[TheForge] blacksmith question

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> need information I been doing blacksmith as a hobby for three years went
to class in Mossuri. now I have been
> having problem with elbow infection having been doing blacksmith for three
months now should i go back or find > another hobby what do you think?

Well, it kinda depends on why you're doing it. If you're into it like many
of us are, sheerly for the love of the steel and the things you can make,
stay with it, and work around your disabilities, as many of us have. One of
the best smiths I've met has only one arm, but he does it for love...

Many of the guys here have things that make it tough to do smithing. I can
think of at least 3 with MS, for example. I have a bad back and knees, and
lately my right hand has taken to disconnecting itself from the rest of my
system. Others have other difficulties, and yet they persist.

If you're doing it strictly because you want a hobby, not particularly
smithing, there are lots of other things you can do- woodworking,
leatherworking, gardening, or stamp collecting. But if it's your hobby, make
it in a field that calls to you, don't just do it because you think it makes
you more of a man, or it's something that impresses the guys at work.

Find what you love to do, and do it- and if it's smithing, figure out how to
do it. I work with and encourage women in the craft, and the first thing I
have to teach most of them is that women don't have the extra upper body
strength guys do, generally- we can't afford to be sloppy or casual.
Instead, we need to plan our moves more carefully, and use leverage and
careful forethought, where most guys will sling their piece wherever, and
hey, if they don't hit it in the right spot, they can use another heat, or
another 10 heats, and eventually get it right. I don't have that option- my
fuel is expensive, and this lady ain't 25 any more. But I'm here, and I'm
teaching, and I'm having the time of my life- because I love what I'm doing.

Phlip

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....