[TheForge] Moroccan Blacksmithing

[Thomas A. Troszak]

> Message: 3
> Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2004 22:21:25 -0700
> From: Michael Horgan <lughaid at earthlink.net>
> Nice show.. Looks like you had fun.  Did you learn much from the Moroccan
> smiths besides mudding your forge? <GRIN>
> 
Dear Michael,

Learned a bunch. I learned that a talented craftsman is easy to spot
regardless of circumstances, which allowed me to gather a GREAT team of guys
to work with. I learned that differences in language are only a minimal
inconvenience, since most smiths speak with chalk and hand gestures anyway.
I learned that charcoal is even more expensive there than in the US, so most
of those smiths do everything cold unless they absolutely have to heat
something up. I learned that the typical Moroccan smith has even fewer tools
than I do, which is pretty few. I learned that in difficult circumstances,
the good and true just pull that much harder, and do the best they can with
what they have, just like me.

It was a very big challenge to move that much metal under those
circumstances, and the most difficult bends took the full power of six
talented men, four with hammers, and two more just to keep the bar on the
anvil. Unfortunately, you never got to see that. Fortunately, I have a
series of still photos, which may find their way onto a web site someday.

When it started raining on us, one of my local helpers appeared magically
with a genuine hand woven wool Berber tent and erected it over us (seemingly
in seconds) while we worked. Unfortunately, you never got to see that.

This same guy also would magically appear from time to time with a big plate
of freshly baked soft flat bread swimming in oil pressed from those very
trees surrounding the Kasbah, (and a pot of tea, of course) and we would all
take a well deserved break under that same tent, which worked as well in the
sun as it did in the rain. Unfortunately, you never got to see that.

It took the dedicated effort of ALL of us to make it happen, and most of the
designing was done on the spot, since we never knew what we were going to
have to work with until we found it. The computer graphics (very accurate by
the way) and fast editing actually conspire to make the whole project look
"easy" which is misleading. We planned a for weeks ahead of time, then
adapted EVERYTHING to suit the available materials. All the final decisions
were made on the ground, at the site, in the moment.

I also learned that the producers of television shows will pick only the
most absurd and insulting moments of the project for their final edit.

I also learned never to let my guard down. I only said THREE bad words (out
loud) the whole time that I was there, and TWO of them made onto the "little
screen". Arrgh. I had no earthly, (BLEEP)ing idea that there was a
(BLEEP)ing camera rolling in the "lunch" room, those sneaking (BLEEP)ers.

The whole experience was just fantastic, and the show can't possibly do it
justice, but it is in fact very entertaining to watch, which is the WHOLE
POINT in the first place. Good Telly, as they say.

Thanks for watching!

(P.S. I never did figure out where they found that mud, but it did help
some. I actually modified the forge six or seven times, but there is in fact
another whole story right there...)

Tom