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The business of blacksmithing

After my blacksmithing business began to grow, I soon found it necessary to hire employees to help me with the increasing workload. In the early years I didn't have power hammers, so my employees were kept busy swinging sledges. After about five years I was finally able to purchase a second-hand NAZEL 5B hammer that had been used to forge pipe flanges for a nuclear power station. It needed a lot of work done, and I had to virtually rebuild it from scratch. But the boost it gave me in terms of creative output and income more than made up for it.

Coming from an artist background, my technical knowledge wasn't all it could have been, so I had to learn a lot of things the hard way with very little help. I had no idea how to make tools or dies, and because the internet didn't exist at the time, it was very difficult to find information on blacksmithing. I was forced to learn a lot of engineering very quickly, and as a result I made some costly mistakes.

Through the years I managed to collect more tools and hammers, but the quality of my premises and my staff started to pose a few problems. Finally, after 15 years, I had to make the decision to strike out on my own for the good of my blacksmith skills and the creativity of my pieces. Now that I am doing the work myself, I feel more in harmony with what I am creating and am able to focus solely on the quality of my work and the uniqueness of my self-expression.

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