[TheForge] Pure Iron and time

[George Dixon]

Aside from any initial equipment costs; anvil, forge and the like - the 
only thing in a blacksmith shop that I have ever found worth considering 
as a 'cost', is my time.
I'm using a fairly large amount of pure iron bar and sheet in the 
current project.  The time saved in forging (not to mention the cool 
displacement pure iron exhibits get when its hot and then forged) is 
substantial.
When I was teaching myself blacksmithing, I used an oxy-propane torch 
for heating because it allowed me to get to work faster than a coal 
forge. It also allowed me to work in snippets of available time, when 
building a coal fire would have used that available time.  The gas cost 
vrs the time made available to practice or work, again, matters not a bit.

Materials, such as pure iron over mild steel and new tool steel instead 
of coil springs, are the smallest part of a project's cost....unless the 
wrong one is chosen.
Blacksmithing as either a profession or a hobby is facilitated by the 
right materials and the right attitude about the value of time.
As Chaucer opined, "Lyfe so short, and the crafte so long to learn"
And that was said before the invention of the 30 day billing cycle........
G Dixon