Do all blacksmiths look like blacksmiths?

[newlad]

Told a friend that I am building a forge and intend on learning some blacksmith techniques and he said to me that it did not suprise him as I have always looked like a blacksmith I thought at first this was a compliment then I started thinking .
Do all you guys look like blacksmiths ?
Also found out from my mother that my fathers grandfather was a blacksmith I take this to be a good omen and now feel that I have a "blacksmith gene" all these thoughts and I have only spent one day on a forge in yorkshire I harassed the blacksmithto let me come on the course as it was my last chance before coming to France so he put me on the small portable forge that he used for show work it did not have a chimney and was a bit wobbly but I enjoyed the day so much that I now must have my own

[meco3hp]

Hello,
Discribe a blacksmith. I've seen them tall, short, young, old, big, small, male, female,,,ect. I figure if you have a intrest and don't mind getting dirty and hot, what differance does it make? Learn all you can, and pass it on when the opertunity happens. Other wise have fun.

[Ed Thomas]

Yes, we all look almost identical. In fact, you cannot actually claim to be a blacksmith until you've been screened by a committee for the proper wardrobe, beady eyes, and peculiar hygiene.

These models are displaying the appropriate dress and inattention to cleanliness.

Here we see a newer member who just barely tipped the scales enough for probationary acceptance as an apprentice. A few more stone and his position should be more secure.

[Daryl]

If you describe looking like a blacksmith as someone with hands that can crush walnuts between their pinkie and thumb; one arm significantly larger than the other; inability to tell if we have dark hair or just a head of coal; ability to withstand skin temperatures over 350F; and forearms larger than our thigh.... I guess I have a ways to go before I look like one. :lol:

[Shane Stegmeier]

No one seems to be surprised that I am a blacksmith, of course they are surprised that people still do that, or that you can make a living at it (the jury is still out on that one;-)...

A funny story about one arm larger than they other, I am a blacksmith and a farrier, was the former long before the later, and hopefully will be a blacksmith long after I escape out from under horses:-) But I was still working as an apprentice with the guy who taught me to shoe, and we had just come from a barn where I had made some shoe, and I was unloading tools at the next stop and the client happened to be a nurse, she took one look at my right arm, and asked urgently,"What happened to your arm?!?!..." I looked at her dumbfounded, and looked at my arm to see if I was bleeding or on fire or something. She said, "Its obviously swollen!" I looked again at my arms, and my right arm was still a bit engorged from workin in the fire. I held both arms side by side and flexed:-) and said, "Well I AM right handed, and I did make some shoes at the last stop."

Beards and perscription safety glasses, seem to also be a "blacksmith look" Although it seems according to Ed that my svelt 225# doesn't measure up favorably...;-)

[Glenn]

If there is any question on the matter, you can always consult The You might be a blacksmith if ...list

There are over 250 ways listed, but I am sure a few more could be added. :wink:

[mike-hr]

Ed, I think the guy with the suit jacket over the bibbers has the look I've been searching for! Thanks, man!

[Quenchcrack]

Personally, I am dead ringer for Brad Pitt.........OK, so maybe just the pitts part is accurate.....I do look like a smith.........Snuffy Smith! :lol:

[HWooldridge]

Here's my funny story about stereotypes. I was demoing during a folk festival and forging some 1/4 square about 12" long with the heat only at the tip. A father came up with his son and silently watched as I made a long J-hook. Bear in mind that I had switched to tongs to hold the piece after the first heat but the dad whispered to his son that 'his hands must have very thick skin to withstand the heat'. I said nothing and the son walked away while the dad continued to observe for a while. After a bit, he piped up and remarked again that my hands must be immune to the heat - like a chef's fingers. I replied that my hands are actually quite sensitive to temperature and my wife could tolerate hotter temps (like dish water) much better than I could - but he was not convinced...

My hands wear well and don't blister plus I can ignore quite a bit of impact but cannot tolerate hot or cold extremes. We make sausage every year and my wife has to mix the meat because the cold just kills my hands. Hurts so bad it almost brings tears to my eyes. :cry:

[elkdoc]

Last fall, when a friend found our I had taken up blacksmithing, he said the same thing. "You look like a blacksmith. I'm not suprised."

I wondered exactly what in tarnation a blacksmith "looks" like. At the time, I hadn't trimmed my beard in over 13 months and it was down to my mid chest. I think he meant the big burly look. But you don't have to look far to see that that's not a real accurate stereotype.

I had this exact topic under discussion at a recent guild meeting. A fellow member mentioned that the demonstrator wouldn't look like a smith if you met him on the street. Then he came to the conclusion on his own that the statement didn't make sense, because who knows what a blacksmith looks like? Glance around at a guild meeting and you'll see all types: short, squatty, burly (like me), tall and thin, big, little, brawny, puny. All it takes is the ability to use your brain to figure out how to apply heat and pressure to metal, not physical strength, most of the time.

[Ed Thomas]

Yep, all the blacksmiths I know look alike.


Elizabeth Brim


Megan Crowley


Dorothy Stiegler


Amy Pieh


Corrina Mensoff


Christina Shmigel


Susan Madacsi

[elkdoc]

Ed!

You apparently run in more, uh, visually appealing smithing circles than I do. :wink:

The smiths I hang with are generally out to avoid the wife on a Sunday afternoon and as a group there's maybe 2 full heads of hair among us! :mrgreen:

[Glenn]

Ed, I like your tastes in blacksmiths. Quality craftspersons and easy on the eyes. :D

[Ed Thomas]

If you don't know these blacksmiths, do a search on their names and you might be a bit stunned. Some are ABANA board members and all are exceptionally skilled.

[ThomasPowers]

I was going to say that of course I looked like a blacksmith and so does Dorthy---she just looks like a much better looking one...My beard is getting to the length where I should probably start boraxing it if I don't want it forge trimmed.

The oddest smith I have ever met was the one that used to come to SOFA meeings in a jaguar, most tend toward rather more "earthy" looking vehicles.

Thomas My Mother's grandfather was a smith in Cedarville AR USA.

[Ed Thomas]

I forgot to include one of my favorite:


Mindy Gardner


Pictures of her work shown in an article at the ABANA site here:

http://www.abana.org/membership/conference/2004/demonstrators/gardner.shtml

[Ed Thomas]

My grandmother can beat up your grandmother

[ThomasPowers]

Well yeah she's dead; but my great grandmother lived out on the farm and milked a small herd of cows and preferred to use her wood stove to cook on into her 90's. I don't think she would fight---just use her shotgun...

Thomas

[philip in china]

Some of the lady blacksmiths are by no means the hulking great monsters one might imagine.

[philip in china]

From what I remember:

The smith, a mighty man is he
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can.
And he looks the whole world in the face,
For he knows not any man.

Analyse yourself against the above criteria and report back. My hands are very small for a man but I have a grip like a vice, my hair is thin, short and grey, at 5'7" I look quite a lot of the world in the necktie rather than the face. Most of the rest applies though.

[orgtwister]

i kinda like a woman that can do work that most people think is a mans job for all the woman out there you go girl

[kahul1]

Its pretty bad for me when you get joked about at blacksmith guild meetings for being a giant. Standing about 6' 5" and weighing in at 255 lbs everybody seems to think it pretty normal that I am of the smithy persuasion.

[Jack Evers]

Too many years ago to admit to, I participated in my first farrier/forging competition between Dallas and Fort Worth (Las Covina Equestrian center). The competition was intimidating - for the blacksmiths here, Frank Turley was a couple spots away. As the competition was heating up (pun intended), some friends, who had come to watch, said "who's the little guy about three spaces to your right that looks like he might be the neighborhood dentist and isn't sweating nearly as much as most of you". I glanced up and said "that's Randy Luikart from Ohio, I think he's demonstrating that a quality shoe isn't nearly as much work as a mediocre one". Looks can be deceiving. For the record, I'm 5'7" and 165 pounds.

Edited February 27, 2009 by Jack Evers

[Finnr]

Course I look like a blacksmith.
http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/10182
Finnr

[Chris Keppler]

Well i'm to fat, hairy, and ugly to be a ballerina so i guess i have no choice but to give this blacksmithing thing a try.

Chris