Iron Asylum Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I am currently writing my dissertation on blacksmithing and am curious where all of you get your inspiration from? Who is doing what? and how are they doing it? and where? Who are your idols in the craft and who do you think is the best? How do you let their work influence yours? I am mostly going to be writing about UK based blacksmiths, but if any other smiths from other countries are of great importance then i wont hesitate to add them in to my essay. Thanks Olly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 (edited) I would be sure to mention Mr. Hofi , Mr. Whitaker and the Habberman Family. Not very sure what you mean but if I was doing an essay they would be in it for sure. There are many other smiths that I would add but I`am not very sure about UK smiths. Here is a list smiths & people that inspire me the most , Mom & Dad for support of my craft, Wayne Coe, John Taylor, Jeff Phllips, Wendale Garrett, Kent Hepworth, Frosty, Ted T, Glenn, Mitch (MRobb) ,, Richard Thibeau, and to many more to mention Edited March 4, 2009 by hammerkid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrynjr Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Just about every member of this website! The pictures of their projects are a constant inspiration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Just about every member of this website! The pictures of their projects are a constant inspiration. Yeah I think larry hit the nail on the nail head with that!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip in china Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Uri Hofi is number one without a doubt but, of course, that is just my opinion. I happen to have seen a lot of his work and he has been kind to me by giving excellent advice. Junior Strasil has also been a great help and encouragement. For a practical smith doing traditional type smiting work I doubt if he can be beaten. So many people here have been a big help though. So I think we ALL should put Glenn somewhere on the list. Thank you again Glenn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
element Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Most my inspiration comes from being able to make my own tools that would otherwise cost thousands in the long run. This website and everyone who uses and the guys that run this place are inspirations because they go out of there way to help you and set your questions strait. Its all about sharing ideas, Giving and recieving knowlege so its not lost in your grave.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Bob Trout- Roycroft Master Coppersmith John Rausch Forgemaster NYSDBA Dick Rightmeyer Forgemaster NYSDA Brian Martins Intermediate smith NYSDBA Don Kieffer Intermediate Smith NYSDBA Frosty The funniest guy on this site My 15 year old son Brad, he loves everything I make. God Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alwin Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I agree with all of the above. A few that pop into my head for really being experts in certain areas of the craft are Peter Ross, George Dixon and Tom Latane. Just a few more to look at. Some of the older work I've seen and thought was truly amazing was done by Samuel Yellin- A giant of blacksmithing in the U.S.A. In the realm of older work, I was truly amazed by the work of Frank Koralewsky (I'm pretty sure he lived in Boston in the U.S.A) that I saw in a book which I think was called "The Goldsmith of Venice". Cyril Colnick also goes on the list of inspirational blacksmiths of the past. The ABANA site has some pictures of his work. Many more are there I'm sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie Zietman Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 The ones who pop into my head are Burton Sargent, one of my teachers. He does rough work with a real eye for lines in colonial era pieces. The other major influences are Chris Winterstein who used to teach at Penland, and Albert Paley, whose Portal Gates I had the pleasure of seeing in person. They are an amazing piece of ironwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 my vote goes to Peter Ross . Daryl Nelsen,Torvald Sorensen ,Terry Carson... many others Jerry Culberson ... i know ime missing a bunch... but that is a good start... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markb Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Samuel Yellin, Albert Paley, Uri Hofi, Beau Hickory, William F.Moran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Fred Odin, Bill Wyant, Jim Hrisoulas, Terry Moran have been the biggest in my smithing journey. thanks Guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsiler Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 When I was very young, my uncle. More recently Don Dillon. This site and everybody involved with it. Thanks everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Any of the thousands of smiths from the last couple thousand years who made the tools and hardware of civilization. Think about the number of nails used in a house... at one point up until about 150 years ago, some smith made each one by hand. I look at a lot of other smiths work and find myself wanting, but I keep at it. My wife is also an inspiration, she can trip off an entire project with a few words or a picture. Everyone here for being free with tips and information and stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locky.au Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 I have to agree with the consensus thus far on Uri Hofi and would like to suggest Mark Aspery with his detail in presenting a methodical edification of Blacksmithing techniques through his books, videos and classes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt87 Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Two things inspire me: innovation and working with as few tools/resources as possible. People like Hofi are certainly innovative (finding better ways to do things). However the minimal resources thing is what really gets me going -- the notion that you need a hammer, anvil, fire and stock and can make any tool or other object. Just like in a lot of my other interests, I greatly respect skill above using a lot of kit. The ancient smiths for instance, who would make pattern-welded swords of great beauty with a complete tool-kit that would fit into a shoulder-bag. Or the Sri Lankan smiths I've visited, who produce some amazing blades all day long with a bellows, mud hearth, very simple anvil, two hammers, one pair tongs, one hot-cut and one punch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primtechsmith Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Wow. Great thread. I want to take a shot at this... My mentor/master/boss/father in law/everything else you could think of is my biggest influence. His style and vision of blacksmithing comes from an extensive background of being a machinist and what he has experienced over his years doing this. He took the magic and mystery that I thought surrounded blacksmithing and laid it out into simple techniques and practices that can be attained through persistance and practice. He inspires me on many levels outside of the forge as well. He pretty much is my role model. He has allowed a child hood dream of learning this trade after seeing a demonstration while in grade school to come to life. Hard to pay that back...but I am going to keep trying every day that I am able. I am lucky to be involved in a family where my mother in law, father in law, brother in law, and wife all have done or still do some blacksmithing. A family that forges together stays together... Peyton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Poulmas Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Samuel Yellin. Not just the smithing but also the design. And being able to manage a shop which at one point, had over two hundred people working in it. From a design stand point I don't think it gets any better. He created forms that were solid, yet had a delicacy. His animal forms were lighthearted but never came off cartoon-ish. This is a difficult balance to strike. (And personally I think it's pretty bad xxxx that they assembled a lot of that grill work on wooden saw horses.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaylan veater Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Hi, I would have to say for me first my good friend here in Utah Hyrum Hunter and then I have taken 3 week long classes from Mark Aspery and have learned so much from both. Mark is a great teacher and his books are a great also. If you dont have his book I strongly advise taking a look.A big thanks from me to Mark he has become a really good friend. Gaylan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leland Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Most of them are nameless, and the masterful products of their craft and skill were intended to serve -- not as inspiration to distant ages yet to come, but the more pressing demands of hand to mouth. But in sustaining life with hammer and tongs, these unknown forgers managed nonetheless to touch the ages: A bevel, curl, or twist that served no purpose but to delight the eye; perfect symmetry where a lesser sort would have done as well; an attention to detail that transcended craft or need and humbly -- quietly, and largely without recognition -- blossomed into Art. They are those whose ornaments and filigree caused Sonn to note, "There was nothing too small to take pains upon," and whose anvils yet ring in Ruskin's admonition: "When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labour and wrought substance of them, 'See! This our father did for us!'" Leland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 anyone who is creative just for the love of it - doesnt matter what material they are using- also people who arent prescious and dont mind sharing the knowledge around xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firebug Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Hofi inspires me for many reasons. He did not start blacksmithing until he was 52 years old. By that time many people are already thinking of retirement, not Uri, he was just getting started. He is now 73 and can still outwork many 30 year olds. He speaks of Blacksmithing as a language and says it is about culture, it is. Look at the different style anvils and hammers and you will find that they come from different cultures from around the world. He has taught me to ask "why is it done that way" not just about blacksmithing but about life," can it be done better, faster, more efficient". He has fine tuned many aspects of blacksmithing and in some instances totally redefined the way things should be done. He does not teach tradition for traditions sake. In fact some do not like it when he goes against the tradition. It is not enough to say it is done this way because it has always been done this way. In a few short years after he started blacksmithing Hofi was teaching at major conferences. He loves to teach, I love to teach and will carry his legacy on one day. Although I have watched many smiths, he is the only one that I formally take instruction from at this time. He is very intelligent, well versed in many aspects of life. He is constantly reading books on almost every subject, even at 2 in the morning. When you learn blacksmithing from Uri you learn about life and it reflects in your work. He is still learning and passing everything along to his students. If you are serious about blacksmithing he will teach you. He currently teaches in Israel where he lives and I am going next month, Holland, Japan, Czech Republic, Germany, US and other places. To have people start whole new schools to teach your method of forging speaks volumns in itself. If I were you and writing a disertation on blacksmithing I would definitely include Uri Hofi, definitely. Google Uri Hofi and see what happens. Gary Cremeens, firebug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rokshasa Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 i woke up one day and felt i had to do something, always having been an artist, pencil and paper just wasn't enough for me i needed something more subtantial, more real, and it came to me , like a flash, the next week it all came togethere with help from freinds like element and famely. now i have somewhat of a well furnished shop and can look forwards to a life time of learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug C Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Previous post have state the obvious: Hofi, Yellin, all the icons of the trade and the amazing folks of all skill levels on IFI willing to share and teach (Mark Aspery is the gold standard for detail and making us think). Look at the gallery, what a gold mine. I also get inspiration from the iron work I see every where I go (Saw some amazing stuff on the Tufts University campus today) and from natural forms all around us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris P Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Anyone who finds the joy and determination to put hammer to hot metal, be they new to the craft or seasoned veterans. I'm just barely starting out after getting other things out of the way, but I can honestly say I find it both inspirational and encouraging when I see beginners showing off their fist pieces, or masters showing off their master pieces Good luck with your paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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