Since I'm not yet retired, I suppose my efforts don't really count... I'm not as much of a wizard of the woodwork as Farback so I bought a kit chair, spent a few hours sanding away some of the imperfections, then stained/sealed it... assembled, light sanding and final coat...

Another small step towards blacksmithing in all weather.

Smoke box is mounted. First section of flue pipe added temporarily just for kicks. Threw some burning paper into the hood and it started to draw properly.

Couple of summer storms have past and flue is still standing.

Managed to get out and start a fire in the forge this morning using feed corn, a renewable "green earth" fuel (rather than fossil fuel coal) and knocked out this blacksmith knife with my son. He then did the grinding on an old Craftman belt/disk sander.




Not bad as a first attempt at a knife shaped object.

Question for the group.

Having seen a few of the items I've forged, would you be more likely to buy one if it was forged using a renewable 'green earth fuel' like corn as apposed to fossil fuels like coal and propane, or a deforresting fuel like charcoal?

Is 'Green Earth Fuel' a selling point or not?

d_thomas02 wrote: »

Question for the group.

Having seen a few of the items I've forged, would you be more likely to buy one if it was forged using a renewable 'green earth fuel' like corn as apposed to fossil fuels like coal and propane, or a deforresting fuel like charcoal?

Is 'Green Earth Fuel' a selling point or not?

In marketing terms, I think it could cut both ways, depending on how you convey the information.

For sure, the "green earth fuel" featured in big letters someplace would be a selling point for some people. But it would make others eye-roll (darn hippie freaks and their self-satified greeniehood! ). Presumably, you'd like to sell to anyone and everyone. Not knowing how you plan to market (web vs. shows vs. placement in retail venues), or what kind of area you live/sell in (lots of environmentally oriented people or not), it's hard to evaluate the value of that as a selling point.

One thing I might suggest is somehow sharing your process with people (pretty easy on a web site, but maybe a poster if you're doing booth sales, hang tag mini-brochure if consignment or wholesale?), and embedding the fuel in it as a point of goodness. You could then emphasize it in in-person sales by talking with people if they seem receptive (or let people learn more by clicking through, or it's one of several bullet points in a mini-brochure, or whatever).

For in-person or web, what I'm thinking would be interesting to most people is an overview of the production cycle, maybe from finding your materials (I gather you're often upcycling), then the heating/working the metal, (where at the overview level you could mention using renewable fuels, or green fuels, or whatever you choose - link to more info about that if it's on a web page), then follow the process through to a finished product.

Your whole story of your scrounged/home-built shop is fascinating to me, and I suspect would be to a lot of people, so that could be another click through for more depth on a web site.

I'm thinking there's a way to present this so that it would appeal to the gritty get-it-done kind of people (via the whole DIY/old-fashioned ingenuity angle) and the more crunchy granola kind of people (via the salvaged/repurposed shop, recycled input materials, environmentally conscious fuel, handmade product angle).

If you're doing booth sales or the like, featuring the process along with the products is a way to talk to potential customers more - "happy to answer questions whether you buy or not" - with the understanding that making that connection with people will move a few more of them along from interest to purchase even without a hard sell.

Just my thoughts.

d_thomas02 wrote: »

Thanks for the responses.

@UncleMac Most of America's bread basket is located in the great plains area where only native grass sod was turned under the plow. Other than that, my only comment is... SHH! X-nay on the ossil-fay uel-fay. Next thing ya know, people will be finding out the nearly all feed corn is GMO.

My lips are sealed.

Actually did this last weekend. Using corn as forge fuel (note flames in background are being drawn sideways into forge hood).



(Wife took this while I wasn't looking.)

I'm not retired, which is why I'm covertly pouring over this thread at work. I am in awe of all the talent here.