[TheForge] Reenactors - Robert E.

Tue Sep 24 10:17:58 EDT 2013

Vince, 

My father was/is a Baptist preacher & pastor. I got into Blacksmithing through my wife's great grandfather who was THE blacksmith in Shirley, West Virginia. We inheireted a box of his hand tools, I learned to use them and got hooked. I still need my day job, I'm a Mathematics Professor, but really need the shop work as a tension reliever. I started when I was about 40. 

Mark Williams 

Snow Hill, Maryland 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Vincent Nakovics" <restoreman123 at msn.com> 
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net 
Sent: Saturday, September 21, 2013 3:41:20 AM 
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Reenactors - Robert E. 

That is what seems to happen a lot with blacksmithing the little that I have observed. I myself didn't start blacksmithing until I was 40. Prior to that the only metal work I did was as a kid in my Father's Sheet Metal Shop in NYC. I know a few other Smiths and enthusiasts who got started about the same age. So it goes. I am guessing that unless you grow up reenacting and have continued to make it part of your life it is something that you leave, make a living and then find or return to share with kids and family or maybe like me it was necessary and developed into a new artistic expression for him/herself. 
Nice talking to you! got to go! 

Vince Nakovics 

Blacksmithing; “Making exquisitely simple items extraordinary and tremendously complex items understatedly simple”. 

http://gjonmarkagjonifund.org 
www.happyhavenforge.wordpress.com 
www.discoveringalbania.com 

From: theforge-request at mailman.qth.net 
Subject: TheForge Digest, Vol 116, Issue 30 
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net 
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 12:00:07 -0400 

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--Forwarded Message Attachment-- 
From: eforge at centurytel.net 
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net 
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 12:58:17 -0500 
Subject: Re: [TheForge] reenactors 

Talking about coming back to it later in life.  My son got me into 
blacksmithing because of his interest in making knives.  He was a full time 
knife maker for about 10 years, but when he wanted to get married and and 
buy a home he set it aside and got a job in a factory.  At first he worked 
on the assembly line wireing refrigerators. After a while they trained him 
to be a brazer, then to handle the freon charging. After several years he 
ended up in the sheetmetal shop, the metal working he learned in 
blacksmithing and knife making led to him becoming a set up guy on the 
shears, presses and brakes. He is now the set up trainer, because the 
machines he set up almost never made scrap parts which was common with some 
of the othere set up guys. He doesn't make many knives now, but I expect 
that when his boys get older he will get back into it. It won't be long 
before his boys want to pick up a hammer like grandpa and make their own 
knives. 

Robert Ehrenberger 
Shelbyville, Mo. 
eforge at centurytel.net 

---Original Message---- 

     One quick story about Blacksmithing. I used to have kids come work for 
a week or two with me in the shop as part of their internship. I believe 
they will always remember the three days of Blacksmithing as they were able 
to make a few things that they could give to their Mom, Dad, girlfriend that 
they made.  It wasn't really a blacksmith class as I had real work to be 
done at the same time, but I did provide them the glimpse and an 
appreciation of what a Blacksmith did. They were also surprised at what I 
got paid for my accrued knowledge of Historic Preservation and Restoration. 
I used to point out I was lucky that my job was unique and that I made a 
nice living doing something I truly enjoyed. They got it - I told them to 
keep it in mind and maybe later on you can come back to it and do it as a 
hobby if nothing else. The girls really got excited, but felt it was to hard 
for them, but said they would alway remember their time in the Blacksmith 
shop. The seed was planted w 
 ith about 7 interns in 2 years. Now we have to wait and see maybe one will 
take. All of them are going into other fields, Interpretation, Police, 
Administration, Education, etc. not a metalworker one. We can only put it 
out there and hope that someone grabs a hold of the line. 
See ya at the Forge!! 
Albanian Style! 

Vince Nakovics 

--Forwarded Message Attachment-- 
From: restoreman123 at msn.com 
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net 
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 03:41:39 -0400 
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Wheelwrighting - W. Mullet 

Hi W. 
I used to do Cannon Carriages for Colonial National Historical Park, made them for 13 years. 2nd Best Job I ever had! I did it all, wood and metal. I am no longer doing that as I decided to move to help out my wife's elderly Uncle and Aunt in Albania. But! I am familiar with Dave's book as I own one, it and many others are awaiting my return someday in storage. His Forge is very nicely done indeed. I only did 18th Century wheels for Cannons which are much heavier than the usual carriage wheels and were made Straked. Hooped tires were a later invention that was not represented at our park. Hooped tires didn't come to common use until after 1820 and even then many of the larger and heavier wheels were still Straked until about the 1880's. Even in England where they had a leg up on us in making wheels there were still straked wheels in use, but the death knoll had sounded for that style wheel. 
Good luck with your Wheelwrighting, if you ever have a problem or question that I might be able to answer please do so. My email is: restoreman123 at msn.com 
Vince 

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