Having met Mark once at last year's BGOV Hammer-in, I know how serious a smith he is and so I want to be prepared to make the most of my week with him! His book is called "Mastering the Fundamentals of Blacksmithing" (http://markaspery.net/www.markaspery.net/Book_1.html) and it is truly an incredible resource.
I have been going "back to basics" in this book and it has been very fun. I actually understand the beginning chapters now since I have a little more experience and have been focusing on the tapers section first. It is definitely an area that develops skill as you do it.
I love one of the stories in the book, which talks about how Mark learned tapers when he was given his first job as a fledgling smith to make 1000 (yes, I did not mistype this) tapered points from 3/4" bar to use for mooring boats. I have probably made less than 50 real tapers (well, probably more if you include hooks, but my point is still valid) in the entire two years I have been a blacksmith, so I can't imagine how much one can learn doing 1000 of them!
Just scratching the surface here in terms of where I hope to go, but really enjoying it. Thanks, Mark!!
I love one of the stories in the book, which talks about how Mark learned tapers when he was given his first job as a fledgling smith to make 1000 (yes, I did not mistype this) tapered points from 3/4" bar to use for mooring boats. I have probably made less than 50 real tapers (well, probably more if you include hooks, but my point is still valid) in the entire two years I have been a blacksmith, so I can't imagine how much one can learn doing 1000 of them!
Just scratching the surface here in terms of where I hope to go, but really enjoying it. Thanks, Mark!!
