This site seems to be the go to site for new people in the craft, so I am posting this for your benefit. Even if you are just learning to swing a hammer, and if you really dont envision yourself going much beyond making knives from rail spikes, do yourselves a favor and learn to document and draw what you are doing from the very beginning. It will help whatever you do, even the one piece items. It is essential for more complex pieces, and it will be very beneficial to be able to do an acceptable rendering of a proposed project for a prospective client. Why have I bothered to post this? Because after a lifetime of smithing, I find myself two blocked by the lack of the skills I might have acquired 50 years ago. I was a farrier, and the ability to produce a mental picture in solid material was far more important than being able to draw what you wanted. My other area of interest was bladesmithing, and in it one can also skate by with a good eye and the ability to replicate it in metal until one gets into the high end art knives. Once you gets to composite pieces, however, you need to be able to plan your work, and work your plan. So my suggestion to novice smiths is to learn the design end of this craft at your earliest opportunity. If you dont want to advance in the craft dont bother, but keep in mind that all the big guys have this capability, and it is what separates them in many cases from those who can pound steel very well, but cant express their ideas to people outside the craft (who usually are the ones who pay for your work) or figure jobs accurately. Not meant to be a sermon; just a suggestion.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 22:53:27 +0000
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