If I had a hammer ...
If I had an anvil ....
If I had a _______ fill in the blank.


How many times have you heard this, or something similar? Give them an warehouse full of tools, and a heated airplane hanger to work in, catered food and beverages, a wide screen satellite TV, and there will be yet another If I had a _______.

You are only limited by your imagination, and your knowledge.You can expand your knowledge by reading, research, taking classes, talking with others, and searching out the information you want. Put your imagination into gear. Think about the problem and how many different ways it can be solved. The solution does not have to be practical, it just has to solve the problem.


For the next 30 days, carry a book or magazine with you at all times. When you find a couple of minutes, read. Do not let the 5 minutes here or the 10 minutes there slip away and become wasted. Use them to your advantage, read, learn, and expand your knowledge.

For the next 30 days, carry a notebook or piece pf paper, and use it to record your thoughts and ideas. Draw sketches if that will help. Put put your brain in gear and keep it active and thinking. If the idea arrives at dinner, write it down, if it arrives in a dream, write it down, when it arrives take a couple of seconds and write it down. The whole concept is to put the brain and the sub-conscience in gear and to get them working.

What is it going to cost? Carrying a piece of paper and a magazine for 30 days? It would be interesting to hear the results of what you learned, and how you solved a problem.

I do both of these things. The computer supplements a book/mag oftentimes, but I try to continually research new topics related to this and MANY other things. I could give a dissertation on how an axe is forged, the different styles, history, etc, but I have never made the time to do it. Time is my most precious resource.

I dug a hole before I had a forge.
used a rock before my anvil.
built some bellows before I fond a blower
made nails in the vise before I had a header.
etc.

It's all possible regardless of "limitations". Networking is also a powerful tool. Don't be afraid to ask someone for something, especially if it's just knowledge.

Edited December 7, 200817 yr by JosephPrivott

Think outside of the box.

Better yet - you have a box - what can you do with it!

i have to agree ya dont need a big shop or a ton of tools just spend the time and make things! get it hot and hit it !

If I had a Hammer
If I had an Anvil
If I had another 100 years to learn..

If I had a big hammer and a little imagination, the possibilities are endless.

Creativity is key, and a very useful one. I think of my problems sort of like an algebra problem. Now, I'm no math wiz, but there is a solution to everything. If I'm really bummed, I say,"face up", That is the name of a book written by "Bear Grylls". Just my two cents. Have a good one!

If I had a clue that I was going to want to blacksmith back while my father was still alive I would have gotten him to show me a thing or 3. I really miss my father...he was a REAL blacksmith.

if i had an anvil
if i had a hammer
if i had more time to practice

The most expensive and elusive commodity...free time.

Tools and skill matter for little if you don't do it. Having the self discipline to get into the shop and use the tools and skill you have, that is what sees results. When I was out in California doing the starving artist thing, we had a shop with some basic tools, and we were passionate so we were making knifes out of phosbronze. We went to an auction and found a bunch of cool tools like a cone mandrel and a Johnson Gas Appliance 133 trough forge. And suddenly we couldn't get anything done, because we were trying to get the big forge up and running. So we had to wait on the gas line to be run, then we set up a porch to forge on, and ran an overhead gas line to porch, and then we would roll the big forge out and roll the anvil out to where it needed to be then I could get to forging. Then we would roll all the tools back into the shop where we could lock everything up. It was amazing we were going gangbuster doing jewelry, cold work and phosbronze knives, then we stopped doing anything creative. Our life was on hold till we got set up to do hot work outside. Once we did get set up things were back in the flow, but we both noticed that while we were looking for something else to make life better we couldn't get anything else done. Don't let your hopes stand in the way of your dreams. Make the tools you need and don't limit yourself with what you don't have. Use the tools you have, and use the skill you have, as you do you will gain new skills, and make new tools to push your skills even more.

If wishes were horses there would be only riders...

here's mine

if i had a hammer,
if i had an anvil,
i would make a big wheel,
if i only had some steel,
had to answer this and don't know why,
now i just hit my finger and i'm gonna cry,
so that was my reply,
thank you and bye-bye,

I think everyone should read more.And carry a notebook.

All time is free. I've never noticed some I could pay for to get.

What we do with it is determined by choice.