What purpose dose a blacksmith have now days?

Question

I wish to continue my blacksmithing but there is so little need for blacksmiths. The only reason I do it is to preserve my heritage and maintain the secrecy of our family steel forgeing techniques(i.e swordsmithing.) I feel as if me being a blacksmith is losing its purpose.

Answer 1

every year a local park that is built around a fort that was restored from the pioneer days has a Christmas festival each year i see an entertainer who is a blacksmith he tells stories as f he were born in the time period of when the fort was built and does repairs for the buildings and equipment the way they would have been done when they were originally made it is the coolest thing i have seen he travels around the country to fairs and festivals doing it for a living this to me would be a very good way to use these skills

Answer 2

They call them Farriers here but, when you go to the smaller towns they still call them smithy's. They are priceless here with horses. Why? Because it is so hard to find a good blacksmith that knows what they are doing. Once word travels around here, that person pretty well can say what he wants for a price. It isn't cheap either to shoe a horse correctly. I had someone come and do my horses shoes, two days later the horse threw the shoes off. That is not good work. And as you stated you also forge swords, so your heart is true..smile Believe it or not, you can also name your price for those as well. If you have heard of the Renaissance Fairs they sell out of not only the swords but also the mesh weaved suits. You are very lucky that you know your purpose you just need to rekindle it abit so to speak of. I think if you taught, not your family secrets but just taught others your craft or went to a community college and did a lecture you would find yourself giving and that is really rewarding.

Answer 3

Hello Jamie:

Well, you are probably correct. There is not that much going on
for Blacksmith these days. There is still a big business in
maintaining the horses people ride for pleasure - taking care of
their horse shoes, and making specialty shoes for horses with hoof problems. To make any real money at that you need to be both a farrier and a blacksmith, however. Linkage with a good Vet is also highly desireable since you can get many tips on customers needing work done on their animals.

In recent years a lot of the blacksmithing has moved into fence and hand rail production for custom houses. Also, in some areas the gas light pole business is occasionaly worth something. Some people like to see a flickering light outside instead of a constant bright incandescent bulb or flourescent bulb. So this requires a source of natural gas or propane gas, a burner with automatic igniter, a nice globe of clear glass - you fabricate the housing, and a decorative pole to mount it on - you make that also. Assemble and connect the entire fixture for your customer.

Swords...Hmm-m-m. Not to much business there I would suspect unless you make them for collectors and wall hangers in "some" people's houses. These days, swords are not as
useful as they once were. I imagine they can still get the job done, but most like to stand back and blaze away with an AK-47 or an M-16. Shot guns also work pretty well for defense.

Since you are into the edged weapon technology, you might consider getting serious in sharpening knives for profit. With
little in the way of tools, you should be able to pick up some extra cash sharpening knives for $ 1.00 US each. I have no idea how to sharpen a serrated edge blade...maybe you do.

While we are on the blacksmithing angle...wroght iron yard furniture is quite popular here in the USA. Chairs that rock
gently are very highly prized. Side tables to sit your drinks and
sandwich plate on are also desireable. Some people purchase plant stands of various types to deiplay and expose their plants to sunlight. Weather Vanes and Wind Speed Indicators are also in common demand, but not a particular volume product. If there is some particular theme that is common to your town or area like sailing, fishing, or hunting, you could consider making a few Weather Vanes with the key element being a sail boat, a jumping fish, or a Deer/Bear/Wolf. Wind Speed indicators require you to learn how to fashion a good working propeller and some kind of indicator to use with it. Possibly the propeller could turn the vanes of a small pump and pump water from a pool or tank into a small fish pond for special effects in a nice garden. The height of the water might indicate how hard the wind was blowing. Wroght iron is useful for all these purposes.

Hope this gives you some ideas and encouragement,
Zah

Answer 4

Horses still have to be shod; while there are fewer horses these days, there are also FAR fewer blacksmiths available to do it. Hiring a farrier is still an expensive proposition, if what you are interested in is money. More importantly (at least in my opinion) is your desire to carry on your family's tradition, and preserve a skill that is no longer common. Even if you do not do this full-time in the future, I believe that working to maintain a tradition and to preserve an art are worthwhile goals, and I personally choose to encourage you in this endeavor. I don't know where you live, but perhaps, if you are not getting enough work, you should consider relocating to an area where there are more horses.

Answer 5

Congratulations! You are the master of an almost lost art.

Plenty of horses still need shoes, perhaps you should more to horse country in the Virginia Hills or around horse farms in Kentucky or Tennessee.

You may apply for some jobs at old plantation reconstructions like Williamsburg. Amish people still use horses and they are moving away from Lancaster due to too many tourists

Also iron work for gates, fences, grills for windows

There are countless applications for Smithing


Custom Made Fireplace tools

Artchitectural items

You can creat a market for Smithed artwork

Answer 6

Have you ever considered teaching? I am currently learning how to Blacksmith at the present time. Unfortunately, teachers come and go or are extremely hard to come by. Share your knowledge. Your knowledge is obviously rare at this point in time. You might be able to use that to your advantage.

From a future teacher,
Good luck!

Answer 7

Other than the horse stuff (which is completely different from making swords), I'd go with decorative ironwork and start looking at it from a more artsy point of view. You could also experiment with some nonferrous metals and maybe go into jewelry--or you could scale down your ironwork and make jewelry out of that. Also, with your sword making skills, you could make a fortune at Renassaince fairs. Don't give up on your art! Actually, as a student metalsmith and jeweller (I work mostly with copper and silver), I'd love to learn blackmithing to expand my skill set.

Answer 8

It sounds like your "What if" is beating your confidence.

I've seen beautiful pieces of swords and knives with intricate designs commanding handsome prices, don't sell yourself short.

Make a few good pieces take digital pictures and create a web site and add a URL to all your correspondence.

Conflict is the Mother of Inventiion

Answer 9

Hey you can't use the word BLACKsmith. This is 2006 ya know

Answer 10

your great...

you can make good swords..
and even make it into fantasy movies..
why not...?...RIGHt?!....?
you can do many things..
learn to explore..you can make a good purpose out of your
imaginative mind...

goodluck....