[TheForge] Normal People... (YAK)

[Jerry Frost]

Ayup.

The line I use is, "Everything here is hot, heavy, hard, sharp and out to
get YOU. You WILL get burned, cut, bruised and abused."

I know it's a bit silly but you'd be surprised how well the little rhyme
sticks. After I finally introduced Richard and Lindsey (Lindsey only had a
very short time to pick up as much as I could show her so I held off
introducing them till she had the basics) early in their conversation
Richard or Lindsey (I don't recall which) reached out to pick up something
from the anvil and made the little "Pause Before Contact" I showed them to
help keep from getting burned. They repeated the silly little rhyme in near
harmony.

A bit later my kids were comparing burns. Richard especially was concerned
about getting burned when he started and made it maybe two minutes at the
anvil before he caught his first piece of scale. He yelped but didn't stop
working. Lindsey was less concerned about being burned but was still walking
on eggs her first session. I don't think she made it any longer before
raising the first blister either.

I'm sure there are plenty of you who've seen the transformation from timid
beginner to confident proficiency. I don't have to explain how it feels to
you, to the others I don't think I can, adequately. It's good though. REAL
good.

Frosty
------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks

Meadow Lakes, AK.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Linn" <bamablacksmith at comcast.net>


> One of the facts of being a blacksmith.. you WILL get burned, its not a
> question of if..  but when, how bad and where..
>
> One of the 1st things I tell everyone that comes into the shop..
>
> "Assume EVERYTHING is hot"  the anvil, the vise, the table, a piece of
> scrap on the floor...
>
> and #2 is
>
> "No one gets burned by a piece of red hot metal"  its the piece of steel
at
> a 800 deg black heat that gets you...
>
> mike
>
>
>
> At 08:18 PM 9/17/2004, you wrote:
>
> >My roommates are watching TV, some crime drama/murder mystery sort of
thing,
> >and part of the big evidence against one suspect was (the murder being an
> >arson)...
> >
> >"Normal people don't get 3rd degree burns on their hands and forget how
they
> >got them."
> >
> >Either they've never met a blacksmith, or ...
> >
>
>
>             Mike Linn
>       Artist Blacksmith
>           McCalla, AL
>         AFC Webmaster
> http://afc.abana-chapter.com
>
>
> "Don't worry Chief, I can stand the torture if they can stand the
screaming."
>                                               - Maxwell Smart, Secret
Agent 86
>
>
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