pnut Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Was once again watching PBS and Craft in America had a segment on Tom Joyce. It was pretty good if you love scrap art and sculpture. https://www.craftinamerica.org/artist/tom-joyce Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 If you look, there are a number of vids and lectures by Tom Joyce. They are all worth watching. I worked for him once or twice, and he sub'd out to me a part of a commission he had in my neck of the world. He is both a gentle man and a gentleman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 He was one of the first blacksmiths I was aware of. I'm always impressed by his work. I've not had the pleasure to meet him, but I got that impression from seeing him in interviews. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 Here's a story for you. A long time ago I hitch hiked to a weekend SWABA workshop. Tom invited me to stay at his house. This was his first shop "down by the river", and not far from Turley Forge. The workshop was making a dragon head in one heat with a pneumatic hammer and custom made chisels from it's tooling. Well he did,,, from ears to scales out of heavy stock. I think out of maybe 1-1/2" square stock. After dinner we "retired" to the shop and played far into the early morning. The first thing he said was,,, " you know, I think I can make a dragons head in one heat with my hand tools." And, of course, he proceeded to do just that. His statement when finished was classic. " I think that working at 7200 rpm just makes you feel like you are working faster!" And that was a lesson that has influenced me to this day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted January 11, 2020 Author Share Posted January 11, 2020 Was that the shop he bought straight out of high school from his first employer? Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 He did not graduate from high school. However, he has far more education than most. His library, even back then, was extensive and quite diverse. I'm pretty sure this was his first shop, but I do not know how he got it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 You're right. He dropped out to go to work. It was in the interview that I posted about. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Yes, he and his family are from Oklahoma. His dad was a professor of archaeology/anthro, not sure which, and taught at one of the universities. They came out during the summer to do research and digs in the Sante Fe region. Then around his sophomore year Tom came out and went to work for a hardware Smith. The rest is history. It was fun. He was down by the river and Turley Forge was at the top of the ridge and down and up a bit. There was a trail from Tom's shop that crossed the river to get to town. And a remembered restaurant called, I think, Maria's for dinner. Thanks for the post,,, it's a great memory thread from a special time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 His work was one of the reasons I became interested in blacksmithing. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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