I was raised in Sheffield when it was at the height of its prosperity. The sight of hot iron being worked has always fascinated me and I can still remember the awe and terror I felt when I visited a steel works for the first time. The huge crucibles full of liquid steel left an impression that has lasted to this today.
I know I did my first piece of hot forge work when I was seven and I’ve been at it ever since.
Fire welding.
Every new job is a challenge because hot iron has a will of its own as does the blacksmiths fire. You treat both with respect because if you don’t they burn you as a reminder that they let you use them as a privilege not a right.
I use the skills I have learned to make every thing from fire dogs to sculpture.
I now use those skills to make copies of ancient artefacts.