The Blacksmithing Process 

In the early eighties I went to farrier school in Oklahoma.  For the last twenty odd years I have been a full time farrier.  Working with hot metal horseshoes led to an interest in blacksmithing.  As a farrier I had to heat and shape horseshoes to modify the horseshoes for the horses.  I have always worked with a forge and an anvil with farrier work.  This forge work that I did as a farrier started putting shapes in my head that weren’t horseshoe shapes. 

The first metal piece that I created was a gift for my wife.  I created a small hook for her to hang a hummingbird feeder on.  After I created this I was hooked on blacksmithing.  I love creating something from an ordinary piece of metal.  It takes creativity, patience, and skill to create something beautiful out of what was just a straight piece of stock metal or an old horseshoe.

So much metalwork today is mass produced.  I like to create pieces that you can’t go into Wal-Mart and buy.  I like to make pieces that are different from what you can find in stores today.  When something breaks most people don’t try to fix it, they just chunk it in the garbage, and buy another.  I want my pieces to last a lifetime.  One of my customers once told me if her house burned that she would pull her pot rack that I made for her out of the ashes and have it refinished.  She would then hang it in her new house. 

Creating something that will last a lifetime takes time and patience.  I begin with stock metal or old horseshoes.  I then heat up the metal in a forge until it is red hot.  After it is hot the metal is pliable.  I can hammer it into different shapes on my anvil.  This process takes a long time because the metal is only malleable for a matter of seconds.  Getting the metal to look like the shape that I have pictured in my head often takes many heatings in the forge.  After each heating I continue to shape the metal until I have created the desired form. 

Heating and shaping the metal is only the first step in a long process.  After I have the desired shape I often have to fashion different pieces of metal together to create a piece.  Only a few of my pieces are made out of one piece of metal.    The pieces must be put through a welding and grinding process before they can be finished.

After this process is finished I have a quality piece that will stand the test of time.  I am proud of my work and enjoy every minute of it. 

~William Jones, Blacksmith