Blacksmith

For other uses, see Blacksmith (disambiguation).

Blacksmith

File:A blacksmith at work from the ealy 1900.JPG A working blacksmith, from around 1970
Occupation
Occupation type	Profession
Activity sectors	Vocation
Description
Competencies	Physical strength
Related jobs	Tradesman

A blacksmith

A blacksmith at work

A blacksmith at work

A blacksmith's fire

Hot metal work from a blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who processess iron or steel by forging the metal; i.e., by using tools to hammer, bend, cut, and otherwise shape it in its non-liquid form. Usually the metal is cold until it glows red or orange as part of the forging process. Blacksmiths produce things like wrought iron gates, grills, railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture, tools, agricultural implements, decorative and religious items, utensils and weapons.

File:SFRR shop.jpg

Hammering out a draw bar on the steam drop hammer in the blacksmith shop, Santa Fe Railroad shops, Albuquerque, NM, 1943.

Blacksmith's striker

A blacksmith's striker is an assistant (frequently an apprentice), whose job it is to swing a large sledge hammer in heavy forging operations, as directed by the blacksmith. In practice, the blacksmith will hold the hot iron at the anvil (with tongs) in one hand, and indicate where the iron is to be struck by tapping it with a small hammer held in the other hand: the striker then delivers a heavy blow with the sledge hammer where indicated. During the 20th century, this role has been increasingly obviated and automated through the use of trip hammers.

The blacksmith's materials

When iron ore is smelted into usable metal, a certain amount of carbon is usually alloyed with the iron, (charcoal is almost pure carbon). The amount of carbon has extreme effects on the properties of the metal. If the carbon content is over 2%, the metal is called cast iron. Cast iron is so called because it has a relatively low melting point and is easily cast. It is quite brittle however, and therefore not used for blacksmithing. If the carbon content is between 0.25% and 2%, the resulting metal is tool steel, which can be heat treated as discussed above. When the carbon content is below 0.25%, the metal is either "wrought iron" or "mild steel." The terms are never interchangeable. In pre-industrial times, the material of choice for blacksmiths was wrought iron. This iron had a very low carbon content, and also included up to 5% of glassy slag. This slag content made the iron very tough, gave it considerable resistance to rusting, and allowed it to be more easily "forge welded," a process in which the blacksmith permanently joins two pieces of iron, or a piece of iron and a piece of steel, by heating them nearly to a white heat and hammering them together. Forge welding is more difficult to do with modern mild steel. Modern steel production, using the blast furnace, cannot produce true wrought iron, so this material is now a difficult-to-find specialty product. Modern blacksmiths generally substitute mild steel for making objects that were traditionally of wrought iron.

History, prehistory, religion, and mythology

File:Völund on ardre.png

Wayland's smithy in the centre, Níðuð's daughter Böðvildr to the left, and Níðuð's dead sons hidden to the right of the smithy. Between the girl and the smithy, Wayland can be seen in an eagle fetch flying away. From the Ardre image stone VIII on Gotland.

Hephaestus (Latin: Vulcan) was the blacksmith of the gods in Greek and Roman mythology. A supremely skilled artisan whose forge was a volcano, he constructed most of the weapons of the gods, and was himself the god of fire and metalworking.

In Celtic mythology, the role of Smith is held by eponymous (their names do mean 'smith')characters : Goibhniu (Irish myths of the Tuatha Dé Danann cycle) or Gofannon (Welsh myths/ the Mabinogion )

The Anglo-Saxon Wayland Smith, known in Old Norse as Völundr, is a heroic blacksmith in Germanic mythology. The Poetic Edda states that he forged beautiful gold rings with wonderful gems. He was captured by king Níðuðr, who cruelly hamstringed him and imprisoned him on an island. Völundr eventually had his revenge by killing Níðuðr's sons and forging objects to the king from their skulls, teeth and eyes. He then seduced the king's daughter and escaped laughing on wings he himself had forged.

Seppo Ilmarinen, the Eternal Hammerer, blacksmith and inventor in the Kalevala, is an archetypal artificer from Finnish mythology.

Tubal Cain (not to be confused with Cain, brother of Abel) is mentioned in the book of Genesis of the Old Testament (the first book of the Torah) as the original smith.

Definition of terms:

• Iron is a naturally occurring metallic element. It is almost never found in its native form (pure iron) in nature. It is usually found as an oxide or sulfide, with many other impurity elements mixed in.
• Wrought Iron is the purest form of iron generally encountered or produced in quantity. It may contain as little as 0.04% Carbon (by weight). From its traditional method of manufacture, wrought iron has a fibrous internal texture. Quality wrought-iron blacksmithing takes the direction of these fibers into account during forging, since the strength of the material is stronger in line with the grain, than across the grain. Most of the remaining impurities from the initial smelting become concentrated in silicate slag trapped between the iron fibers. This slag produces a lucky side effect during forge-welding. When the silicate melts, it makes wrought-iron self-fluxing. The slag becomes a liquid glass that covers the exposed surfaces of the wrought-iron, preventing oxidation which would otherwise interfere with the successful welding process.
• Steel is a mixture of Iron and between 0.3% to 1.7% Carbon by weight. The presence of carbon allows steel to assume one of several different crystalline configurations. Macroscopically, this is seen as the ability to "turn the hardness of a piece of steel on and off" through various processes of heat-treatment. If the concentration of carbon is held constant, this is a reversible process. Steel with a higher carbon percentage may be brought to a higher state of maximum hardness.
• Cast Iron is iron that contains between 2.0% to 6% Carbon by weight. There is so much carbon present, that the hardness cannot be switched off. Hence, cast iron is a brittle metal, which can break like glass. Cast iron cannot be forged.

Steel with below 0.6% Carbon content cannot be hardened enough to make useful hardened-steel tools. Hence, in what follows, wrought-iron, low-carbon-steel, and other soft unhardenable iron varieties will be referred to indiscriminately as just iron.

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Gold, Silver, and Copper may all be found in nature in their native states, as reasonably pure metals. It is likely that these were the first metals to be worked by Humans. These metals are all quite malleable, and humans' initial development of hammering techniques was undoubtedly applied to these metals.

During the Chalcolithic era and the Bronze Age, humans in the Mideast learned how to smelt, melt, cast, rivet, and (to a limited extent) forge Copper and Bronze. Bronze is an alloy of Copper and approximately 10% to 20% Tin. Bronze is superior to just copper, by being harder, being more resistant to corrosion, and by having a lower melting point (thereby requiring less fuel to melt and cast). Much of the copper used by the Mediterranean World came from the island of Cyprus. Most of the Tin came from the Cornwall region of the island of Great Britain, transported by sea-born Phoenician and Greek traders.

Copper and Bronze cannot be hardened by heat-treatment, they can only be hardened by work-hardening. To accomplish this, a piece of bronze is lightly hammered ad nauseam. The localized stress-cycling causes the necessary crystalline changes. The hardened bronze can then be ground to sharpen it to make edged tools.

Clocksmiths as recently as the 1800s used work-hardening techniques to harden the teeth of brass gears and ratchets. Tapping on just the teeth produced harder teeth, with superior wear-resistance. By contrast, the rest of the gear was left in a softer and tougher state, more capable of resisting cracking.

Bronze is sufficiently corrosion resistant, that artifacts of bronze may last thousands of years, relatively unscathed. Because of this, there are frequently more examples of Bronze Age metal work in museums, than there are from the much younger Iron Age. Buried iron artifacts may completely rust away in less than 100 years. Examples of ancient iron work still extant are very much the exception to the norm.

Still during the mists of prehistory, humans became aware of the metal iron, in the form of meteoric iron. Iron artifacts may be shown to be of meteoric origin by their chemical composition: containing up to 40% Nickel. As this source of this iron is extremely rare and fortuitous, little development of smithing skills peculiar to iron can be assumed to have occurred. That we still possess any such artifacts of meteoric iron may be ascribed to the vagaries of climate, and the increased corrosion-resistance conferred on iron by the presence of nickel.

During the (north) Polar Exploration of the early 1900s (AD), Inuit of northern Greenland were found to be making iron knives from two particularly large nickel-iron meteors. One of these meteors was taken to Washington, D.C., where it was remitted to the custody of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Hittites of Anatolia first discovered or developed the smelting of iron ores around 1500 BC. They seem to have maintained a near monopoly on the knowledge of iron production for several hundred years, but when their empire collapsed during the Eastern Mediterranean upheavals around 1200 BC, the knowledge seems to have escaped in all directions.

In the Iliad of Homer (describing the Trojan War and Bronze Age Greek and Trojan warriors), most of the armor and weapons (swords and spears) are stated to have been of bronze. Iron is not unknown, however, as arrow heads are described as iron, and a "ball of iron" is listed as a prize awarded for winning a competition. The events described probably occurred around 1200 BC, but Homer is thought to have composed this epic poem around 700 BC; so exactitude must remain suspect.

When historical records resume after the 1200 BC upheavals and the ensuing Greek Dark Age, iron work (and presumably blacksmiths) seem to have sprung like Athena, fully-grown from the head of Zeus. Very few artifacts remain, due to loss from corrosion, and re-use of iron as a valuable commodity. What information exists indicates that all of the basic operations of blacksmithing were in use as soon as the Iron Age reached a particular locality. The scarcity of records and artifacts, and the rapidity of the switch from Bronze Age to Iron Age, is a reason to use evidence of bronze smithing to infer about the early development of blacksmithing.

Despite being subject to rust, iron replaced bronze as soon as iron-wielding hordes could invade Bronze Age societies and literally slice through their obsolete bronze defenses. Iron is a stronger and tougher metal than bronze, and iron ores are found nearly everywhere. Copper and Tin deposits, by contrast, are scattered and few, and expensive to exploit.

Iron is different from most other materials (including bronze), in that it does not immediately go from a solid to a liquid at its melting point. H₂O is a solid (ice) at -1 C (31 F), and a liquid (water) at +1 C (33 F). Iron, by contrast, is definitely a solid at 800 °F (427 °C), but over the next 1,500 °F (820 °C) it becomes increasingly plastic and more "taffy-like" as its temperature increases. This extreme temperature range of variable solidity is the fundamental material property upon which blacksmithing practice depends.

Another major difference between bronze and iron fabrication techniques is that bronze can be melted. The melting point of iron is much higher than that of bronze. In the western (Europe & the Mideast) tradition, the technology to make fires hot enough to melt iron did not arise until the 1500s, when smelting operations grew large enough to require overly large bellows. These produced blast-furnace temperatures high enough to melt partially refined ores, resulting in Cast Iron. Thus cast iron frying pans and cookware did not become possible in Europe until 3000 years after the introduction of iron smelting.

China, in a separate developmental tradition, was producing cast iron at least 1000 years before this.

Although iron is quite abundant, good quality steel remained rare and expensive until the industrial developments of Bessemer et al. in the 1850s. Close examination of blacksmith-made antique tools clearly shows where small pieces of steel were forge-welded into iron to provide the hardened steel cutting edges of tools (notably in axes, adzes, chisels, etc.). The re-use of quality steel is another reason for the lack of artifacts.

The Romans (who ensured that their own weapons were made with good steel) noted (in the 300s BC) that the Celts of the Po River Valley had iron, but not good steel. The Romans record that during battle, their Celtic opponents could only swing their swords two or three times before having to step on their swords to straighten them.

On the Indian subcontinent, Wootz steel was, and continues to be, produced in small quantities.

During the 1700s, agents for the Sheffield cutlery industry scoured the country-side of Britain, offering new carriage springs for old. Springs must be made of hardened steel. At this time, the processes by which steel was produced resulted in an extremely variable product: quality was in no way ensured at the initial point of sale. Those springs which had survived cracking through hard use over the rough roads of the time, were proven to be of a better quality steel. Much of the fame of Sheffield cutlery (knives, shears, etc.) was due to these extreme lengths that the companies went to, in order to ensure that high-grade steel was used in their manufactures.

A blacksmith shop in the harbour of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada in the late 19th century.

The original fuel for forge fires was charcoal. Coal did not begin to replace charcoal until the forests of first Britain (during the 1600s), and then the eastern United States of America (during the 1800s) were largely depleted. Coal can be an inferior fuel for blacksmithing, because much of the world's coal is contaminated with Sulfur. Sulfur contamination of iron and steel make them "red short", so that at red heat they become "crumbly" instead of "plastic". Coal sold and purchased for blacksmithing should be largely free of sulfur.

During the 1900s various gases (natural gas, acetylene, etc.) have also come to be used as fuels for blacksmithing. While these are fine for blacksmithing iron, special care must be taken when using them to blacksmith steel. Each time a piece of steel is heated, there is a tendency for the carbon content to leave the steel (decarburization). This can leave a piece of steel with an effective layer of unhardenable iron on its surface. In a traditional charcoal or coal forge, the fuel is really just carbon. In a properly regulated charcoal/coal fire, the air in and immediately around the fire should be a reducing atmosphere. In this case, and at elevated temperatures, there is a tendency for vaporized carbon to soak into steel and iron, counteracting or negating the decarburizing tendency. This is similar to the process by which a case of steel is developed on a piece of iron in preparation for case hardening.

(European) blacksmiths before and through the mediaeval era spent a great deal of time heating and hammering iron before forging it into finished articles. Although they were unaware of the chemical basis, they were aware that the quality of the iron was thus improved. From a scientific point of view, the reducing atmosphere of the forge was both removing oxygen (rust), and soaking more carbon into the iron, thereby developing increasingly higher grades of steel as the process was continued.

A blacksmith monk, from a medieval French manuscript

Prior to the industrial revolution, a "village smithy" was a staple of every town. Factories and mass-production reduced the demand for blacksmith-made tools and hardware.

During the first half of the 1800s, the U.S. government included in their treaties with many Native American tribes, that the U.S. would employ blacksmiths and strikers at Army forts, with the expressed purpose of providing Native Americans with iron tools and repair services.

Lathes, patterned largely on their wood-turning counterparts, had been used by some blacksmiths since the middle-ages. During the 1790s Henry Maudslay created the first screw-cutting lathe, a watershed event that signalled the start of blacksmiths being replaced by machinists in factories for the hardware needs of the populace.

Samuel Colt neither invented nor perfected interchangeable parts, but his insistence (and other industrialists at this time) that his firearms be manufactured with this property, was another step towards the obsolescence of metal-working artisans and blacksmiths. (See also Eli Whitney).

High School blacksmithing class, Salt Lake City, 1915

As demand for their products declined, many more blacksmiths augmented their incomes by taking in work shoeing horses. A shoer-of-horses was historically known as a farrier in English. With the introduction of automobiles, the number of blacksmiths continued to decrease, many former blacksmiths becoming the initial generation of automobile mechanics. The nadir of blacksmithing in the United States was reached during the 1960s, when most of the former blacksmiths had left the trade, and few if any new people were entering the trade. By this time, most of the working blacksmiths were those performing farrier work, so the term blacksmith was effectively co-opted by the farrier trade.

Starting in the 1970s, trends in "do-it-yourself" and "self-sufficiency" led to a renewed interest in traditional blacksmithing. Books and organizations to help beginning blacksmiths abound, including many re-enactment smiths demonstrating the art at historical sites. New Hampshire Blacksmith Joe Tucker worked as a Blacksmith for more than 75 years, and helped to popularize the craft among young metalworkers. Many of the more successful modern blacksmiths produce custom metalwork, and are referred to a Artist-Blacksmiths. Artist-Blacksmiths is not merely a modern phenomenon, however: see Samuel Yellin.

While developed nations saw a decline and re-awakening of interest in blacksmithing, in many developing nations blacksmiths continued doing what blacksmiths have been doing for 3500 years: making and repairing iron and steel tools and hardware for people in their local area.

Notable blacksmiths

Historical people

• John R. Jewitt, an Englishman who wrote a memoir about his years as a captive of the Nootka people on the Pacific Northwest Coast in 1802-1805. His captor kept him alive because he recognised the value of Jewitt's metal-working skills.

• Masamune, a legendary Japanese swordsmith.

• Elihu Burritt, the Learned-Blacksmith.

• Samuel Yellin.

• Bob Fitzsimmons, (1863-1917), a British-born New Zealand boxer who made boxing history as the sport's first three-division world champion.

Fictional characters

• Joe Gargary, the father-figure of Pip, the protagonist of Charles Dickens's novel Great Expectations
• Perrin Aybara, one of the main protagonists in Robert Jordan's fantasy epic, "The Wheel of Time"
• 'Good Man' Durnik, the best friend of Garion, protagonist of The Belgariad and The Mallorean book series' by David Eddings.
• Will Turner, one of the main protagonist characters in Gore Verbinski's, Pirates of the Caribbean
• Balian de Ibelin, a highly fictionalized version of the true Balian--an important noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century--is the main character of the 2005 film Kingdom of Heaven, played by Orlando Bloom.
• Rhunön, a legendary elven smith in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance series.
• Alvin Maker, The main protagonist in Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series.
• Celebrimbor, forger of the Three Rings in The Lord of the Rings.

Further reading

1. Weygers, Alexander G. The Complete Modern Blacksmith, republished in 1997.
2. Weygers, Alexander G. The Modern Blacksmith, 1974.
3. Weygers, Alexander G. The Making of Tools, 1973.

See also

• St Clement's Day

External links

• Smithery
• Art smithery
• British Artist Blacksmith's Association
• The Artist-Blacksmith's Association of North America
• Blacksmiths keep Boston's transit system rolling
• Royal Naval Museum - Sea Your History - Blacksmiths
• Handmade Weapon from Indonesia