Yeah the leaf spring bit me too!😂 I even have one off of a semi that is 3/4x4, haven’t touched it yet. What are your thoughts on the Appalachian “rusty” power hammer? I was given a store bought book on how to build one and just haven’t got there yet. I have a motor but will have to raid the scrapyard for rest.
I would kill for a power hammer. The MS doesn’t let me do as much hammer work as I would like in one sitting. With the right tooling I could do so much more with the skills I have.
I understand and appreciate the desire to learn to blacksmith, from the ground up. And, I think learning to do it with as few power tools, as possible, isn't a bad thing. You never know when you may just have a need to make something and have limited resources available. But, this idea that you must do things the hard way to be a real Blacksmith is ludicrous. If you brought a 1890's Smith to a modern shop, told him you were a Blacksmith, then showed him a wall of tools that would make your work easier, but tell him you refuse to use them, he'd think you were crazy or stupid. "Traditional" Blacksmiths were always on the look out for things that would make blacksmithing easier, whether they had to make it or trade for it. Making tools that made jobs easier, including their own, was what they did. They made everybodies tools, if they were made by or incorporated metalsmithing, with the possible exceptions of gold, tin and silver. So, showing a "Traditional" Blacksmith a wall of power tools that you refuse to use, no matter how much they would assist you, would just confuse them. 😂
Ok, im going to be playing with a sliding glass door right now so please forgive me. I think the conflicts in the community, inherent in blacksmithing itself for each smith, are a matter of false dichotomy or false expectation. Traditional vs modern, artist vs craftsman, hobbyist vs professional. Whether you have a power hammer or a half dozen slaves with sledges, smthing has always been engineering, and we can see historically a progression from beating on rocks for arrowheads to copper, to iron, to steel, all the way up to modern machines that make a hundred thousand razor blades in a day. Its never about what is done or should be done, but where in that historical process do you want to put yourself. Which is what each individual is doing for themselves, finding out what they want to do, and unless you want to be working on machines that make modern productions of your work is going to be low demand and artisanal. Whether you are selling condos, selling a hammer, or fixing the twenty thousandth peanut blade, you are doing something that is paying for your time in the forge that you hopefully enjoy. You as a blacksmith are going backwards, your predecessors created the modern world, when they figured out how to make things faster, you are going slower, they figured out how to make things uniform with machines and you are making things that are unique by hand. They were trying to be the most efficient to make money, you are going backwards.... Its never going to be another smith's fault for anything, they are not undercutting the market, they are not failing purity tests, they are not hurting reputations. Its always going to be the fault of the smith who has a false expectation. This is why this is the best blacksmith channel for blacksmith people, straight talk about the reality of being a professional smith.
Your videos are something i definitely look forward to.
The archangel of Blacksmithing
Very cool. I appreciate your time and knowledge.
Yeah the leaf spring bit me too!😂 I even have one off of a semi that is 3/4x4, haven’t touched it yet. What are your thoughts on the Appalachian “rusty” power hammer? I was given a store bought book on how to build one and just haven’t got there yet. I have a motor but will have to raid the scrapyard for rest.
If you were to buy a new power hammer for your shop what would you gravitate towards?
I would kill for a power hammer. The MS doesn’t let me do as much hammer work as I would like in one sitting. With the right tooling I could do so much more with the skills I have.
When is it okay to walk away from a tool/project How much time investment dividend before saying it’s too hard.
I understand and appreciate the desire to learn to blacksmith, from the ground up. And, I think learning to do it with as few power tools, as possible, isn't a bad thing. You never know when you may just have a need to make something and have limited resources available. But, this idea that you must do things the hard way to be a real Blacksmith is ludicrous. If you brought a 1890's Smith to a modern shop, told him you were a Blacksmith, then showed him a wall of tools that would make your work easier, but tell him you refuse to use them, he'd think you were crazy or stupid. "Traditional" Blacksmiths were always on the look out for things that would make blacksmithing easier, whether they had to make it or trade for it. Making tools that made jobs easier, including their own, was what they did. They made everybodies tools, if they were made by or incorporated metalsmithing, with the possible exceptions of gold, tin and silver. So, showing a "Traditional" Blacksmith a wall of power tools that you refuse to use, no matter how much they would assist you, would just confuse them. 😂
Ok, im going to be playing with a sliding glass door right now so please forgive me. I think the conflicts in the community, inherent in blacksmithing itself for each smith, are a matter of false dichotomy or false expectation. Traditional vs modern, artist vs craftsman, hobbyist vs professional. Whether you have a power hammer or a half dozen slaves with sledges, smthing has always been engineering, and we can see historically a progression from beating on rocks for arrowheads to copper, to iron, to steel, all the way up to modern machines that make a hundred thousand razor blades in a day. Its never about what is done or should be done, but where in that historical process do you want to put yourself. Which is what each individual is doing for themselves, finding out what they want to do, and unless you want to be working on machines that make modern productions of your work is going to be low demand and artisanal. Whether you are selling condos, selling a hammer, or fixing the twenty thousandth peanut blade, you are doing something that is paying for your time in the forge that you hopefully enjoy. You as a blacksmith are going backwards, your predecessors created the modern world, when they figured out how to make things faster, you are going slower, they figured out how to make things uniform with machines and you are making things that are unique by hand. They were trying to be the most efficient to make money, you are going backwards.... Its never going to be another smith's fault for anything, they are not undercutting the market, they are not failing purity tests, they are not hurting reputations. Its always going to be the fault of the smith who has a false expectation. This is why this is the best blacksmith channel for blacksmith people, straight talk about the reality of being a professional smith.