Holy shit! This is really incredible. If you don’t know about the Bearded Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, you are about to.
This is a continuation of my thoughts from the previous blog entry about blacksmithing as a community. Something I believe all smiths should be a part of, even if you have to create it yourself.
After forging solo for a number of years, and making little more than metal turds. Not entirely true, but close enough. I started teaching, and increasing my skills mostly through trial and error. Let me tell you, trial and error is one of the worst ways to learn a trade.
As I started to get more proficient, and well known for my work, mainly I just made a website. I would get emails from folks looking to learn as an apprentice. Sometimes these folks would work out, sometimes not. One person that stuck around was a fellow named Rick.
Going to FABA conferences and being a part of the community also introduced me to two other fellows, Sean and Chris. At some point they call me and tell me they want to start their own club. To make a group dedicated to blacksmithing, but also to teaching it. One of the mottos was, “Everyone Swings a Hammer” Meaning we would never have a meeting in which one person worked and everyone else just watched. We didn’t want folks driving for miles to only get a chance to look at blacksmithing being done. We wanted our members to be active participants. We also wanted to cuss and drink.
It started with Rick, Chris, Sean and Myself.
Thus was born, the Bearded Brotherhood of Blacksmiths!
A motley crew of roustabouts, barbarians, heathens and ne’er-do-wells this group has grown from 4 guys and a few anvils, into something that I can say I am truly proud of.
The Bearded Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, or the BBB, have really taken off in the last couple of years and turned into the kind of fellowship that……. did I already say proud? There isn’t a word for the feeling I have in my heart when it comes to this group.
We’ve made a couple of interesting things for auction at the FABA Conferences. Something we try to do each year. The first year we forged a bell, it required multiple parts, and multiple hands, and none of us had done anything like it before. Having multiple minds to problem solve really makes a big difference. The bell ended up raising $400 for FABA at the auction.
The next year we did a really badass Viking Long Ship. We had 13 different smiths working on this one. Each team would tackle a certain aspect, and then the Founding Four met to assemble it all and put a bit of shine on the turd, so to speak.
Several times now we’ve collected together a group of starting blacksmiths tool, and loaned them out to new folks looking to get started. We’ve even acquired a loaner anvil to be let out with the kit. Here’s BBB member using the loaner.
This past February we had our 2nd anniversary, a whole week of blacksmithing classes, challenges, demonstrations, drinking, firemaking, and other fun stuff. Through the Luck and Guile of Brother Chris we had the Honour of hosting Elmer Roush. A blacksmith of 40+ years experience and specializing in Historic Metal work of the Viking Age! Another honour, and a chance to get folks learning the trade.
This is the kind of support, and knowledge and equipment I wished I had access to early on in my learning. Through the Brotherhood I feel like I can provide new smiths with the things I wish I had when I was just starting out.
We have an official document all signed by the Four Founding Fathers, of the Bearded Brotherhood of Blacksmiths. Here is a photo of this ancient and venerable artifact, which we may or may not have spilled beer on.
It reads as such:
On this day, September the Twenty-Second, in the year Two-thousand and Eighteen, we the undersigned do gather together to formally and irrevocably declare and recognize our Brotherhood and Fellowship in the Ancient and Honorable Arts of the Blacksmith. We acknowledge the Skills and Craft of the Blacksmith to be Foremost in the Purposes of our Gatherings, and Vow now and into the Foreseeable Future, to never meet at another member's Forge, without then lighting that Forge and then proceeding to Smite the shit out of some Steel. Exceptions shall be made at the discretion of whichever Brothers are present at such meetings for Ill health, Intoxication, and other Acts of God(s).
This most Sacred and Honorable Fellowship will henceforth be named the Bearded Brotherhood of Blacksmiths. Whencesoever brevity or an expedience of either thought, written word, or oratory is called for, the most Sacred and Honorable Fellowship that we have here upon this Day formed as the Bearded Brother of Blacksmiths may, at the discretion of the pertinent Member, be shortened or abbreviated to the BBB.
We acknowledge that all members may not be in fact capable of being a Brother in the literal sense of being a human male. We do however insist that you are a Brother in the same sense that all Humans are a part of Mankind and will henceforth refer to all Members of the Fellowship as Brother, regardless of the shape of their genitals. If this is a problem for you you are welcome to go Fuck Yourself with whatever genitals you wish. In the same way that all are metaphorical Brothers in the Brotherhood of Bearded Blacksmiths, We also recognize that while all of us may not have literal Beards it is important to maintain a metaphorical Beard to remain in good standing. The only requirement for being a member of the Brotherhood of Bearded Blacksmiths is that one be both literally and figuratively a Blacksmith.
We the undersigned declare that the BBB is to be a totally Independent Organization autonomous from all other Groups, Affiliations, Associations, Federations, Corporations, and Clubs, while still retaining the right for its Brothers to individually join and associate with any individual or group as they fucking see fit.
In Conclusion, it is to be plainly and clearly stated that We, the undersigned, do now create the Bearded Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, with all the good intentions and honor that is within our hearts. We create this Brotherhood with the intention of furthering our knowledge of Blacksmithing, helping our Fellow Brothers expand their knowledge of Blacksmithing, having fun, and making some cool shit with fire, steel, and the strength of our arms.
I will end this with another of our mottos which is “SMITE HOT SHITE!”