[TheForge] blackened steel finish

Thu Jul 1 22:05:05 EDT 2010

Mark, 

you are braver than I am.  I was wondering the same thing, but knowing Jerry, I figured the word  "DOFFER" might be a set up for a joke of some kind,   ala   "what's a henway??    Oh about 2  pounds." 

D-ski 
Westminster, MD     
The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:theforge-
> bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of williamsiron at comcast.net
> Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2010 9:32 PM
> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] blackened steel finish
> 
> 
> 
> Okay, Jerry, I'll bite. What's this doffer you're hawking to fiber folk?
> 
> 
> 
> Mark Williams
> 
> Snow Hill, Maryland
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jerry Frost" <akfrosty at mtaonline.net>
> To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Thursday, July 1, 2010 1:44:09 PM
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] blackened steel finish
> 
> My Father hired a lot of Germans for his metal spinning shop, he always felt
> they were way above average craftsmen. His only "complaint" was it usually
> took him a year or better to get them to stop treating every single part
> like it was a piece of art needing ancient spinning techniques to be right.
> Once retrained as production spinners they were truly outstanding, I learned
> a lot from the ones I knew.
> 
> I had to learn blacksmithing on my own, there just weren't any in the area
> of LA where I lived and Dad actively discouraged it, he kept saying I should
> learn a paying trade. He and Mother were depression age kids and that
> colored their thinking throughout. Anyhow, it was a couple decades before I
> actually got Dad to realize I was a hobbyist and not seeking a paying trade
> but he still wouldn't show me any of the tricks he learned as a kid. He
> worked in a blacksmith shop as a kid during the early depression sharpening
> plow shears under a Little Giant.
> 
> Dad taught me other things about metal working largely by example and
> experience. For instance some of my earliest memories are of Dad's brand of
> baby sitting, he'd sit me on the ways of the spinning lathe behind the tail
> stock where I could play with the free play in the adjustment wheel while he
> spun. I can still remember how my red race car (copper part) sounded and
> felt as it formed around the die, work hardened and what it felt like to
> push through work hardening, best of all, I learned what the sweet spot
> sounded and felt like for many different metals. Same for the white
> (aluminum) silver (silver) gray (steel) gold (brass) and copper (bronze)
> colored cars. My child's mind, I was four when we moved out of that house,
> said copper parts were the "red" car while bronze parts were "copper"
> colored. As it turned out the lesson in perception versus reality was more
> important than I imagined till decades later. Other grand lessons were how
> to observe cause and effect when working metal and heck, other things, then
> there was listening to the machine and listening with more than just my
> ears.
> 
> One thing he really taught me was how to do production work profitably. The
> big "DON'T" is do NOT get emotionally invested in a job or process. Making
> round from sq or sq from round unless it's specced by a paying customer is
> just such an emotional investment. If making a living is the goal then THAT
> is the goal, don't do a thing unless it's profitable. This can be tricky
> because emotional investment can masquerade as integrity or standards and
> visa versa, like so much in life it's a judgement call.
> 
> In large part this comes down to, What is PROFITABLE? It isn't always about
> positive cash flow, insisting on every piece out the door bringing in more
> than it cost can literally strangle a business. Giving someone a price
> break, maybe an outright gift can bring in more business than you can
> handle. A little charity or comunity service can be far more profitable than
> a for pay only attitude. Personally I think the only thing more important
> than taking care of business and delivering a little extra is integrity. I
> don't misrepresent what I do or how, while getting IT in writing is basic
> good business, my WORD is still my bond.
> 
> Well, hasn't this turned into a long ramble? I guess it gets back to RD from
> SQ and SQ from RD. Without a patron speccing and paying for such a process
> there is only one "Good" reason to use the technique as a matter of course.
> That's personal satisfaction, it's what floats your boat. so long as it
> doesn't drag the whole operation down what difference does it make? The
> difference is personal satisfaction which is exactly why I blacksmith at
> all. I never intended to make a profit at it outside of satisfaction. Is
> THAT emotional investment? I don't know for sure but I figure that so long
> as it doesn't drag me or the lil'farm down it's within reason for a hobby.
> Then there's the real kicker, My wife wanted a doffer, sent me to take a
> look at one made by a friend of mine so I could make her one, I looked, made
> a few mods and darned if almost every gal in the local fiber guild doesn't
> just love the things and is more than happy to spend $50 on one. The next
> thing I know Deb's calling me from the first guild retreat she took a doffer
> to ordering half a dozen for immediate delivery. don't cha know, I'd just
> got my new (to me) 50lb Little Giant placed, running and a drawing spring
> die made so instead of taking a couple hours a doffer only took about half
> an hour plus detailing and finishing. So, with excuse in hand I head out to
> the shop and make half a dozen doffers and later that day head to the guild
> retreat to deliver.
> 
> I walk in the door looking for Deb, the next thing I know the doffers are
> gone and I have a pocket full of money! Woo Hoo! A "must have" item that
> isn't a big time and energy consumer to produce and it just sort of
> happened. By time I got home, about half an hour or so there's a message on
> the answering machine from Deb. I call back and discover I need to come out
> the next morning and recieve some custom doffer orders. One gal wants a doxy
> doffer, she has a daschund she loves so of course a doxy doffer is a MUST
> HAVE! The other four or five gals don't want a pineapple twist, it's too
> sharp and rough on their hands so I make them cable twist handles and that
> has become my most popular model. Cable twist handle and leaf finial. I sold
> about a dozen before the Great White attack and haven't gotten back to solo
> piloting the power hammer so there's actually a back log of orders! I figure
> another 65-70 and the power hammer has paid for itself!
> 
> I figure I should give anyone who's had the patience to read through this
> long ramble a break. It's hard to believe but since the accident I'm even
> MORE long winded!
> 
> Frosty
> -------------------------
> If it ain't forged
> It ain't real
> wrought iron is
> The Frostworks
>