[TheForge] question for part-timers & hobbyists

[Aaron Silver]

At 09:50 AM 2/28/2003 -0600, you wrote:
>Back to the questions.
>What are your personal goals for blacksmithing?

Frankly, to enjoy making stuff out of a substance most people find immutable.

>Are you more interested in technical skills, design skills, or equally
>devoted to both?

I'm interested in being able to make whatever I need. Currently my needs 
are met without a lot of design skills... i.e. door latches, etc. As I get 
better at making the metal move, I can focus on decorative skills, which 
require more design skills.

>Do you like to do projects or make up your own, or both?

I like projects that either teach me something, or that are useful. Usually 
I can find something that I want to make based on something someone else 
has made, so whether that counts as making up my own is open for debate.

>How much time per week, or month do you set aside for your blacksmithing?

I don't set aside any time per-se... When I get a chance to do some work at 
the forge, I take it. This past winter hasn't been too good for that, and 
in fact my procrastination tendencies mean I don't spend as much time as I 
like. That's one reason I'm looking at doing demonstrations, as a way to 
force me to be at the forge a set amount of time.

>How much time do you set aside for studying blacksmithing in other ways,
>through book research or your own sketching?

I take as much time as I can, and have material for. Sometimes getting 
caught up on theForge, or websites like Keenjunk, or following links that 
people have posted showing their stuff takes me hours. Other times I don't 
wind up doing any BS related reading or research at all.

>Do you set yourself certain goals in the shop?- for example, maybe in June,
>you are going to work strictly on collars, or in August, you are going to
>work on perfecting scroll designs.

Personally I tend to focus on actually making something. I have a 200+ year 
old house with bent nails to hold the latches that are on the doors. Making 
those are one of my primary goals. Making a full set of toasting forks for 
the family now that I've got 2 done, that's another goal. Nothing with any 
time frame, which is probably why I'm not done with either one yet. :-)

>If you don't like to work with a goal system- then how do you decide what to
>work on ?

Generally I make decisions based on what time I have available, as well as 
what material I have. I got tired of cutting my stock with an abrasive disk 
so I took the time to make a hardy cutter. That day I don't think I got any 
other work done with the forge, but at the end I had a tool for future use.

>What motivates you?

What got me started was my long history of being enchanted with medieval 
fantasy books. That gave a mystique to anything from that time period. Add 
to that the ability to make something from a material most people think is 
impossible to change without big machinery. This is a hobby that I can take 
pride in my results.


>-Kirsten
>koka@acegroup.cc
>http://hosting.acegroup.cc/~koka/
>http://www.mnartists.org/?loc_name=viewartistfeature&artistid=2713