Tyrant-Breaker Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 Hi, I'm new to this whole thing and looking for a some information about getting started. I have always liked the idea of being a smith and working with metal as a career. But i really have no experience I was hoping someone might be able to point me towards some beginner projects and some starting information. Thanks everyone this site looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 Add your location to your profile. Chances are there is someone near you, or a blacksmithing group near you. Go to the blacksmithing > general discussion section and read the posts at the top of the section. Many of your questions have been answered in great detail before. Pack a lunch and a cold drink before you start reading the site. You will understand why soon enough. (grin) Welcome to IForgeIron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 I directed a new student of mine here and he said he was going to run read all my posts...bwahahahahahahaha(was that my outside voice?) He did learn about the TPAAAT though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambieber Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 Welcome I'm a newbie as well. If you read my post (right below yours) at the bottom there are a couple links to help us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Hello and welcome. Tons of great info here to learn from. Pull up a chair and a few snacks and sit down and read thru a bunch of the older threads to start with. As far as making a career as a smith, some do, but it's not a huge market. Most guys I know who make a living with metal are primarily welders, sheet metal workers or machinists. Quite a few of these guys also heat and beat metal to some degree, either as a hobby, or as a part of what they do on occasion. If you are looking to make metal a career, I'd probably steer you towards one of those vocations as far as a way to bring home a decent check every week. I know around me there is a shortage of trained machinists. Most of the tech schools have dropped their machining courses and the older guys are slowly retiring. The demand is mostly for CNC machinists, but the guys who can still do prototype work by hand are in high demand as well. I can't tell you much about sheet metal workers. I had a friend of the family who made a decent living for a lot of years doing custom duct work and a moderate amount of custom sheet copper work, but he retired a few years back and moved south to live with his kids. welding jobs can cover a wide gambit. There are good paying jobs for those with the skill set to do precision tig or do pipe work, but there are also a lot of low to mid paying production jobs as well. Where you are located and what kind of work is going on will determine if you can manage to find any of the higher paying jobs. If you are serious about making metal working a career, I'd pick an area you are interested in and start looking for some classes to take at a local tech school or community college. These classes will often get you where you want to go faster than trying to learn on your own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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