Blacksmithing and some people

[john k]

I was reading down through a re-enactors forum, about some of the odd ball questions people ask of civil war re-enactors, etc.   I have done a number of blacksmithing demonstrations with the group I belong to.   One time there were 5 or 6 of us set up as part of a festival in a state park.   Coal forges smoking, anvils set up, tool boxes, several guys tapping away on hot iron and some tables of finished goods.   Mid afternoon a group goes by, and a nice lady in her 40s comes over to the rope and asks: I see the grilles, what are you guys cooking?   "Lady, we are blacksmithing," and suddenly a light goes on, "Oh, like horse shoes".   As she returns to her group, I could hear another woman ask:  "what are they cooking?"   I always thought coal smoke was a lot different than the smell of barbeque. 

[keykeeper]

I did a small demo a while back, and about 90 percent of the people I talked to asked if I made horseshoes and shoed horses. I just replied "Nope, people hire farriers to do that nowadays!!"

[oldgoaly]

sounds like you need one of the champion forge / bbq grills with some hotdogs! guessing they were made 30's thru 1950's
 btw watching a guy make horseshoes got me interested, I'll never be a Blacksmith! but I do use coal forge to heat, bend, shape somethings I need. Now if I can get some super duty replacement shoulders and learn to hammer weld well then I might let myself think I'm a blacksmith!   

[johnsironsanctuary]

Oldgoaly, I think that you are worrying too much. Why mess with coal, anvils and hammers when there probably is an app for that?

[oldgoaly]

now that is funny John!!!!
 I have a not so smart phone! it does take nice pics! and the calculator works,
if you hold your tongue just right stand on one foot you can use it a phone too!
the scanner ap works, but then again the stuff is usally marked if it has a bar code!
I have downloaded the "fart" sounds but have not made use of that yet, right now I make plenty of my own!

[Branson]

Now if I can get some super duty replacement shoulders and learn to hammer weld well then I might let myself think I'm a blacksmith!

Forge welding is chiefly a matter of learning when the surface of the pieces you're welding look right  as well as sufficiently hot (very hot). 

Shoulders...  How are you throwing the hammer?  Smithing hammers aren't thrown like carpenter's hammers.  No arc.  Raise the hammer high and bring it straight down on the work.  Traditional German smithing hammers have handles 10 to 12 inches long because of this.   There's no real need for the longer handles we usually see.  Unless it's just the weight of the hammer that your shoulders are unused to, this will likely help you out.

[Aunt Phil]

I did a small demo a while back, and about 90 percent of the people I talked to asked if I made horseshoes and shoed horses. I just replied "Nope, people hire farriers to do that nowadays!!"

See, you done screwed up there!
You gotta have answers memorized for the people who come to these shows.

If she's standing downwind ad squinting as her contacts wrinkle, she's obviously a highly edummmcated person, so you tell her horse shoes are outside of your discipline, you only shoe kangaroos.  She'll spend the next 3 months telling other professionals how she met a kangaroo shoer.

I can tell you this because I'm a professional solderer.

[oldgoaly]

Branson,
I have worn the socket out completely, the ortho-shoulder specialist  asked if I hammered a lot, well yes, metal work, the she says how in the hell did you wear out the other 1/2????  well did being a pitcher with a live arm have anything to do with it. Well yes.... you can blame bad genes or osteoarthritis  a replacement or live with it are my options. The joint they (2 different docs) one was junk, looked more like a pexto stake than a replacement part, the other was from France, about all you could do with that was wave a white flag! That was 2007,  both have been recalled. just about everyday I exceed the 10 lb weight limit. I'm really sore today, I was working on my furnace in the house. Growing old ain't for sissy's!