Working As A Blacksmith

I posted my intentions to disentangle from the utilities yesterday. I have definite plans to accomplish this, but like most in my economic class, work takes up a good chunk of my day. My job at Montana Antler Craft has wound down for the year and my income now will come from my forge and any articles I sale. The practical necessities of producing federal reserve notes will take precedence during the work week. The latter half of this week promises conditions just right for working in the forge. That's where I'll be.

I'm fortunate in that my hobby can also be part of my job. When I first started building forges and working metal it was just a hobby. I did it for fun and to make some things I could use. Hard to believe it has been over 2 decades since I began on this hobby. When I first started I had no idea that people could still make money at it til I heard of and talked to people from Phoenix Forge. Blacksmiths are generally very open and friendly people when teaching others about their art. You'll also find that each blacksmith will have his or her own techniques for accomplishing nearly the same task. (Yes, there are female blacksmiths. I have met some.) One of my signatures is to work in a homebuilt (hobby) forge. Partly because I'm frugal. In this economy you are forced to be. You can google Corcceigh Green, build your own forge and find an article published in Backwoods Home Magazine describing an example of a hobby forge. My current forge is similar using cinder blocks to raise the firebox off the ground. I can use a shop vac or a fan for blower depending on my fuel and whether or not it is dry or damp.

The start up and overhead on such a furnace or forge is much less expensive than purchasing a gas forge or any other forge for that matter. The hobby forge will work for a business just as well as the most efficient gas forge. Blacksmithing takes some planning. Even for just a hobby project. You need a full day when working for a business. It takes furnace management. You can't just start the forge to work part of a project, shut down and work a seperate portion on the project calling for tooling, then put it back into the forge. When you cut metal, you need to cut metal for several projects and spend your day on that. When you heat and shape your metal with forge, hammer and anvil, you need to be undisturbed and shape each piece as long as the work day lasts. Likewise, drilling, grinding, filing, painting and attatching furniture and many times rivetting, though rivetting is done with forge, hammer and anvil too.

That will be my workweek. Like I said, I'm lucky that I can make my hobby pay off in a small way. Keep checking http://northwoodstraders.ecrater.com/ for products from my forge. There are movies being posted up there now and one forge made plain sconce. More coming.