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Blacksmith Sayings

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From a kid on a little older car restoration reality show that I can't recall. 

" Do you want it done right, or do you want it done right now?"

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On 11/4/2007 at 6:35 PM, nonjic said:

I would love to contribute but ive got to many irons in the fire as it is.......

This came from the Laundry they did a hole think on NPR about it 

En la casa de herrero, Cuchara de palo.

In the house of the blacksmith, a wooden spoon.

On 2007-11-04 at 10:35 PM, solvarr said:

get it hot
hit it hard
repeat as necessary

another pebble for my pile of stones (reference to how smiths accumulate little bits of info)

I need a third arm (slang for I need a helper, there are some vulgar versions of this involving prehensile appendages I've heard)

Haha ....I was actually designing a window decal based on that first one. Suggestive and I am sure its been done before but it was going to go something like :

"Get it hot. Hit it hard. Leave it wet."

Firefighters can do it why not Blacksmiths.......

 

"good, now heat it up and do it again"! A favorite of myself and JWS especially during our classes. I think it's pretty fitting for a blacksmiths work. 

Seems like Steve Sells had a tag line about "My abilities aren't limited to your superstitions".

I apologize if I'm mis-remembering that.

 

  • 8 months later...

Sign in shop.

Lack of planning on your part

Does not constitute an emergency on my part,

" There are two things that will send a blacksmith to hell:  Not charging enough, and trying to work cold iron!"

"If you play with fire, you are going to get burned"

"You only need to protect the things you would like to keep..."

"Everything in a blacksmiths shop, should be considered hot, til proven otherwise..."

"let the hammer do the work."

"work Smarter!  Not harder"

"put it where it will do the most good"

"Punch HOT, shear the biscuit cold"

"If you can't hold on to it safely, you can't safely hit it..."

"If you need a grinder to pretty up your weld... Then that makes you more of a Grinder than a Welder doesn't it..."

"Power tools get you done faster, one way or another... You can screw things up alot faster with a power tool..."

"Hold on loosely, but don't let go. If you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control..."  Definitely applies to hammers;-)

"The time to think is while the iron is in the fire, that is when you plan out what to do next.."

"Don't hurry, and Don't rush. Move quickly and confidently from one step to the next"

"A good craftsman isn't hurried and sloppy, and they aren't a slow worker either.  A good craftsman works with a smooth efficiency that makes it look easy."

"Neccessity is the Mother of Invention"

"We struggle to overcome the limits of our tools and materials..."

"Five more minutes at the anvil, saves an hour at the bench..."

"DO the best you can, it shows..."

"You never get a second chance to make a good first impression."

"A craftsman is know by his tools..."

"take time to sharpen the axe..."

"Tradition is what has worked consitantly in the past: with their tools, their materials, and their skills.  It is not the only way, nor even neccessarily the best way..."

"If you want it to look like it was made 200 years ago, the easiest way to get that look is to use the same materials and techniques they would have used."

"Form follows function"

"Take the time to make the proper tool for the job"

"A Master Craftsman can do incredible work with limited tools, the rest of us benifit greatly from really nice tools..."

"If it's still ugly, You quite too soon..."

"There are no shortcuts to aquiring skill, but some paths are quicker than others, and it never hurts to have a guide who can show you the way..."

 

Saw this somewhere, I don't remember, so I can't properly credit it.  My apologies if it's yours....

Shop Rates - $25/hour

If you worked on it first - $50/hour

If you stay to watch me work - $100/hour

If you want to help - $200/hour

 

More carpenter than blacksmith.

I use screws not nails. If I screw it up I can screw it down.

11 hours ago, SJS said:

"Hold on loosely, but don't let go. If you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control..."  Definitely applies to hammers;-)

Lol. I cant just read this, I have to sing this becuause all I hear is the 38 Special song :-)

What to the outsider (or beancounter) looks as a smooth running operation is in reality a series of disasters that have been prevented by skilled operators (My own experience)

  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/2/2017 at 10:56 PM, SJS said:

"If it's still ugly, You quite too soon..."

Or too late

Craftsman: "You can't polish a xxxx (piece of dung)."

Marketing expert: "But you can shellac it!"

Efficiency expert:"Shellac is cheaper than polishing anyway"

Advertised product: "Our Artisinal organic products reflect the human touch which means no two are exactly the same"

Product review: "Once the shine wore off, my dog wouldn't quit licking it...now his breath is worse than ever..."

I usually consider anything you post as bankable Rockstar but I have to beg to differ on this opinion. You can indeed polish a xxxx (piece of dung). I respectfully submit a couple pics from my collection of polished xxxxs (pieces of dung) in support. To start this is roughly 1/8 of a piece of dung commonly known as a "road apple". The photo on the left is as you can see polished to a semiprecious stone finish as it deserves. The photo on the right is the exterior. This specimen roughly 8" x 6" and 1/8 of the original road apple so figure it was roughly 16" x 12" and was collected from a pile about the size of a '70s American sedan. Yes boys and girls this is a genuine polished Jurassic sauropod piece of dung, the dogs don't care about it at all, I have it and it's pile mates holding up some of my books.

Frosty The Lucky.

58a3c9b88f6c2_Coprolite02.jpg.ba06ea0adbdea1a1d5dbc3dbcd56c9d1.jpg

 58a3ca61b2206_Coprolite04.jpg.ee0bef4c8441bff7d62512a7e676416a.jpg

 

 

Frosty,

Thank you for keeping me on my toes!  I do, however have a dog who wouldn't hesitate to eat a goodly portion of your "rock" collection! 

My dog believes that everything is "noms" if you try hard and believe in yourself. 

 

  • 3 years later...

Hi one that is my motto is 

“Move the metal, until the metal moves you.”

-Essential Craftsman 

Heard this from a fellow smith.

 

Many men go to Hell for hammering black steel

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