial arts Dojo being the "place of the way" or school. Fun looking though, if I didn't sidetrack so easily I might still be searching. . . Where was I, what am I doing? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Well semantics tend to get in the way of understanding that whatever we do can be art, science, industry, creation, destruction, or just change. I've seen a guy making pancakes that was an artist and I've seen "tradesmen" who were thieves. I'd say it's just one part of our tendency to change things around us - in this case it's with metals. More or less seems to assume specifics that one word won't convey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyancarrek Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 For me, It's a means to an end, along with the other crafts I utilize to achieve my end goal. It doesn't hold a higher place or have more significance than the rest. It just is what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregDP Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Freedom. I enjoyed thinking about this question.. I had to really consider how to put something so intangible it into words. Then I realized one sums it up.. but might not explain the breadth of the answer. It's overtly silly and personal -- But sometimes there is comfort in knowing folks know what you're going through and for others it's just nice to read something and know you're not alone. It's a simple question with a dozen answers... but I'm just going to take the chance to tell a story.. If you just want a witty one-liner that's not my cup of coffee. (If for some reason you expected spiffy pictures and not a novel there is a really cool thread on a scrap metal horse a few clicks over.) I began and continue to blacksmith out of an enjoyment and admiration of the craft. What drove me to want to make a business out of it wasn't money or a love of the craft. It was a desire for freedom from a way of life I feel is detrimental to my sanity! Not to mention society. I've spent years working for other people, well before adulthood. In that time I've been payed to do or ignore somethings that haven't always sat well with my conscious. I refuse to live in servitude, or concede my principles to succeed. A sad wisdom I've discovered is that no one in this world makes money from hard work. Money can be a by product of hard work.. and should be. But money is always made off of people. Blacksmithing abstractly reminds me of a time that existed before a blacksmith was even common. When people made stuff for to survive, for their community and for leisure. We do the same thing today.. but it's different some how than this historic fiction in my head. When I first turned to my hobby into a full-time endeavour and worked very hard to accomplish very little without much. I eventually found work again, but as a newly wed I found very little time or money for my hobby. But I was able to save some and I started to work at both home and j-o-b. The stress on my marriage was actually fairly tough. It was toward the end of our first year married and she hardly saw me. The past couple months since our anniversary I began to blacksmith full time. It's a big part of who I am, but it's not what I am. I'm a student and I've tried to take a more studious approach. I bought a bunch of metal and coal and I've made some stuff; but I've wasted more. Trying new things and attempting more that makes an inexperienced person nervous.. All in all I've grown photographed almost every new thing I've accomplished as I made it and shared some. But alas I'm no business man, it takes money to make money, but people are all that give it value. So I'm sure I'll be finding another means of income eventually. But the freedom to live, think and be what ever you want to be.. That's what life is all about. When I've worked for other people I've always been stressed. Worried about wasting time. I'm quiet and reserved while diligent; but all that respect for the value of a dollar has kinda gone out the window since working for myself.. I still try to work hard, but with no direction I play in the shop. I give most of the stuff I make away unless it's a request from someone I don't know. I spend time chatting with my co-workers (you). I don't know.. It's made me a happier person. But as a means to an end - self sufficiency as opposed solely to freedom. I've got a lot to learn. I've kinda got my own plans that are long term. They're very different from how most people approach the craft as a business or hobby. I'm pro hobby.. I never want to stop loving what I do. For some reason making money just isn't what I enjoy. -- Thanks Glenn for giving me a reason to put all this into words. -- I don't normally ask folks not to respond to my post, but this is certainly one of those times. I assume many see a wall of text and just skimmed it. Others probably read it and could or couldn't relate; I hope I didn't waist too much of your time.. Possibly some can find solace or even superiority, if so I'm glad. I have little use for comfort or condemnation in this instance as I've found both in reflection. Regardless. Thank you for reading and in the future when I get that first big goal accomplished and post it. Maybe some of ya'll will really understand what it means to me. Pardon any typo's or meandering thoughts. It's been a long day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewy Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Some of my friends have Harley Davidsons, jet ski, fast cars or they play alot of golf. Blacksmithing for me is all those things and more, sometimes it costs me a bit of money to buy books, tools or travel to different events, I find the people I like most and respect are involved in this truely nobel trade, craft, art. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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