The lessons involved in blacksmithing are endless. Learning in the blacksmithing trade is a continuous process, and it is undoubtedly the right way to get better. These lessons are learned from age-long blacksmith quotes and sayings.
You can get these lessons from a variety of resources like articles, books, videos, and some audios that are ideal for this purpose. Here are some important lessons that can be instrumental in making you a better blacksmith.
“My trade is a lonely one. I’m a craftsman if you like. It so happens that these days singers gets better pay than blacksmiths.”
Jacques Brel
This quote emphasizes how blacksmiths are underpaid compared to other crafts like singing. In society today, blacksmiths don’t seem to be getting the credit they deserve. It is one of the most creative and demanding skills. So, they should never treat as inferior to other crafts.
“I read the best works of some of the best satirists, and indeed best writers from the beginning of the Victorian era to about the 1960s. If you want to be a blacksmith, you go and watch the blacksmith working, and you work out what the blacksmith does.”
Terry Pratchett
Understanding the history and progressive development of any craft is vital if you want to learn and grow in the trade. It’s more like you cannot be a good writer if you don’t read other people’s work. Good blacksmiths cannot make progress without understanding the core of blacksmithing. You might have to watch other blacksmiths work if you want to get better with the trade.
“Strike While the Iron Is Hot”
This, in the real sense, explains the need to strike a hot piece of metal before it cools off. When still hot, the metal can be shaped into its different forms. Heating metal usually increases its malleability. As a blacksmith, remember always to take advantage of an opportunity as soon as it comes; it is an essential lesson in blacksmithing.
“All That Glitters Is Not Gold – and all that’s black is not cold”
You don’t read the temperature of a metal solely by its color change alone. For example, you don’t expect the same color change for steel and copper when heated at the same temperature. It is crucial for a blacksmith to have a more profound knowledge of this material and how it reacts when heated. This lesson is also essential in blacksmith safety measures. You don’t pick metal with your bare hands, thinking it is cold because it is not red hot.
“There are no mistakes in blacksmithing, only rapid design modifications”
Adlai Stein
Blacksmithing is a creative and innovative craft. In fact, the best blacksmiths are defined by their ability to create and recreate. So, a good blacksmith does not record mistakes. Instead, he or she views it as an opportunity to modify their work and get better with designs. This act explains the flexibility that is typical of the blacksmithing trade.
“Don’t use force; get a bigger hammer!”
This point is an essential lesson in your hammering technique. With a bigger hammer and a complete swing as a blacksmith, you can make a lot of metals or make a lot of impacts faster. It helps you reduce the force applied while retaining the effect of the strike.
“Iron sharpens iron”
This blacksmith quote implies that a blacksmith would use an iron to create, refine a sharp edge iron to a great shape on a material, or implement designed for cutting. Metal is relatively soft and yielding; one could indeed sharpen iron material with another iron implement. That is why most, if not all, blacksmiths’ tools are from metals.
“Never miss your anvil and whack your kneecap”
Whenever an object is struck, always be conscious that it is hitting the flattened top surface of the anvil to avoid whacking of the knee cap. This lesson is a protective measure for the blacksmith so as not to sustain traumatic kneecap injury. It is one of the potential accident scenarios in the blacksmiths’ shop. Be careful not to be a victim.
“Using a grinder to make a weld makes you a grinder, not a welder”
This blacksmith quote tells about two basic skills. There is a significant difference between grinding skills and welding skills. This strike is critical to take note of, though some similarities exist. Grinding is used to end workpieces that must show to a very great extent, high surface quality and integrity and excellent accuracy of shape and size. Welding is an entirely different process on its own.
“A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the student to learn is like hammering on cold iron”
Horace Mann
This blacksmith quote means striking cold iron is a waste of time and effort. Aside from the fact that you will not be able to beat the metal to your desired shape, it can destroy the metal. This lesson explains wasted effort on frequent working agility. If you have a blacksmith apprentice learning under you, it is not enough to teach them the skills. It is also important to inspire them to develop and create interest in the trade.
“I was born without claws, without fangs, without scales. So, I forged them in fire and crafted them of steel”
As a blacksmith, you can always learn and get to the apex of the career irrespective of the shortcomings that will be encountered. No one is born with blacksmithing skills. You can still learn the trade to any point you desire as long as you are ready for commitment and learning.
“When you have a hammer, everything is a nail. When you have a blacksmith, everything is anything you want it to be”
As a blacksmith, you must be initiative and productive. Blacksmith produces different objects and brings that object into existence for daily use. A blacksmith has to be intelligent and sensitive to the tools around and must be a thinker, having deep knowledge and understanding of what is required to get a product done.
“Welding is like sewing with fire”
Sewing aims to join pieces of cloth together to form a fantastic garment. Welding involves a similar process. Sewing makes cut and shape fabrics into usable wear using needles and thread. Blacksmiths do the same using fire and hammer. They can shape and craft materials from a large stock of metals or pieces of scrap. They will join, cut, and shape them until they form usable materials.
Welding is a high heat process, which joins or melts a particular part of metal together to create an excellent product. The fire is an essential factor when performing this operation, and it helps to bring two pieces together to bring about a conformation. It can be likened to the thread used in sewing.
“You cannot dream yourself into a great blacksmith”
This blacksmith quote implies that you must hammer and forge yourself. Blacksmithing work is not a profession of procrastination; neither is it a profession for a lazy individual. It requires physical and mental power. You must be intentional about learning it, so you also must be a reasonable observer. It doesn’t work for you to just wake up one morning and see yourself in the workshop hammering or forging; you must have conceived the idea first and then actualize it.
“Blacksmiths do it in the heat of the moment”
Because of the nature of metals, blacksmiths’ work requires a heating process. It is similar to striking while the iron is hot. You should utilize the heat of the metal to avoid repeated heating.
“ARMOR, n. The kind of clothing worn by a man whose tailor is a blacksmith.”
Ambrose Bierce, Writer, The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary (2001).
Armor is a protective gear that warriors wear. It is usually made from hard steel and other metals that can protect the bearer of the armor from getting hit by weapons. Blacksmiths make armor-like clothes. They cut and join pieces of metals together to cover from head to toe.
“One day, we will all cherish the memory of having blacksmiths on every corner.”
George Singleton, Author
This blacksmith quote implies Blacksmithing is a trade with a rich history. It is one of the oldest crafts, and it has been crucial to the evolution of men, civilization, and industrialization. However, this quote reflects on the gradual fading of this trade. As much as they are crucial to society, offering several high-value products, blacksmiths don’t seem to be appreciated.
Individuals are gradually losing interest in the craft because they seem underpaid and less respected. We might not appreciate what we have until we lose it. We might not appreciate blacksmith enough until they become hard to come by.
“Keep the rhythm of the bellows; Keep the fire glowing red; Never forget your place, good fellow; Never you let the coals go dead.”
Michelle Joelle, Poet, “The Blacksmith’s Apprentice” (2014)
This quote tries to use blacksmith actions to motivate in the real-life scenario. It preaches consistency in maintaining rhythm. Ensuring the fire keeps glowing red means keep hopes alive and never stop putting in efforts. Never let your goals go dead means you shouldn’t give up. Don’t let your burning desire and passion die.
There are a lot of lessons to learn each day and each time in the blacksmithing trade. Some of these lessons are derived from old blacksmith sayings and blacksmith quotes.
There are no perfect blacksmiths, and there are no natural blacksmiths. Anyone can learn the business as long as there is interest, commitment, and hard work. Getting better at blacksmithing also requires constant practice.
Also, creativity and initiatives are part of a blacksmith’s lifestyle, and this must be stressed to everyone involved in this profession. Proper understanding and knowledge of forging must be encouraged to help others in building themselves and creating a business that is without limit.