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Traditional Skills: What Value are You to Other Preppers?, by Blacksmith Tom
Prepper communities and compounds rely on each members worth to their group, cooking, sewing, carpentry, leatherwork, gardening. There is one skill that cannot be over looked as one of the most valuable skills/trade for a prepper to possess. Blacksmithing. All other crafts and trades will require once again the skills of a blacksmith to replace stolen, broken tools. In addition to making these tools a blacksmith can also make weapons, swords, axes, daggers, spears, arrow heads.
But how would one go about obtaining these skills? Look in your local areas for classes offered, some community colleges are now offering blacksmithing courses. Look for a local blacksmith group, a living museum that has a working blacksmith shop can help locate a blacksmith that’s willing to teach the basics. After taking the lessons or classes, it’s just a matter of practice before you’re looking for more complicated projects. A blacksmith with even the minimal skill set will be of great value, even if all they can do is make a simple knife, tomahawk or even a hinge.
Once you’ve gotten the basic knowledge of blacksmithing practice is very important, for you to learn how to not burn your metal. (Yes metal will burn if heated too hot.) So you need to practice, how you’re asking, what next? Build or purchase a forge, while a gas forge is great because it’s harder to heat the metal too hot in a gas forge, if TEOTWAWKI occurs, it won’t be long before propane or natural gas will become more valuable than gold. So by all means use a gas forge to increase your skills, but also look at the many plans online to build your own coal/coke forge. Even if you don’t have a supply of coal or coke you can use charcoal that you can produce yourself. I believe the winner of round 42 of this contest is about making your own charcoal. Tools, you can find blacksmithing tools at most flea markets, trade days and even on craigslist, or you can make your own tools. Something most blacksmith will usually do when they want a specific tool for a job. That’s why when you see a picture of a blacksmith shop it’s cluttered looking due to all the tools and metal laying around. There are companies that also sell the coal forges as well, I took advantage of a sale and purchased a coke fire pot for the forge I built. Coke is coal with the impurities burnt out, coke burns cleaner and hotter making it quicker to heat your metal and finish your project in less time. Again practice is the most important thing in getting better at blacksmithing.
Hammer control is, (IMHO) the best and hardest skill to learn in blacksmithing. Take a piece of wood and place it on your anvil, mark and X in the middle of the wood, now strike it with your hammer. Now hit it again. Did you hit the mark twice? Were you off the mark on the first and on the second?
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