[TheForge] blacksmithing / metalwork formal training and higher education

[Jerry Frost]

Bob speaks to one of the prime tenets of operating a business in the black.
You can NOT take or decline jobs based on how YOU feel about them. There are
of course exceptions, say making a hand forged cross for the KKK. There are
of course items of personal belief that count more than money. In MY life
anyway.

Education is important but seems we've lost sight of just what an education
is. It is NOT job training, it (hopefully) gives us the tools to learn a
job. I didn't drop out of college, I just stopped going, I want learning
anything I hadn't in middle and high school. Heck, the drafting instructor
had zero experience with a drafting machine, I'd never used one but it's
operation was obvious, a big square on an arm you can set to whatever angle
you need. COOL. The advent of CAD Cam was like a big ol' bag of Christmas
candy.

College is a wonderful opportunity but a person has to apply some common
sense, just learning blacksmithing, college or not isn't any kind of
guarantee, without learning at least the basics of architecture,
engineering, art and maybe most important, business you're just throwing the
dice. Even if you've spent years learning that short list of skills there's
still no guarantee, a person really, REALLY needs a fall back craft. A
person who banks their life on one trade is literally a one trick pony, if
the trick falls out of favor they're unemployed. The more a  person knows
how to do the less likely they'll miss mortgage payments and skip meals.

Picking fall back trades related to your chosen craft is a good idea as
well. I sort of fell into a good craft's list for blacksmithing, took more
drafting classes than reasonable, a solid 8 semesters by time I graduated
high school, last high school classs was drafting 6, I could and did ace the
welding certification tests before I was a high school senior, still had to
take three trade school courses, nobody's going to hire a kid right out of
high school, I was already good for a journeyman metal spinner, could hold
my own in a machine shop but needed the fine points to be worth hiring,
operating equipment came to me like fish to water.

I have a pretty well equipped shop, even have a few money makers I can
produce but I've never had to rely on blacksmithing for my livelihood. It
just isn't a high enough demand trade, it's a highly dependent on disposable
income, commodity. That's not the best bet for long term unless you're one
of those lucky folk with such a popular knack folk have to have you no
matter what the economy is doing.

Another long winded ramble eh. 
Jer

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Larry Brown
Sent: Saturday, October 26, 2013 7:31 AM
To: Bob Ehrenberger; Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] blacksmithing / metalwork formal training and higher
education


Loosing money can be a great educator. I try to remember that each time I do
or break even. There is something to learn in each disaster. I have taken a
few jobs that were close to the profit/ loss line because I wanted to do
them and now I just try to keep them far from each other, still not as smart
as I should be.

L Brown



>Ries has a point,  back in 2000 I took a forge welding class from Bob 
>Patrick.  It changed my life and forge welding became a normal part of 
>my work.  Before that it was kind of a last resort.
>
>I might have figured it out on my own if I had spent a whole week just 
>practicing forge welds, but that wasn't going to happen in my shop 
>where I had paying work waiting for me to do.  It was hard to block out 
>a whole week for a class, but was well worth it.
>
>I can only imagine what would be learned if you could dedicate a whole 
>year to just practicing new things and not trying to turn out sellable
product.
>
>My tendency is to only take jobs that I know I can do and avoid the 
>ones that have a big learning curve, knowing that I will loose money on 
>them initially because they will take a lot longer than they should as 
>I learn a new technique.  In the long run they probably make money 
>because they give me a skill that I can apply to future projects.
>
>
>Robert Ehrenberger
>Shelbyville, Mo.
>eforge at centurytel.net

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