its difficult to make it a living these days, better if you inherit a shop and treat it like a hobby. instead of working on a car, you shape metal to fit a purpose. It helps to not think about how industrial mass production has reduced the value of the smith from essential to a towns survival or just another horse and carriage shop, withered and forgotten. Main thing i do these days is fix the tips of screwdrivers and straighten the rods back out. Just need a torch, a vice and a solid pair of pliers.
That's cool though, keeping the old arts alive. Like anything, those skilled in such things are true artists.
Where I came from in SE PA, the only blacksmiths of note generally had a mobile service to do horseshoeing on the many small farms and such.
that is one of the few ways a smith can make any money, but my dad gave it up years ago before he passed and all his clients found personal smiths soon after. So the local niche is filled until they retire, which should be in another 15 years or so, and that's when i qualify for social security.
Bummer - good luck to you though. It's a craft that is in many ways still necessary. And like I said, an art form.
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