Neilsen Blackmith Studio - Intro

[Reid Neilsen]

Hello!

I thought I'd take a minute to introduce myself and my company. My name is Reid Neilsen and I am the owner of a forge in Southern Colorado-Northern New Mexico called The Neilsen Blackmith Studio. I am new to this forum and thought it might be a good place to meet others and exchange ideas. I am an artist-blacksmith and do primarily ornamental and decorative work. I will have my catalog and a website up and running someday soon. I am hoping to get into doing furnature pieces and some architectural work in the future as well. I have toyed with bladesmithing and made lots of historical reproductions, but am not really a bladesmith by trade. I reserve that title for the real experts who specialize in just that.

A little about my training: I began my training in central Indiana in 2001 and have been in love with it ever since. I worked full time as an apprentice smith back in Indiana and gained a lot of valuable experince while there. I did that for a few years and then moved out west. Since then I have been trianing and improving my skills. This last year I decided to "hang out my shingle", so to speak, and go into business for myself. I consider myself a reasonably skilled smith, but the great thing about smithing is that there is always something new to learn how to do! I love learning new things from others - it is what makes me improve and grow.

I joined this forum to meet people so if there are any smiths in the rocky mountian region or in New Mexico please sound off. I love meeting other smiths/sharing ideas/going to events. These types of forums are really the modern version of the old guilds and are a great source of learning and information. I am glad I found this forum - I look forward to participating in discussion soon!:)