4 ms·

There are almost certainly blacksmiths in your country, most of them have concentrated on either farrier (horseshoing) or ornamental work. Blacksmithing is stil

There are almost certainly blacksmiths in your country, most of them have concentrated on either farrier (horseshoing) or ornamental work. Blacksmithing is still a very common way to do architectural work, think railings or decorative ironwork for buildings. It is sadly a dying trade, those 2 paths above are basically the only ways to make money in the trade besides custom knife making, which is more of a separate trade anyway. Farrier work is still needed, since factories can't stamp out horseshoes that exactly fit the horse's foot, so a blacksmith needs to custom match the shoe to the hoof. I'm curious why you say it is a risk to your back? Farriers can definitely get injured, I know a few who have had broken ribs, but I've never heard of that having back issues. Is there a risk I'm not aware of?

jacquesm 4y ago
> There are almost certainly blacksmiths in your country, most of them have concentrated on either farrier (horseshoing) or ornamental work. Yes, as I wrote, my cousin is one of them. When shoeing a horse you carry a good chunk of the weight of the horse, and that's before we get into the kind of contortions you have to go through to do a proper job mostly under a horse.
iamflimflam1 4y ago
I recently did a blacksmith “experience” day. It’s a good way for blacksmiths to bring in a bit of extra income. Pretty pleased with what o made: https://youtube.com/shorts/Ly4k-55902c?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/Ly4k-55902c?feature=share
- jacquesm 4y ago
  You have all the right to be pleased if you did that all by yourself on day #1. Super impressive! Was this done in coal?
  - iamflimflam1 4y ago
    Yes, it was a proper old fashioned blacksmith - though he did have an electric blower - we weren’t pumping the bellows :) It was exhausting - towards the end I could barely lift the hammer. I did it here - https://www.hotmetalworks.co.uk/ https://www.hotmetalworks.co.uk/ The museum it’s in is worth a visit as well - especially when they are running all the steam engines.
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      Well, if you're just tired and you didn't end up with a couple of burns to remember your first day of blacksmithing by then you did very well.
      - iamflimflam1 4y ago
        Came very close - dropped it at one point and picked it up by the now non-glowing end. We were wearing some good gloves...
chiph 4y ago
Blacksmithing for architectural preservation is being taught at the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston SC. The school was created in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo when it was discovered that there were few artisans in the US able to do the level of work needed to repair all the historic buildings that were damaged. They offer a 4-year Bachelor of Arts degree with concentrations in blacksmithing, carpentry/timber framing, plastering, stone carving, and classical architecture. Many of them go on to start their own firms after graduation and gaining work experience. https://acba.edu/ https://acba.edu/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ina79LehN3A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ina79LehN3A

jacquesm 4y ago

> There are almost certainly blacksmiths in your country, most of them have concentrated on either farrier (horseshoing) or ornamental work. Yes, as I wrote, my cousin is one of them. When shoeing a horse you carry a good chunk of the weight of the horse, and that's before we get into the kind of contortions you have to go through to do a proper job mostly under a horse.

iamflimflam1 4y ago

I recently did a blacksmith “experience” day. It’s a good way for blacksmiths to bring in a bit of extra income. Pretty pleased with what o made: https://youtube.com/shorts/Ly4k-55902c?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/Ly4k-55902c?feature=share

jacquesm 4y ago
You have all the right to be pleased if you did that all by yourself on day #1. Super impressive! Was this done in coal?
- iamflimflam1 4y ago
  Yes, it was a proper old fashioned blacksmith - though he did have an electric blower - we weren’t pumping the bellows :) It was exhausting - towards the end I could barely lift the hammer. I did it here - https://www.hotmetalworks.co.uk/ https://www.hotmetalworks.co.uk/ The museum it’s in is worth a visit as well - especially when they are running all the steam engines.
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    Well, if you're just tired and you didn't end up with a couple of burns to remember your first day of blacksmithing by then you did very well.
    - iamflimflam1 4y ago
      Came very close - dropped it at one point and picked it up by the now non-glowing end. We were wearing some good gloves...

chiph 4y ago

Blacksmithing for architectural preservation is being taught at the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston SC. The school was created in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo when it was discovered that there were few artisans in the US able to do the level of work needed to repair all the historic buildings that were damaged. They offer a 4-year Bachelor of Arts degree with concentrations in blacksmithing, carpentry/timber framing, plastering, stone carving, and classical architecture. Many of them go on to start their own firms after graduation and gaining work experience. https://acba.edu/ https://acba.edu/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ina79LehN3A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ina79LehN3A