Hephaestus Forge--Testing your "Metal"

Right after I graduated from college I signed on for an internship at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN.  I was (and still am) seeking a tack for my life and thought that the environment at a school for traditional craft would be a good way to enrich my experiences and give me some clarity.  How right I was!  The interesting thing is that I didn’t find a tack at all, I found a new way to engage the journey, which was what I needed!

Amongst the responsibilities of the internship there were several benefits.  One of these was that I was allowed to take a certain number of courses during my time to develop my commitment to a discipline or just to enrich my life.  Of the courses that I took the ones that excited me the most were the smithing classes.  *I only took one class, but I gravitated to the forges when they were fired and gleaned information off of the instructors and students, thus gathering a pretty impressive amount of forge time.  

After my internship was complete I took up a position as a Director of Youth Ministries at a wonderful church in the suburbs, but also took on a part time position as the blacksmith at a reenactment settlement called Murphy’s Landing.  Here I was charged with explaining the early American culture of smithing and to give the kids some hands on experiences in the forge itself.  I had a great time doing this, but it conflicted too much with my responsibilities at the church so I chose to discontinue that position.

Since then I have often thought about the trade of smithing (especially when I took a last name that highlighted it!) and have tried to puzzle out how this could become a profession and way of life for me.

Enter Hephaestus Forge:

Hephaestus (gesundheit) was the smith of the gods in Greek mythology and is credited as the god of fire, craftsman, metals, and a few other lesser known things.  He is credited for being the craftsman of many of the famous articles worn by the Greek gods: Hermes’ winged helmet and sandals, Achilles’ armor, Eros’ bow and arrows, amongst others.  His creations almost always added ability to their possessors or had the power to influence their perceptions of the world.  He was, however, lame according to some accounts and thus never achieved as large a following as many other gods.  This didn’t affect his ability though, some of his myths claim that he was so good because of his lameness...

I see this as a strong analogy for what I would seek to accomplish with a forge of my own.  I would work to provide beautiful and functional items to enrich people’s lives, the whole time acknowledging that I have faults that add character to who I am as well as reminding me that I have to continuously strive for improvement.  Nice, huh?

There are a few problems with this idea though...

Number 1: The market for blacksmiths has...um... shrunk in the past 100 years, not just due to the increase in mass production, but also because of the “cradle to grave” nature of most products.  Think of if you have a pair of garden shears that break.  You don’t bring them to the smithy to have them mended... you go and buy a new pair of shears!  There is a saying that captures well the somewhat lost nature of the opposite view:  “I have had this hammer all my life!  All I have had to do it replace the handle 3 times and the head once.”

Number 2: The nature of metal itself.  Today 98% of iron ore mined from the planet is used to produce steel, which is forgeable, but generally it can only be forged well under conditions similar to its production.  These conditions are very difficult to reproduce in a coal forge due to fluctuations in temp, the type of fuel used... you get the picture.  

Number 3: Training and equipment.  I am a relatively capable smith (I think), yet to begin a business and have impressive products, I would best apprentice for a master smith for a few years and build up my ability or take some classes in metallurgy.  Also, the equipment for a forge is not cheap and although you can make most of it yourself, it is specific to the work that you want to do.

This is countered by its merits however...

Number 1: A creative lifestyle.  Need I say more!?

Number 2: Various challenges and tasks.  There would doubtlessly be the mundane as well, but you need a balance, right?

Number 3: The desire for authentic hand-made goods.  This area has shown definite growth in the past years.  I believe that if a niche could be carved for high-quality hardware and decorative pieces, demand would follow.  

Number 4: Working with my hands.  There is really something to working with your hands.  Check out my previous post containing the quote by Khalil Gibran for more of an explanation.

Number 5:  Preserving a craft that is dying.  There is great need to show the world where we have come from.  Smithing doesn’t have to be completely consumeristic.  That might be what would pay the bills, but TEACHING would be the main attraction.  Getting into school Industrial Education classes, doing reenactments, heck, even setting up shop at Renaissance Festivals or something like that would help inform the public of the wonders of smithing.

So that is the overview of Hephaestus Forge!  I have done some estimated business models for this project and believe that it could happen.  It is one of those things that I need clarity on.  Am I really a smith or just an Arrowsmith?  

*My wife says that there is no such thing as just an Arrowsmith...