[TheForge] blacksmithing / metalwork formal training and higher education

[Larry Brown]

I would have loved to find a school like Carbondale back when I got out of 
HS. The only schools I could find out about were metallurgy or mechanical 
technology which were engineering. Can find all sorts of stuff out on the 
Internet now but when you said blacksmithing in the 70's it was answered 
with a question. I did find out about horse shoeing but that is not what I 
wanted so I didn't follow up any of that, went for the mech tech for a 
semester, gave up  and went to work. Self teaching is a lot of work, by the 
time I had more options to learn I had gotten a decent job and had a 
family. Maybe after I retire...

L Brown


At 06:33 AM 10/26/2013 -0700, you wrote:
>The thing is, the original question was specifically about formal training 
>and higher education.
>And so, the list of colleges and community colleges is an appropriate answer.
>
>Knowing, as I do, a couple dozen world class blacksmiths with MFA's from 
>SIU Carbondale, I am convinced that the education you receive there is not 
>mediocre.
>It includes a wide exposure to other ideas and techniques, a great 
>facility, and people whose job is to teach.
>The problem with apprenticeships, particularly in the USA at this time, is 
>that the blacksmith you are apprenticing with needs to make a living- and, 
>as such, doesnt have a lot of time to teach. I have hired a lot of guys 
>over the years to help in my shop, and, no doubt, have taught them a lot- 
>but only in terms of specific skills to do the job we were doing at that time.
>I cant afford to teach a core class, I need to get the work out.
>
>Also, for a variety of reasons, some people can afford to go to school for 
>two or four years, but cannot spend months or years just practicing and 
>learning on their own.
>
>Personally, I dropped out of college twice, and have no degree. I am 
>primarily self taught. But I think for some people, college is the right 
>thing, and I think now, more than ever before, there are viable, and very 
>high quality, college and junior college programs in blacksmithing where 
>you come out the other end actually having learned a lot, and being employable.
>
>ries