The difference in a blacksmith and A Blacksmith....

[ThomasPowers]

Traditionally it was the previous Masters; however if you don't have them you have a bootstrapping problem. Sometimes a group of people will get together and decide who is a master or what makes one and so generate a starter group that can then go on from there---an example of this is the ABS; I well remember some anguish in the bladesmithing world when they started up their ranking system.

An interesting variation of this system is used for several middle eastern titles where a person will self assume a title and if "nobody laughs" they have it or if enough people call them that they are considered that.

In the smithing world there are several people I would with no hesitation call master smiths and feel that most would agree, it's the folks that some people would call Masters but others wouldn't that cause dissension.

[ThomasPowers]

OTOH I have seen a lot of "ART" that the marketplace loved but I wouldn't take home without a substantial payment to cover my time and disposal costs. And I have seen ART that the marketplace disdained that I'd gladly give a finger for! (Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime and was considered rather a failure as a painter. History has a different view...)

It's a tricky question and no matter what you think someone will probably think otherwise

[macbruce]

I will say this though................a true master would never disparage another practicioner in public...................because professionals should adhere to a code of conduct

I couldn't agree more. I think humility is one of the marks of a true master, anyone who calls themselves one is 99 times out of a 100 on an ego trip. Another mark is the ''Master'' doesn't profess to know it all and still is in the process of learning which should never cease. If others wish to say you're a Master, then so be it.............mb

[Mitsuwa]

A cheese burger, Monster energy drink and bottle of water at carnival prices, seems to me
you paid a small fortune for a fire steel :)

[Richard V]

Yep, but if I get the "option" to feed a blacksmith to get an item I want vs getting cursed out by "blacksmiths"...... yep ready and willing to fork over the payment...

Richard

[dablacksmith]

well ive got a blacksmith booth in a ren fare (permanent booth) and i try to make a nice demo and treat people well but let me tell ya sometimes its hard.... there are a lot of people that are just plain rude an or stupid ...you get tired of the questions like "is that a real fire" and "your a blacksmith where are the horses?" but the super killer sword guys are sometimes worse cause they want a fancy sword for 50 bucks ..."cause i can get one on ebay for that" having no clue what they are talking about... also the latest buzz word is "battle ready" tho most of the modern made swords are way too heavy and poorly constructed to withstand real battle! also many are not of hardened steel ! from what ive seen tho most ren fare smiths fall into one of two catagories ... sword / knife makers or beginner /hobby smiths... Its not a good way to make money otherwise...

[Adam Chance]

I LOVE those flint strikers, I would love to have one next to my fireplace. I really like the viking ones

[ThomasPowers]

When I worked for the swordmaker we'd get people coming by that wanted a sword for about 1/2 the cost of the piece of high alloy steel he used for swordmaking; then we'd show them a picture of a sword he made that cost several times what their car did---new. Got worse when there was the flood of cheap blades from the far east; gresham's law wrt blades...

[DanielC]

I have recently been pondering this. Since there are a lot of people that do it as a hobby and a lot of people that do it for a living (In most cases its both!), how can you differentiate between "I smith iron" to "I'm a Blacksmith"? Is the hierarchy any different today as it was hundreds of years ago when you were categorized as a novice or apprentice, to a master? If you are an apprentice in this day and age are you still considered a blacksmith?

I think this is more of an opinion based answer since I think what matters is what the fellow blacksmith community deems as definition, not Webster dictionary.

EDIT: Bags! I should have looked down in the forum since there is a similar thread posted:

Merged into the existing thread

[SReynolds]

I'm a welder/fabricator/heavy truck mechanic (service tech) by (week)day and a blacksmith shaping hot steel by night/weekends.

I was a blacksmith the first day I took over the shop owned by the Ohio Historical Society, even though I had only three hrs of hands-on training. When I closed shop that day, I wasn't a blacksmith, just another motorist on the open road.

The college I went to to learn welding had an instructor who refered to me as "The Welder" even though I had just begun training.

Know what I mean????

[ThomasPowers]

Ah yes the differentiation between "a blacksmith" and "a *good* Blacksmith" Or a "Professional Blacksmith" or a "Master Blacksmith".

I tell my students that as soon as they are manipulating iron hot they are a blacksmith but it may take them the rest of their lives to be a *good* blacksmith.

[HWooldridge]

Brownell's used to sell a series of books called "Kinks" vol 1 thru whatever, which contained humorous stories and real world tips for repairing and servicing firearms. One cartoon I recalled showed a somewhat dizzy looking fellow surrounded by all sorts of shop paraphenalia and the caption read, "Yastiddy, I culdn't even spell 'Gunschmidt' but today I are one!"

[David Gaddis]

I am a blacksmithing enthusiast. I would love to be called a real blacksmith but fear those days will never arive. The doctors have given me a stent through an aneurism to continue life but a weight limit of 10 pounds, for 6 months. So I will continue to bang away at very crafty stuff instead of forging hammers and large items. Hopefully the learning process will continue throughout the ordeal.


Carry on

[DanielC]

Thank you all for the informative answers!

I am a blacksmithing enthusiast. I would love to be called a real blacksmith but fear those days will never arive. The doctors have given me a stent through an aneurism to continue life but a weight limit of 10 pounds, for 6 months. So I will continue to bang away at very crafty stuff instead of forging hammers and large items. Hopefully the learning process will continue throughout the ordeal.


Carry on

I am glad to hear that you are at least doing better. Please take care of yourself.

[Francis Trez Cole]

When you hit hot metal and it goes the way you wanted it to and you control it. then you can do it over and over again the same way. Then you are a blacksmith. Randomly shaping metal in to a form, artist the comment would be ( that looks good).

[metalbender]

hi all

I'm the blacksmith that Richard met at TRF that made the flint striker

I
am indeed a full time blacksmith and custom knife maker although to be
honest since 2008 I've relied heavily on knives to make a living. Home
decor took a real hard hit in the housing bubble burst.

I work 3 major renaissance faires NYRF, Georgia, and sherwood. TRF has let go of all three smiths this year, *shrugs*

I have a building at NYRF and this year am adding another hearth to it as well as a bloomery pen.

I have a stone platform and hearth at Georgia and money willing will be building a structure over it soon (
trenton's old gig. and by the way Mr Tye has done amazing installation
pieces in L.A., has trained people, run 3 shops, built equipment and
pays the bills with his work, in my book that makes him a master. using
yellin, simmons, or hofi as the standard as to wether your a master is
like telling the head violinist of the boston philharmonic since he cant
play like issac perlman hes not a virtuoso, bars a tad high there bub)
I do not consider myself a master smith but Id confidently call myself a journeyman smith

as
far as demonstrating, I look at it as an opportunity to educate and
amuse, I LIKE demonstrating, I can make just as much money selling at
gun and knife shows as at renn faires but demonstrating smithing and
seeing peoples eyes light up makes the extra work of demonstrating worth
every hammer blow. aching elbows and shoulders and all.

Ive
been at this now for about 12 years and been full time since 2005 and
wouldn't trade it for the world I want to thank Richard for his kind
words and hope this finds you all well and hammering :)

Regards

Shane Stainton

Red Dog Forge