Blacksmith's Fun Page

Gotta good blacksmith joke or story? Share it with us.

We have often joked about blacksmithing being akin to a sickness. From time to time, we are re-assured that this observation isn't very far from the truth. An email came recently from a newly infected blacksmith in Texas. Here is what he wrote, "This is the thing, this hammering steel affects me like no other medium ever has. When I pick up a piece of steel and begin to heat and hammer it, something happens inside of me.... things just come to me and out of me that totally surprise me!"~ Danny.

Our reply went something like this- "Better take an extra dose of iron!"

It seems we have so many Doctors these days. There's your general practicioners, dentists and optomotrists. Then you have your pediatricians, podiatrists and proctologists. Let us not forget the osteopaths, naturopaths and Sedona's follow-the-crystal-paths. Did you know that less than a hundred years ago, blacksmiths outnumbered doctors by ten to one. Back then, every wide spot in the road had a smithy, but only a sizable town had a doctor of any sort. Come to think of it, I have even met a few Doctors who turned blacksmith, but I have yet to meet any blacksmiths... turned Doctor!

My grandfather worked in a blacksmith shop when he was a boy, and he used to tell me, when I was a little boy myself, how he had toughened himself up so he could stand the rigors of blacksmithing.

One story was how he had developed his arm and shoulder muscles. He said he would stand outside behind the house and, with a 5 pound potato sack in each hand, extend his arms straight out to his sides and hold them there as long as he could.

After awhile he tried 10 pound potato sacks, then 50 pound potato sacks and finally he got to where he could lift a 100 pound potato sack in each hand and hold his arms straight out for more than a full minute!

Next, he started putting potatoes in the sacks. submitted by Bob Oakes

Also from Bob: My dog does blacksmithing, tell her its time for a walk and she makes a bolt for the door!

Blacksmithing...

Heat it…Draw it out…

Upset it…Twist it…Drift it…

Punch it…Weld it…File it…

Blend it...Fuller it…Swage it…

That's about all there is to it!

CARTOON LAW IX:

Everything falls faster than an anvil.

Bill Miller, the Old Striker wrote, "When the first blacksmith began hammering on a hot piece of iron little did he know how he was shaping the future. He forged the tools that made the machines that produce everything mankind has today. The blacksmith was the pioneer of the technology that carried mankind from the iron age to the space age. It can truly be said that the first rocket to the moon was virtually launched from the face of the anvil."

George Quotes~ "I have cut that piece of iron three times and it is still too short!"


You can never promote safety enough! We found this "Avoid Death" T-shirt on a BMX site www.danscomp.com.		This nostalgic re-creation aims right at the heart of the penny pinching blacksmith. www.bitsandpieces.com

R. Smith got caught writing this to another smith, "I name my hammers. There's Bam Bam, Buster, Rollo, Tappy, Bumper, Jasper and Willy. No, wait...Willy is my dog. The hammer you made me is named Stumpy, cause its short...like you...HA! Theres MOJO, hmmmmm, thats it for hammers. The power hammer is named Thumper, and the forge is named Betty, after Betty Page, an ageless little hottie!"

A contribution by fellow smith: Dan Speers What spinich is to Pop-eye...

Some years ago there was an old blacksmith who realized that he was getting older and the work wasn't getting any easier. He had always worked alone but decided he should take on an apprentice. He choose a strong young man that seemed to have a good work ethic- though not very bright- to be his apprentice and eventually take over the smitty.

The old blacksmith was short on patience and unusually blunt. He often told the apprentice, "Just do what I tell you and don't be asking me any questions." Despite this, the apprentice seemed to enjoy the craft and showed promise of becoming a decent hand.

One day, about six months into the apprentice's training, the old blacksmith pulled a white hot piece of steel out of the forge and laid it on the anvil. As he did, he told the apprentice, "Get that big hammer over there, when I nod my head, hit it real good and hard." The apprentice stiffled his question under the old blacksmith's glare.

So, that is the story of how the apprentice, with only six months of training, came to run the smitty!!! Nod your head if you get it.

For more blacksmith fun, stories and poems check out www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/stories/

Hey Kids! Print out this drawing of George the Blacksmith then color it.