Self Employed Blacksmithing?

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kwells14

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Mar 2, 2015
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I am contemplating picking up a minor in blacksmithing at my school. I was curious as to how well self employed blacksmiths usually do. My fear along with my parents is that I will do all the work and spend all of the time and money needed to gain the skill and degree, but then not be able to find work. Blade smithing would truly be my dream job. I was just wondering how difficult it is to find work and make some decent money doing this?
 
You might ask this question on a blacksmithing forum. From what I gather, there are a few bladesmiths here who do this full time.
 
Here's my 2 cents worth. Blacksmithing and Bladesmithing are real niche industries and hard professions to break into if you want to make money right away. The guys I see in these industries that are making money have been doing it for quite a while and have established a brand name (either branding their actual name or have a brand that they have picked and use). If you are willing to give it a lot of time (years) and effort you may make your mark on the world in these areas of expertise.

So, saying all that, I could be dead wrong and you end up finding a way to make a living off blacksmithing right from the start (such is the nature of life sometimes), but from what these eyeballs have seen in these industries, it will be a hard go of it for many years.
 
I have know only a few full time blacksmiths who's major money source wasn't from family money (old money, land, or business) or their spouse.

A few artist blacksmiths make it fairly big, but that is just like painters and singers. Lots of good ones but only a handful who really make a living at it.
 
When I started out I worked for local ornamental blacksmiths. Cut stock, ground stuff, welded stuff, riveted, and eventually ended up forging full time. It gets you access to tools, if the boss is amenable (and mine were), gets you some knowledge, and points out what Stacy said above. It doesn't pay all that well, but it gets your foot in the door. It also cured me of the desire to ever make a latch or a towelbar or a railing ever again unless someone in the family needs one...:)
 
I am not a smith, so some of what I say is speculation, some is observation, and some is based on experience.

Blacksmithing requires bigger, heavier, and more expensive equipment than stock removing. A forklift may be required to move the equipment. Generally, the successful blacksmiths use power hammers and hydraulic presses. Smithing also requires an outbuilding, whereas a stock-removal maker can comfortably fit in the basement of a house.

My point is that smithing has a higher start-up cost, and also a higher monthly overhead cost (the workshop etc) than stock removal.

I think most self-employment endeavours that involve crafting a physical good will take several years to break even. So you'll either need to start with a big chunk of cash, or you'll need to work a day job and feed money into the business. I did the latter for two years before I broke even - it would have taken me much longer if I had to pay rent on workshop space.

For the same money and time, you could buy a Tormach CNC milling machine for $20K and bid on general small machine. Your niche would be runs of smaller parts in quantities less than 20. Whatever you do, my advice is to be ambitious, but bite off what you can chew. Businesses, just like people, must live within their means.
 
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It takes a while to become really good at blacksmithing..I mean good enough for people to really want your stuff..Its a great hobby, very handy hobby to have and can pay for itself but to be competitive enough in the smithing world to make a living is a different thing..Id encourage anyone to give it a try, its fun but its a different world from knifemaking..You might be asked to make a tennon fence and gate one day..A hewing axe and froe the next..Now of course you don't have to make those things but if you want to make good money at blacksmithing you had better either have a rich client base(think artist blacksmith) or be able to make pretty much whatever a customer asks for..People will pay good money for quality items but you have to be able to produce those quality items first..
 
Not too much to add here, not a professional smith but I have been smithing for a number of years and some of my best friends are full time smiths. I'd suggest joining your local blacksmithig organization and talk/learn from the locals.
Probably the most useful suggestion I have is a reiteration of what Karl said, define for yourself what being successful means. If maximizing your bank account is what's important, DON'T rely on being a SOB (Sole Occupation Blacksmith), go into banking or some other profession where money is the focus.
If, on the other hand, being happy and content with what you have is most important, then find out what you really enjoy doing, and put all your heart, mind and efforts into pursuing that, and you undoubtedly will do well and be successful.
Good luck.
 
kwells14 said:
I am contemplating picking up a minor in blacksmithing at my school. I was curious as to how well self employed blacksmiths usually do. My fear along with my parents is that I will do all the work and spend all of the time and money needed to gain the skill and degree, but then not be able to find work. Blade smithing would truly be my dream job. I was just wondering how difficult it is to find work and make some decent money doing this?
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I am self employed and have been since 2005. Being self employed is difficult.

To try to make a living as a blacksmith to me sounds like it would be extremely difficult. To try and be a blacksmith and support a family? That sounds frankly like a nightmare.

It sounds really really difficult. Very commonly turning your passion into something that must pay the mortgage is a good way to ruin your love of the art.
 
Just do it! Life is too short to do something you hate. I've been a full time knife maker since 1991. Ya just gotta work hard and live cheap. :cool:
 
Are you trying to be a bladesmith only or are willing to take other work ?
I know that good hoofsmiths (sp ?) are kinda rare here and earn decent money, but I guess thats very different from making knives.
Another source of income could be making fences and gates and stuff like that, so you wouldn't have to rely on knives as your only income.

I don't have any experience in blacksmithing, just some observations. Whatever you do, good luck :thumbup:
 
I'm a career counselor for a College, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but also understand I talk to people about this stuff all day.

First....wow...your college has a blacksmithing program. Heard of that before but its been a while. Here is what I suggest. Have you ever been a blacksmith? You should apprentice somewhere and figure out if you really like the work. Maybe you have experience here but it strikes me as pretty dirty, hard, smoky, dusty, etc. Is that the environment you want to work in the rest of your life? Do you want to stand up and bang things for hours on end. Don't drive yourself in that direction if you aren't sure.

Second, your minor has very little to do with career outcomes (same thing can be said for major). You can become a full time blacksmith without that minor and be qualified for any other job on the planet with it. Your major/minor aren't a life sentence. It is important to get experience in the field you want to pursue. So take the minor because you love it or because you want to be a blacksmith. If it turns out you don't want to do it full time all the time spend your summers with an internship in the field/area you want to pursue and make knives/whatever at your forge when you get home.
 
One thing that I didnt see addressed yet is that you are thinking of going to school for it? I do not think that is a smart move. You will be paying money to learn something that you can learn much cheaper on your own or with a mentor or such. I would not pay for the schooling either if you are considering doing it self employed, who are you going to show that degree to? If your goal is to work in a blacksmith shop, maybe a degree of some sort may help but they are going to be more concerned with what you can actually do. College is necessary for many fields but blacksmithing is not one of them in my opinion.
 
letorthopper said:
your minor has very little to do with career outcomes (same thing can be said for major).
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This is spot on. Most folks work outside their major, so don't sweat it too much. I have a double major and a masters degree that I don't use and couldn't get a job with. I had to go back to school and get another masters so that I could become employed. If you have some free electives that can allow you to get a minor in blacksmithing without really disrupting your path to an employable degree, then by all means do it.

I'm not a big fan of having to do something you love so that you can eat. Nothing steals the joy out of something you love doing than depending on it for your livelihood. Far better, in my opinion, to do something else for your money and to pursue your loves without the requirement that they be profitable.
 
letorthopper said:
You should apprentice somewhere and figure out if you really like the work. Maybe you have experience here but it strikes me as pretty dirty, hard, smoky, dusty, etc. Is that the environment you want to work in the rest of your life? Do you want to stand up and bang things for hours on end. Don't drive yourself in that direction if you aren't sure.
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Not smoky anymore, most of us use propane/gas forges now. And now that induction forges are getting more popular, it's even quieter....

Finding a smith to apprentice under is a REALLY good idea to see if it's something you want to do full time. AND you'll probably learn more about what being a full time smith is like than what you will in school.
 
I have to go against the grain on your minor. If your school offers this, and this is something you are interested in doing, take the minor. Most blacksmithing major/minor programs are in the art and design category, Metalsmithing really, not vocational training. You won't be cranking out hinges and nails in that class except maybe to get some experience with a hammer in the first couple of weeks. You will be exposed to things that you would not otherwise be exposed to in a working blacksmith shop, unless you are lucky enough to get an apprenticeship with an artist blacksmith, and even then you will be limited to the types of work that person does. Once you get out of school, if you want to go the route of becoming a blacksmith apprentice as a trade craft, you will have some significant skills to offer your new boss. If you wanted to pursue your major as a career, you can carry the knowledge of your minor until you collect enough money to get started on your own.

I've got a couple of friends who are art professors. Both have Freshmen who are learning how to make mokume-gane, lost wax and sand casting iron and bronze, just as two examples. I doubt you would learn stuff like that as an apprentice in most shops.

In short, Don Hanson's advice is perfect.
 
Here is my 2 cents.
I've been full time since 2000 and so far it's been one hell of a ride. However I didn't start this untill my kids were grown and gone my house was paid for and my wife was working then. I really can not imagine doing it if those key things were not behind me. Truth being said there is alot more people doing well in this type game that do have most of those things behind them then not. Being honest I can get a attitude and sit on my ass a couple of days and it not hurt. Not so if ya had a pile of bills and mouths to feed.
One last thing that love and fire you have right now will turn into a job one day.

Good luck
Cliff
 
If you like animals a good trained farrier(there are good farrier schools here in Kentucky) makes dang good money..I know some down in the bluegrass that make over 100K a year..Though those guys work on big money horses and have good clients. 4-5 horses a day at appx $200 each ;)
 
Thank you for all of the advice. I don't have to make any decisions untill the fall. So I got some time to think about it. I also see it as a good way to make some money while in school to help pay for it. I know some people here who do beautiful damascus work and make good side money from it.
 
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