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I Forge Iron

Advice on quitting my job for forging


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I often point out that it's a lot easier to try things out when you are young and "unencumbered". If it doesn't work out you can always go on to something else. Skipping a few meals is a lot easier when it's just you and not a spouse and kids!

I think that there value in the old Journeyman system when after basic training you were expect to travel and learn other things and try different things out.

Anvil; why I liked foreign travel with my kids; to show them that people can be different; but not wrong----just different!  We often have a different take on things; but I seldom think your point has no merit!

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Far easier, but not impossible. When I chose to not be an engineer and become a smith, one of the arguments was to be an engineer and get my life set up economically then make the change. The fault in that argument, for me, was just that. It's far easier to work up to a higher economic level than to downsize economically and miss those meals.

A common argument for not pursuing smithing or any craft for that matter is that one must always charge appropriately or you are shorting yourself. The fault in this argument is that there was a reason for the apprenticeship, journeyman, master process. No matter then or now, it takes about 7 years to truly become rather competent with the basics, as a general rule. So when it takes a proverbial hour for a beginner to make a dollar three nighty eight "s" hook, you certainly are setting yourself up for failure by charging even contemporary minimum wage for your time. Education is not free and 7 years is quite an investment. Then the journeyman time really makes it possible to compete on many levels with contemporary construction and sets the stage for being able to run and bid a job as a master must. For some, these times are not absolute, but they are a great rule of thumb that anyone contemplating becoming a working smith should be aware of.

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