You don’t have to pretend to be a blacksmith in World of Warcraft anymore!

In today’s world of high tech advancements, the skills of the past are easily forgotten. We’re too busy updating our Facebook status on our laptops and having Lady Gaga pumped into our ears through our ipods. Did anyone ever stop to ask where any of these technologies come from? The answer is blacksmithing. Granted, you are not going to be able to pound a block of steel into an ipad anytime soon, but you could transform chunks of metal into anything your heart desires.

Metal forging is arguably the most important craft of the last few millennia, second to the production of plastic goods, for it is the craft that birthed the knowledge for the production of many modern materials and structures.

Now you can get into this historic and creative art for just ten dollars a month (seriously, ten dollars). Trenton Tye of Purgatory Ironworks hosts several videos on his website, where novice to master level smiths can learn and share insights about blacksmithing. Tye uses the power of the Internet and Youtube to stop the loss of knowledge and inspire a resurgence of interest in the craft.

This is a prime example of how our physical world crosses the virtual world everyday. In this case, a man of the physical world is using the virtual world to bolster the knowledge of his craft. This blurs the lines between the tangible world and virtual realm; the skills of the past, which spawned modern technology, are now dependent on modern technologies for their survival. In a world where the majority of young people have modern virtual skills, it is refreshing to see that we can take our computer-operating prowess and translate it into tangible products. You literally watch someone shape steel on Youtube, and given the proper environment, pound out a similar form in your own garage. Additionally, individuals from the more affluent countries could freely exchange knowledge of these trades to peoples of less affluent countries; imagine an amateur Ethiopian blacksmith with a metal working problem who finds a solution from the forum of Tye’s website: simply amazing.

If you read their mission statement you will see the man and his story. Check out Trenton Tye’s Youtube channel and website at:

Youtube channel

http://www.youtube.com/purgatoryironworks

Website

http://purgatoryironworks.com/

Here is a sample of what you could do with a few simple tools and some skill:

Get out there and pound some steel!

By Surja Chakravarti