[TheForge] waxing philosophic on recycling (was 1045 uses)

Wed Feb 26 13:08:00 2003

This conversation makes me want to see what people have made from
found/recycled stock and junk.  Brian, Rob...?  Perhaps some photos to
the photo site.

Rick Korinek
Emerald City Forge
Framingham, MA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fiorini & Skiles" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 12:13 PM
Subject: [TheForge] waxing philosophic on recycling (was 1045 uses)

> Please continue to wax philosophic like this.  I've been trying to
figure
> out why I just don't like the metal mags as much these days.  I'm
not sure
> what I'm missing.  But your short essay below made my day.  That is
the kind
> of insight that I want to see more often in the mags.  It gets into
the
> heart & desires of the smith and customer.  It's not so far out as
to be
> distant art babble.
>
> Now I have to be much more watchful and make sure I do more than
skim some
> of these topics.  I might miss a gem like Charles' statement here.
>
> If I ever start a 'zine when these kids get older, this is exactly
the kind
> of writing I'd want to include.
> -Kirsten
> p.s.  Charles, can you re-send your original email to me at
[email protected]
> so I can save it.  I'm much too quick with the delete button.
>  > >>> [email protected] 02/19/03 11:27PM >>>
> > I would agree for the professional smith, but for the hobbiest
smith (
> >
> > by far the majority in headcount if not output)  scrounging has
more to
> >
> > do with cherished mental defect than economics.   I was picking up
odd
> >
> > scraps of steel from the side of the road  and diving dumpsters
long
> > before I started smithing.  Smithing gave me the skills to
actually put
> >
> > the mounting pile of junk to use.   This defect is shared by more
than
> >
> > the smith's -- why otherwise would people inspecting your wares
> > gravitate more to  a knife formed from a railroad spike or old
> > horseshoe
> > than a comparably finished one out of a new higher carbon steel
blank.
> >
> > This sort of recycling is a graphic and gratifying testament to
the
> > inheritly plastic and transmutable nature of metal, at odds with
what
> > the eyes and hands are telling you.  To many, a spike knife is no
> > longer
> > an inanimate object, but a living one, moving from one state to
> > another.
> >  Frozen in time, it gives you the sense that if you look away for
a
> > moment, it will complete the transition.   I believe this is the
same
> > reason customer's so often want the rough drive hook they watched
you
> > forge, rather than the nicer finished one on the table.  The one
on the
> >
> > table is no different to them than the bubble wrapped inanimate
objects
> >
> > they face everyday.  The one in your tongs is alive and mutable,
they
> > know because they saw it, and that image of it will keep in their
minds
> >
> > eye.
> >
> > I started this out talkin about a smithing desease, sorry to wax
> > philosophic.  Regarding the old spring steel, generally I anneal
it a
> > couple of  times before forging to normalize it.  I haven't had a
> > problem yet, but I am not using it for power hammer dies where
failure
> >
> > could more easily result in dangerous shrapnel.
> >
> >
> > Charles
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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