Tyson Schultz has led Stripes Global, Inc. in Gig Harbor, Washington as president since he founded the company in 2016. Stripes Global supplies a wide range of medical, surgical, dental, and research equipment and devices to professional and governmental organizations. When not focused on work, Tyson Schultz enjoys the outdoor life and traditional pursuits that include blacksmithing.
A blacksmith creates useful or decorative items out of iron by systematically applying hot and cold forging on an anvil. In the English language, iron was originally known as “black metal,” from which the term “blacksmith” comes. By around 1,000 BC, iron had taken the place of bronze as the metal of choice for weaponry and household objects of all kinds. Until the Industrial Revolution gave rise to mass production techniques, blacksmiths made all the world’s iron goods by hand.
Today, blacksmithing has become a lost art. But for hobbyists and professionals who dedicate their time to gaining the skill, it is a fulfilling pursuit that gives artistic satisfaction through molding the iron into desired shapes, just as a sculptor would mold clay. A blacksmith needs to possess in-depth knowledge of the performance of metals and how they are affected by temperature and a sense of design and proportion.
Some colleges and other training centers offer classes in blacksmithing and metalworking, a body of knowledge that continues to draw new practitioners in locations throughout the world. In Bhutan, for example, the Royal Metal Craft Centre is reviving the art. In its early days, the center attracted a small body of students, male and female, from Bhutan and beyond interested in traditional sword-making.
A blacksmith creates useful or decorative items out of iron by systematically applying hot and cold forging on an anvil. In the English language, iron was originally known as “black metal,” from which the term “blacksmith” comes. By around 1,000 BC, iron had taken the place of bronze as the metal of choice for weaponry and household objects of all kinds. Until the Industrial Revolution gave rise to mass production techniques, blacksmiths made all the world’s iron goods by hand.
Today, blacksmithing has become a lost art. But for hobbyists and professionals who dedicate their time to gaining the skill, it is a fulfilling pursuit that gives artistic satisfaction through molding the iron into desired shapes, just as a sculptor would mold clay. A blacksmith needs to possess in-depth knowledge of the performance of metals and how they are affected by temperature and a sense of design and proportion.
Some colleges and other training centers offer classes in blacksmithing and metalworking, a body of knowledge that continues to draw new practitioners in locations throughout the world. In Bhutan, for example, the Royal Metal Craft Centre is reviving the art. In its early days, the center attracted a small body of students, male and female, from Bhutan and beyond interested in traditional sword-making.
