Crippled Blacksmith?

[JR Raeszler]

Hello y'all/.  My name is Jeremy R Raeszler....hence the JR Raeszler.  I am now a 40 year old North Dakota kid that transplanted to Northeast Texas....than South Texas....than back to North Dakota...then to Iowa...then to Las Vegas, NV...then to Panguitch, Utah.  I have worked on hot tubs my entire working career, my parents divorced when I was in Texas, somewhere...I don't remember where.....when I was just a boy.  I grew up with my Momma and her 3 sisters and my sibling...which was a sister.  Throughout my life I have always tried "manly" things because of all the women in my life.  I have been married 4 times....ooops.  Finally I met my match and we have been together for 12 years now.  I recently turned 40 years old in July.  We have NO kids, but we have 2 dogs, a 12 year old "purse" dog and a 1 year old red heeler.  On February 3, 2008, a SUnday, I sustained a spinal cord injury riding a motorcycle.  I am now what they call a T12 Incomplete Paraplegic.  I have VERY limited mobility from the waist down.  Anyways....to fast forward a bit I have always blacksmithed a bit.  I still have the 88# Trenton Anvil I purchased as an 8th grader and it is still the ONLY anvil I have to this day.  I guess I never considered myself an artist until I found this site a couple months back.  I generally don't make things for other people...even by request....because I don't like the attention or the liability.  After "lurking" iforgeiron.com for a couple months I am starting to reconsider.  I generally don't make "pretty" things, but rather things I use daily....door latches and pintles, tools, truck parts, ect.  With this said I will unlikely EVER post pictures of my work...because to me it is not anywhere near as perfect as what y'all do in my mind!  

 

Many ask and wonder how I can blacksmith as a paraplegic.....my answer is simple....because I want to.  I work with an old coal forge that I bought in 8th grade that has concrete in the tray.....an old Trenton anvil that is not pretty, an ugly stool I made from steel fence posts and horseshoes to lean on (sit on)....and an assortment of tongs that I have made as well as an assortment of pliers that work as good as tongs.  I simply love blacksmithing.  I probably don't need to repeat it to y'all because from what I have read most of you LOVE blacksmithing....but I will, I LOVE BLACKSMITHING!  There is not a better feeling than taking a truck leaf spring, or a truck coil spring, or a truck axle shaft, or a darn used horseshoe for that matter, and turning it into something that you use on a daily basis with fire and a few blows of a hammer.  I have NEVER purchased steel, but I am sure I will someday.  I buy coal from a supplier in Kanab, UT by the ton, and I break it up myself.  Prior to this, as a rotten kid, I made my own....while I was catching frogs.  Kids nowadays xxxx me off.  You could call me prejudice, (I am a guy that hates all stupid people).  Kids today don't have ANY respect for history.  Now those of you with kids don't hate on me, I am sure you raised yours good....I just haven't met them.  

 

I want all the beginners to know that your work doesn't have to impress the "senior members", or anyone for that matter.  If you can forge something that makes you proud and you can use it everyday than you ARE a BLACKMITH.  

 

I will attach a recent picture of myself, my assistant "Sticker" and my well used anvil.  Maybe...someday....when you are visiting the great state of Utah, you will stop by and my wife and I will make you dinner and we can compare stories.  

 

I hope I didn't offend anyone, I want to be a part of this iforgeiron.com community.  But this is who I am

 

Jeremy

[Maillemaker]

In Roman mythology, Vulcan, the god of smiths, was born with a bum leg.  Nevertheless, he overcame his "limitation" and became an essential force for Jupiter and the other gods.

 

Far too many people view their weaknesses as obstructions, rather than as stepping stones.  You are not in that group.

 

Welcome aboard.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Please post your work, the senior members just might surprise you, the newbies need he insperation, and all of us will have an opertunity to learn a new way to aproche a blacksmithing project.
Your not the only one to grab an old shoe, or a peice of rebar to tackle a "honey, you we a blacksmith..." Situation around the house.

By the way, my better half's mother (73) has been informed that she will most likely be joining the wheeled croud. I'd like to be able to show her how she can enjoy her hobbies from a new perspective. Can I use you and your smithing as an example?

[SoCal Dave]

JR:  You are assuming that you skills stay the same as time passes.  That is not true as you gain experience and try different projects.  For all blacksmiths, newbies or old timers, each project requires that they think about how to proceed, how to join things, how to forge things first, second, etc, with the tools they have at hand.  So, to some degree, the same issues face you as some old experienced blacksmith.  I was intimidated by all the great stuff I saw on this website, until I made a water fountain that I was very proud of.  It didn't require a lot of skill, but did require a lot of work.  I got lots of complements and thought that maybe I could do nice work.  I am more willing now to try larger and more complicated projects that include things I have never tried before.  Good luck to you and start forging.    

[swedefiddle]

I always thought that I was Hard done By, as a kid with no shoes. Then I met a man that had no feet.................

 

Welcome to our world, JR. All the people who I have met in this business, DON'T put themselves on a Public Pedestle. What a stack of HUMBLE People.

Information is free to steal!!! Assistance is close at hand!! Surely there is a Blacksmith Group in Utah, Northern Rockies Blacksmith Association might be close.

Look at the Afilliates listing on ABANA's web-site.

 

Greetings from Vancouver Island, the small Continent. :) :)

 

Neil

[DSW]

My best friend in high school was confined to a wheelchair with limited use of his arms. He never let that stop him from doing whatever he wanted. He'd find a way somehow. All this in the 80's. long before today's PC stuff and ADA. He looked at most of the newly emerging "handicapped accessibility" stuff as a crock and a cop out for those to lazy to find a way to succeed. If he could find a way to make it work, so could anyone else. Sadly he passed away due to an unrelated medical issue before he had a chance to graduate.

 

 

To this day I use his monogram as my mark to identify my stuff. It reminds me daily that anything can be overcome with the right attitude and perseverance, and to never give up no matter what the odds may look like or what anyone else says.

[njanvilman]

Welcome aboard.  Any day doing smithing is better than a day doing nothing.  We all have issues.

[Jim Coke]

Greetings JR,

 

It sounds like you have all the right STUFF to call yourself a blacksmith.  The love of metal and creativity is a powerful motivator.  Take Neils suggestion and hook up with a local group.  At my studio I teach flypress operation and tooling .   This may be a good path to research and expand your projects.  Welcome aboard. 

 

Forge on and make beautiful things

Jim

[Marksnagel]

Welcome to IFI JR,

 

 As some have said, please post pics of your work. You have more to offer than you think. Aside from gleaning info from other IFI members you can contribute.

 

As a chair bound smith you offer hope and advice to other smiths with physical limitations. Let them and the rest of us see what you can do. There are no limits to what you can accomplish unless you decide that. So show others what possibilities lie ahead for them. I imagine you have found ways to accomplish things that others thought were impossible and I don't just mean those with disabilities. We all need to find ways to do things differently.

 

If you are worried that more experienced blacksmiths will criticize your work then how will you hope to excell. Unless you are happy with where you are and have no wish to better your work.

 

There was a thread on here a few years ago about smiths with disabilities and how they overcame what some people would look at as a dead end to a hobby/career.

 

I look forward to seeing your work and how you made things. So take some pictures, grab a cup of coffee and share. We'll share with you too!

 

Mark <><

[divermike]

Welcome to the group! I always say I have never been much of a mechanic, but blacksmithing is the beginning of mechanics, so maybe I can overcome that handicap. I admire your spirit and would like to think I would be the same way, but until I walk in those shoes...as it were.. anyway, I have family in the Provo area, if I get over your way I will notify you ahead of time so the beer is cold, heh heh

[yesteryearforge]

Post away we really like photos.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words
Most of the seniors here only post words anyway

[arkie]

Welcome to the group! :-)

Don't belittle your experience or abilities. We all started somewhere and learned by doing. Heat your iron, grab up a hammer and start forging! You'll be surprised at how much progress you will make, particularly when you look back at your earlier work. It just takes practice and a lot of forge time. You have shown that you have confidence in yourself, now apply it to smithing :-)

[Robert Yates]

Welcome JR,

 

Yes we love to see photos and it does not matter good ,bad or ugly. this is how this community helps each other over a long distance by advising and helping each other with their work .Many here have some medical issues Myself included that may keep us from forging everyday However, it does not stop us from doing what we love . I salute you for your ambition and abilities I look forward to seeing your work .

 

Sam

[Steve Sells]

After seeing this first post. I see you have physical restrictions that you dont allow to restrict you, then you show us 3 photos:  a photo of you, your anvil, and your dog,  that is my kind of person and scores lots of points in my world,  Welcome to I Forge Iron

[WmHorus]

 Welcome to the group, lots of us here have medical and physical problems ( not to mention mental ones as well ) and that does not stop us from doing what we love to do, and neither should you. If you love something that much you keep trying to do it and give inspiration to others in similar situations. Glad you are here....

 

Horus

[Dan C]

Welcome to the group, please post pics of your work especially any related to truck parts.  I have a '55 1st chevy 1/2 ton which I've had to forge parts for and something you might've made could give someone else good ideas which they might not have considered.  FYI, not all kids are bad, both my teenagers spend time w/ me in the garage welding & working on the truck.  My son also makes a pretty good striker which planning on putting him to work this weekend.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Jeremy glad to have you.

 

I see you suffer a pretty common new guy misunderstanding, you don't want to show your work because it's NOT perfect. HAH, we're blacksmiths we don't do perfect. Sure some of us, bladesmiths mostly, TRY for perfect but . . .

 

You're working around problems, so are all of us in one way or another, the worst being those who don't think they have problems. <grin> I'm a TBI survivor, darned near lost a fight with a vegetable but I'm still here and the tree's dead.

 

Sounds like you don't give up, good steel requires us to be more stubborn, more adamant, to bend it to our will we must learn it's way. It's a life long learning curve,mentally and physically. I just LOVE the learning curve.

 

You are soooo gonna fit in here.

 

Enjoy the craft, it's a heck of a ride.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Horus, I resemble that! :-D

[JR Raeszler]

Holy cow!  I never would have assumed that so many would have so positively commented on my post.  I was just doing as the forum titled asked, introducing myself.  Thanks for the welcome y'all.  I will do my best to give my thoughts on posts made and offer my lack of knowledge to those that don't want it.

 

I guess I may have misrepresented a bit as well.  I don't consider my disability as a paraplegic as .  Sometimes.....well, every time.....it just takes me a little longer to get things done because I now have to figure out how I can get it done.  Honestly, I feel the SCI probably made me a better blacksmith....friend....husband....because I don't take anything for granted anymore.  For example, if I am making a new bolster plate and all I have laying around is a horseshoe first I have to figure out how I am gonna get the darn shoe off the ground without falling on my face, then I gotta figure out how to get back up off the ground after I stuck the stupid horsehoe in my shirt pocket or down my pants, and so on.  But once I am at the anvil and I have my hammers and the forge is making me sweat profusely under the leather apron and I am hammering away making this XXXX filled used horseshoe into something I can use I completely forget I have an SCI, I forget that my dog ate one of my chickens earlier that day, I simply loose track of time and all I can think about is how nice it will be to make the rivet I needed yesterday and how good a cold Coors is gonna taste when I stop cranking the handle on the blower.

 

Anyways, I will work on getting pictures of some of the things I have done and post them in the appropriate categories for y'all to see.  I prefer criticism versus praise.  Seems to be on ongoing problem with most today, nobody likes criticism, they get defensive.  Although it sure makes me feel good when someone I don't know...or even someone I do know....sees the gate pintle's I made and hammered into the railroad tie fence posts and says something about them.  

 

JR

[Old South Creations]

Welcome to IFI Jeremy!

[Charles R. Stevens]

Then you'll love if you like criticism you'll get that, and prase and encouragement as needed.
Any time you don't feel like your getting enugh criticism, just post about how you want to make a sword as your first project, Rich and Steve will hook you up :-D

[ThomasPowers]

I've worked with folks that were much more severely challenged than you; one I believe was a thalidomide victim and another legally blind.  As mentioned it's the intent and will that makes the difference.  (The thalidomide guy's girlfriend came up to me later and told me that he was almost crying with joy when he came back to their camp---everyone else was trying to "protect him"; I was the first person who said---"If you want to do it we'll find a way!"  The blind fellow was much more difficult as he had no hammer control...)

[Bentiron1946]

Good to see you have a "helper" dog. One of my Huskies when he was younger liked to hammer too, he'd take a hammer in his mouth and beat on the floor. I guess he got bored with that, he's ten now. Due to my back and neck pain I don't forge steel any more but have switched to making copper jewelry. And no I don't post pictures, just too frustrating to try and figure out how to it, worse than the back pain. Makes me want to put the computer in a nice hot fire and forge something useful out of it. Anyway even if I can't figure out how to post a picture I still enjoy seeing other folks work, most of it is a lot better than they realize it is, we are our own worst critics. I think my copper jewelry looks like crap but a friend of my wife loves the stuff. I make a memorial piece for her every time one of her many dogs up and dies. She gets a lot of comments on the pieces from her fellow workers but it is not opinion that counts, I just make the stuff.