The Spirographic blade. And dinner...

Welcome aboard. Nice work so far. 

O'Grady Padrick,

Welcome and nice blades! Congratulations on the retirement. Do you have a youtube channel as well? Give Mr. Wadsworth a shoutout from those of us in Montana watching his content for me if you get the chance!

Thanks Mr. Samdahl! I do not have a channel yet. I would like to make one some day where there is no talking, just the sights and sounds of making damascus billets and knives. Just waiting to start making smaller mistakes so that it doesn't look terrible on film. Kinda like the channel Shurap does. He seems like a pretty good smith and I believe he is out of the Ukraine, so I imagine his life right now is a bit tougher than mine. So I really have no good excuses, but there I am. God Bless and God Speed!

Padrick O'Grady

Posted by: O'Grady Padrick

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would like to make one some day where there is no talking, just the sights and sounds of making damascus billets and knives.

That is my least favorite type of YT video. When there is no dialogue or written description in captions, I lose interest in about 3 minutes. Even when there are closed captions, I find it impossible to watch what is happening and simultaneously read the captions. Very frustrating for me.

Welcome Aboard!   This is truely the "next level" of Bladesmithing.

  Being one of those "Fabled ABS Mastersmiths" 😉 I have a strong dislike for almost anything "Youtube".  Why?  Because many of those videos are simply someone's attempt at their "5 Minutes of Fame", and often lack substance, and more often truth.... or the omission thereof.  Most individuals don't pick up on it unless they have a high level of experience, but unless said video(s) were produced by someone with a very high level of experience, there is almost always a critical element and/or step left out of these videos....whether that is intentional or not can be a point of debate, but I have seen it far too often to believe it is anything other than intentional, in an attempt to not give away "secrets". 🤣   

  I've been a long-time teacher of Bladesmithing, and all too often have individuals show up for classes, whose only bladesmithing education came from "Youtube University".   When these types of individuals show up for classes, I find I spend more time "unlearning" them of the "bad" habits/things that YouTube taught them.

   The other thing I see all too often are folks who want to run before they learn to walk. (which I understand)  How so?  Everybody wants to jump right into "making Damascus", before they ever learn/know the basics of "plain" steels, which I feel is an absolute necessity before venturing into pattern welding. 

  All that being said, there are times when you just have to let folks make their own mistakes, along with the why and how of it.   It's all about one's learning attitude/process. 

👍What Ed said!👍  

Mr. Caffrey,

        I feel that you and my mentors would get along extremely well!

        Cy recently noted how i was having trouble forming a specific blade shape he had assigned me, decided I lacked some basic blacksmithing skills, and took the time to teach me how to forge to shape and coal forgeweld a ms chain. Which I then had to forge a length of, to prove I could do it up to his standards. 

        Scott, seeing my hammer blows not being up to par, "advised" me to get a 5lb box of 2in roofing nails and when I was done hammering those in, to do another of 8 penny sinkers! Pretty soon I will have a completely nail covered piece of timber framing.

         I have failed a great deal in my life, and by surrounding myself with more capable craftsman than I, it continues to humble my meager abilities. As such, any advice or critisisms of my work will be much appreciated!

Thank you very much!

Padrick O'Grady

O'Grady Padrick,

I think anyone can agree that the practice of the basics with always strengthen your skill set. It is obvious that I feel differently about access to video learning as a tool than those smiths above, but do not mistake that statement to be discounting those senior smith's knowledge. To be quite blunt if I had the capital and time right now to go take a class from either MS Cashen or Caffrey I would be overjoyed to take one from them. Secretly I still have a cash envelope in my safe that I am putting some of my earnings towards to go take a class from Mr. Caffrey because he is closest to me and has been one to give honest, blunt and informative answers when I have asked. If you have the ability to have hands on learning or review from a senior smith then take those pieces of advice as liquid gold. 

I'm a new smith, and I will always ask folks to understand my words as coming from that perspective. That being said; make sure you document your work and your lessons learned along your journey. Not just you, but the people you are close to will love to see your memories from getting started. Anyone would agree that if you are a full-of-yourself jerk who is only interested in becoming someone people know with nothing of substance in you, then they SHOULD NOT appreciate you.

However, if you are seeking to share your journey with your community and or family loved ones showing the progress you are trying to make towards your goals, it may incentivize people to help you out. This passion "can be expensive", but when I was struggling to get started I had a couple friends drop off a rusted wilton vise, and another dropped off a rough shape band saw. I have learned from the beginning that the journey of craftsmanship is broadened from those who see your genuine passion. This may even be Mr. Wadsworth in your life already. You may have to trade work, or knives, or other goods in order to procure new tools or knowledge from those around around you. I highly recommend it. I have earnestly reached out to anyone who would bend an ear my way to ask them questions on how to get better. The channel I have on YouTube has been a source for potential clients to see that I am willing to put in the work and do the job, and if they don't like the work I do on video then they won't buy my product. But at least they can see where it comes from. When I got started I had an honest question to ask: "why would anyone, anywhere, buy something from me, when they could buy it instead from a senior Master Bladesmith?". The only answer I came up with is that, maybe I could tell them my goals, show them my work, offer a product and ask the question they might buy: "Will you invest in a growing craftsman?". Either they will or they wont, but at least it's honest work, and I am giving this craft what I have now. I try to watch and support other people who are willing to teach and give advice where they can, to help people along. Few people have reached out to ask me questions, but I try and pass along the help that was amazingly given to me.

So, I may be completely wrong with that line of thinking. And there will be a day where I do have the chance to take a class from a Senior Smith. When that day comes it should be common knowledge that you can't pay money to take advice from someone with experience; then simultaneously walk in with pride and dismiss what they say. I won't tell you that I don't have issues with my pride and I am trying to balance how to be proud of what I have done so far. But I will say everyone should be ready to leave anything they learned at the door to learn another craftsman's wealth of knowledge in HIS process. It is the only way to broaden and learn.

What you will learn in a short time is that the ABS and knife community is one of the nicest and welcoming folks you can talk to. Just having access to this forum is a searchable guide to most questions you can even think to ask, and if the answers aren't posted, just ask with the respect. (sometimes the answers might humble you), But the advice is always good!

I hope you have most exiting journey you have had yet in life Mr. O'Grady, maybe I will meet you along your way!