The only degree I have that I'm genuinely proud of is the National Certificate in Blacksmithing and Metalwork from the Herefordshire College of Technology, UK
It was a one year degree (there were further studies you could pursue), and you'd generally get about 10h of forgework a week IIRC, plus welding (arc, MIG, gas), fabrication, fitting, tech drawing, and design classes, totalling perhaps 40h a week of metal-related activities.
Blacksmithing is one of the old crafts. It takes decades to truly master, although everything that's forged looks cool. I would say you could do similar things in a couple of months of weekend forging. This assumes that you have a minimal workshop set up and that you're OK with leaving a lot more hammer marks (now THOSE are hard to get rid of...).
I personally believe that the most important thing is discipline. Like I said, forged iron has this indescribable way to just look awesome, which in turn leads many people to accept and be content with very bad quality forgings. This not only cheapens the craft, but permanently damages it by causing stagnation of skill at a mediocre level. I don't think many people left that could do something like this:
That was made by a Portuguese Master Blacksmith who lived 'round the turn into the 20th century. But now we lack technical know-how and discipline for this these days.
I could write about this for hours. I guess the main point is: you can make stuff that looks cool almost from the start, but be disciplined and you can do insanely beautiful stuff eventually. The main point is not stagnating. It is also one of the most rewarding experiences. Smithing is a kind of controlled chaos, where everything is at its very limits. Heat the metal a little to much and you burn it (the temperature is over 1500C, or 2700F); you really have to hammer it hard for it to move, but all it takes is one hammer blow to permanently mark the piece and ruin it. Also, the colour of hot metal is one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. I still spend hours on youtube sometimes, just watching people forge.
Also, depending on where you're from, it's possible you can give blacksmithing a go. There's plenty of blacksmithing schools offering small one day, weekend or week-long courses if you've got the money. It's a good way to gauge how much you might like it.
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Topic: Ye Olde Magma Forge: A Blacksmith discussion thread. (Read 20611 times)