[TheForge] blackened steel finish

Sat Jul 3 17:50:51 EDT 2010

A doffer is a duffer that's been squashed by a birtch?

Albin Drzewianowski wrote:
> 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
>>
> 
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