Describe your profession, with details on products, services, expertise and know how.
I’m a craftsman who works iron in a traditional way and with old methods, by realizing everything by hand, using the forge , the anvil and the hammer.
What materials do you use? Where and how you purchase them?
Iron, stainless steel, corten steel. I buy them from specific sellers.
What is your “ideal” client’s profile?
People that are able to understand the quality of a handmade object.
At what age and under what circumstances did you start this job?
I started at the age of 17. On the one hand it has been a compulsory choice because of the difficulty of finding a job. At the same time, however, there was the curiosity to do by myself a job i had already practiced as a apprentice.
Where and how long have you been trained before you were ready to start your own business? In a training institute, with a craftsman or both? What do you think is the best way to learn your job today? Schools, training with craftsmen ...?
Before i started my business, i worked as an apprentice at a blacksmith in my country. Today as then, the best way to learn this job is to do a lot of apprenticeship in the workshop of a good master.
Describe the techniques, the tools and the materials you use in your work.
The iron, once cut to the desired size, is put in the forge, at a temperature above 1500 degrees. Once the necessary temperature is reached, the iron, at that point malleable, is taken out of the forge and immediately worked on the anvil. Having previously chosen the type of hammer to use, you start hitting the fiery piece of iron before it cools down, with precise strokes until you reach the desired shape. At this point it is left to cool and then, if necessary, it passes to other processing, assembly and finishing phases.
What role do "talent" and "creativity" play in your profession?
They are the essential elements without which i could not work. My profession can not be learned only on book, it needs these elements.
And what about innovation, what are the changes since you started? Do you use new materials, tools, or processes in manufacturing and marketing? What is the impact of innovation on your performance? How could your profession be even more innovative?
Certainly year after year even a traditionalist job line mine has undergone many changes and innovations, especially thanks to the advent of new materials and new procession tecniques. This has allowed us to improve the quality and uniqueness of our work. At the moment, however, i don’t know what else could be useful to innovate even more my work.
What is the best way to learn your profession?
The best way to learn this job is to do a lot of apprenticeship in the workshop of a good master.
What is your message to younger generations who might choose your profession?
If i had to send a message to younger generation to choose my profession, i would say that, despite being heavy, challenging and dirty, everything is paid off by the satisfaction of creating, from nothing, objects with their own hands.