Ten Hammers Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Hidey Hey. I'm Steve ( Ten Hammers ) O'Grady. Bloomfield, Iowa. United States of America. Entertainment capitol of Davis county. 50 something ( I think 52) years old and for now fulltime smith. I do a lot of production work for some folks that have a mail order business. I also build stuff for folks around here. Bought the first forge 21 years ago this year. My smithing itch started as a very young man going to the Blacksmith Shop in Ellston, Iowa. Forrest Robinson was the smith. Also went to Gilmour Barbour's shop a few miles further off. I have Gilmour's Kerrihard Hammer and have looked many years for Forrest's anvil ( to no avail ). Dad farmed and I grew up and went to school with Forrest's grandsons. Navy Vet ( aircraft hydraulics ). Roughly 20 years experience in sales ( grocery and retail bicycle ). Bicycle mechanic years ago. EMT locally for about 8 1/2 years (now inactive). Married 30 years and 3 kids. 5 grandkids. THANK YOU VETERANS ( active and past ) for my and my familys freedom. I have met a few from the net and am glad to have met the old guy from Nebraska ( Junior Strasil ) and have been to his shop a few times. Also met Dodge ( Scott Scheer ) when I was there. These guys make my welding look pretty bad. Junior's shop is a walk into history and I feel a drawing back to my youth when I visit him. I also have met and am friends with Oakwood Forge ( Jens Butler ) who lives a few miles east of me. I am very glad to say that the future of smithing is alive and well in his hands. I strive to do better daily. I'm still the old guy with the pliers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wim Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Thanks Steve for sharing your past and present with us. I saw some pictures of you and Jens on the gallery. Picked up a few idea's for my own setup. I am new to blacksmithing, from July last year, and have set up the basics in my backyard now. Finally my forging sessions become a bit more productive, now that I have the basic tooling made. It's amazing how each of us has a story of how we started with blacksmithing. Have a good one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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