A more complete History
Blacksmithing began with the Iron Age, when primitive man first began making tools from iron. The Iron Age began
when some primitive person noticed that a certain type of rock yielded iron when heated by the coals of a very
hot campfire. In short, we can say that blacksmithing, the art of crafting that crude metal slag into a useable
implement, has been around for a long, long time.

And for a long time after that, blacksmithing remained a crude art. You might say it took hundreds, if not
thousands, of years for man to learn the science of metallurgy. And beyond the first simple tools, the first spear
or arrow tips, the first cooking spit, the craft would require hundreds more years before mankind realized the
magnetic properties of the forged metal. The first compass used a forged iron needle that floated in a round vial.
This was a great discovery. By forging the needle as perfectly as he could, the blacksmith aligned the molecules
in the iron and that is why north is north and south is south. From that point on, sailors could travel without need
of stars nor sun to plot their courses around the globe.

As to where and when blacksmithing evolved depended on fuel and iron ore. Charcoal was the primary fuel in
many places. Where coal was found, it was converted to coke, a fuel that generated even more heat than
charcoal. Iron ore, early man discovered, was present in rock strata that had a red color and the deeper the red
hue, the higher the iron content. Then it became a quest to find the rock strata that gave up its iron with the
least amount of work. Given the weight of the ore rock and the large amounts of fuel needed to smelt the ore,
the earliest ironworks were located in areas where both ingredients were ample and in proximity to each other.
The ironworks also had to be in an area where transporting the iron was practical. In early times, that often
meant being near a navigable waterway.

Early iron smelters consisted of an oven built from rocks that could withstand repeated heating. These ovens
looked like beehives with a smoke vent in the top and an entry portal on the side. The hearth was filled with
charcoal or coke, set afire, and the ore rocks were laid on top. When the temperature rose above 2000 degrees,
the iron would flow from the ore and 'puddle' in the fiery coals.

With large tongs, these lumps of raw iron would be pulled from the oven and placed on an anvil. A man would
then hammer the lumpy piece of raw iron into a flat, rectangular bar. The bar would be folded over and hammered
again to its original shape. This process would continue several more times until all impurities had been driven
from the ingot. The finished ingot, bearing the layers of the folding process, was called "wrought iron".

Wrought, or Forged Iron had a very low carbon content making it much weaker than steel. But wrought iron
was very malleable, a property that lends itself to forge welding. A forge weld is a homogenous weld that aligns
and bonds the molecules of the iron as if it were one piece; hence, a seamless bond if done properly. The layers,
or laminations, in the wrought iron also gave it more strength than if it were only a single layer. These qualities of
wrought iron gave blacksmiths a perfect metal for making gun barrels. A brief understanding of history should tell
you that blacksmiths have always been part of the "military-industrial complex".

Cast Iron differs from wrought iron. Cast iron is iron that is heated to a liquid state and then poured into a mold.
The mold is lined with sand and a small mix of clay to hold the sand in shape. A finished casting has a rough
surface because of the sand texture it was poured against. Oftentimes, people mistake cast metal for forged
metal but a quick examination of the surface will differentiate the two. Many ornamental iron fences, window and
door grills, and other decorative ironwork pieces are cast. Cast iron is poured at a foundry, not a blacksmith
shop. Cast iron cannot be heated and re-shaped, or (conventionally) welded while wrought iron can be reworked
forever.

To fuel the smelter or the forge, wood is converted to charcoal or coal is converted to coke. Destructive
distillation, the process name, means burning the raw fuel with limited oxygen. The impurities are burned off
leaving nearly pure carbon which is what you know as charcoal or coke. (The charcoal in your barbeque grill has
been adulterated for cooking purposes and will not fuel a forge.) To get the charcoal or coke to burn even
hotter, air is forced to the fire. In early times, this was done with a bellows pumping air through a pipe into the
hearth or forge. The bellows was pumped either by hand or by a water wheel. The result is a very hot, sustained
fire.

As coke-making evolved, man learned that the smoky by-products from coal could be condensed and made into
different chemical products. Tar, a road building and roofing product, was made this way as were the first
chemical dyes. The first raincoat, called a MacIntosh for its creator, was made in Scotland from canvas cloth
covered with a coal tar. Our modern chemical industry began with the coke-making process and that was long
before oil was pumped from the earth.

As this whole iron industry evolved over time, blacksmithing became an umbrella for several specialties. The
blacksmith who made suits of armor was an Armorer. The blacksmith who made knives and swords was a
Bladesmith. The blacksmith who made locks was a Locksmith. The blacksmith who made gun barrels and triggers
was a Gunsmith. The blacksmith who shod horses was a Farrier. Generally, the blacksmith we remember was a
man who possessed all of these skills. Call him the "village smithy" or whatever you wish. The differentiation lies
mainly in that his shop was not geared for making one particular type of product.

In colonial America, the village blacksmith was called upon to do many things. I have heard it said that some
blacksmiths pulled teeth, no doubt meaning that a village without a dentist had to rely on the one man with a set
of pliers! Let's just leave it at this. Making an axe or a knife or a fireplace crane or a set of door hinges or a
handful of nails was what the village smithy did. His shop was the local hardware store. He could also repair a log
chain or put rims on the wagon wheels or fix the axe that got chipped when it hit a rock. Whether the village
needed swords or plowshares, the blacksmith made them. For without the blacksmith, the village could not
survive.

Christopher Columbus and all the other European discoverers brought blacksmiths on their travels to the New
World. Had they not done so, the trip could have been one way and possibly ended somewhere in the
mid-Atlantic. From then on, every ounce of iron had to be transported here until a metal industry could be
developed. And that took a century or two until the interior of North America was populated and ore deposits
discovered.

Over the centuries, blacksmiths experimented with iron and other metals in their search for a more durable metal.
The hardening and tempering processes were invented. They also learned different ways to modify the carbon
content of the iron, thus allowing iron to be used for even more purposes. A blacksmith needed so many different
tools with differing hardness that he was always tinkering with ways to improve the properties of available iron.
Punches needed to be hard but not brittle. Knives needed to hold and edge but not be so hard that it took a long
time to sharpen them. A blacksmith had to have several files in his tool chest. All of this led to the development
of the tool steels and alloyed metals that we have today.

In Damascus, a method of making blades was invented centuries ago. "Damascus" is still the term we use for it
today. As when it was invented, the blacksmith welds three differing grades of iron bars together. They are
folded over, welded, and drawn out. The process is repeated until the original three layers become 192 (or more)
layers. When ground and polished, Damascus has a very intricate pattern and each blade pattern is unique. The
three grades of metal also give the blade a sharp edge that is both easy to sharpen and holds its edge for a long
time. A high quality Damascus knife is a work of art and can easily cost over ,000.

Blacksmithing in America prospered until the Industrial Age made small enterprises all but obsolete. By the late
1800's, the railroads had linked the country and hardware was being manufactured at a plant and sold in a
hardware store. Then came the automobile and the last days of the wagon makers ended by World War I . The
Studebaker family, blacksmiths first known for their Conestoga wagons, were able to make the transition to the
automobile. The blacksmith survived but only as a specialty. A good example is the Samuel Yellin Ironworks in
Philadelphia. The Industrial Age created so much wealth that the government started the Federal Reserve
banking system. Some of Yellin's early commissions were to make the iron grills for the windows of the Federal
Reserve banks. Other blacksmiths prospered by making intricate ironwork (such as staircases) for the mansions
of the new millionaires. But most of the rest were relegated to the maintenance departments in the plants that
replaced them.

The Great Depression and World War II all but ended this renaissance in decorative ironwork. The blacksmith that
Longfellow praised in his poem became about as extinct as the chestnut tree he worked under. Only in the last
25 years has blacksmithing made a comeback. The art today is different, however. It exists at theme parks,
restored villages, craft fairs and craft shops, and yes, in the mansions of new millionaires. But today's blacksmith
is more of an interpreter of the past, an artist if you will, rather than the real item. Today's blacksmith uses many
of the same techniques and methods but the electric drill, electric grinder, power hammer, ox-acetylene torch,
and electric blower for the forge greatly reduce the physical effort in modern blacksmith shops.

Through associations such as ours, the art and the knowledge of blacksmithing is being passed on. In large part,
blacksmith associations were started because people remembered a grandfather who had an anvil at his farm and
they wanted to learn more about the art. What was a necessity to Grandpa is really a leisure activity to most of
us today. The public has responded to this resurgence by buying the wares of modern blacksmiths but the trend
has been towards artistic work rather than common tools or goods. The new millionaires may have their spiral
staircases but the average family is just as proud of its garden gate, chandelier, wrought iron bed, or fireplace
screen.

Another major reason for the resurgence in this art is Francis Whitaker. He began his career at the Yellin
Ironworks but left there to go into business for himself. Despite the hard times of the 1930's, he managed to
prosper by securing commissions around the country. When he considered retirement about 1970, he looked
around and realized he literally was "the last man standing." From that realization until his death in 1999, he
toured the country promoting and teaching blacksmithing to generations who knew little of the art.

I doubt that the blacksmith of olden times would ever guess that the iron rod on my kitchen wall holds a roll of
paper towels. In fact, he'd probably have something derisive to say about paper towels since he'd reuse every
scrap of iron that he came across. But those are the ages, his and ours. We do live in a different age and the
blacksmith of old doesn't figure into the equation anymore. After all, who buys a magnetic compass needle when
a GPS satellite can pinpoint one's location at the touch of a button?

We do need to appreciate the man who really built our modern world, the blacksmith. In peacetime and in
wartime, the blacksmith was called on to do many tasks. Ben Franklin, in his Poor Richard's Almanac, wrote, "For
want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe, the horse was lost. For want of a horse, the rider was
lost...". In "The Village Blacksmith", Henry Wadsworth Longfellow praises the blacksmith: " His brow is wet with
honest sweat, He earns whate'er he can, And looks the whole world in the face, For he owes not any man."

Such are the sentiments of an age gone by. For who in modern society could qualify now for Longfellow's praise?
I doubt we'll ever hear such a romantic overture about lawyers, consultants, engineers, computer programmers,
civil servants, doctors, or for that matter, anyone else.
by David G. Allen

work cited
Work cited primary
Bastes, Bill. Front grill. Web gallery, www.iornfest.org
Bastes, Bill. Firework. Web gallery, www.iornfest.org
Bastes, Bill. Grillpanel3. Web gallery, www.iornfest.org
Bastes, Bill. Brousb. Web gallery, www.iornfest.org
Wilson, David. Dragon. Web gallery, www.davibsr01.mindspring.com
Miller, Joel. Helmet. Web gallery, www.anvill.clara.net
Adams, john. Anvicon. Web gallery, www.anvill.clara.net
Davis, Marc V. Hat. Web gallery, www.anvill.clara.net
McEachron, Marcia. Bird. Web gallery, www.metalsmith.org
McEachron, Marcia. Mohrb. Web gallery, www.metalsmith.org
Bygd, Monty. Roses. Web gallery, www.balconesforge.org
Bygd, Monty. PPW-DKC2. Web gallery, www.balconesforge.org
Little, Scott. Handle. Web gallery, www.snagmetalsmith.org
Little, Scott. In-latch. Web gallery, www.snagmetalsmith.org
Little, Scott. Hinge. Web gallery, www.snagmetalsmith.org
Little, Scott. My-grill. Web gallery, www.snagmetalsmith.org
Little, Scott. Door-out. Web gallery, www.snagmetalsmith.org

Oberon, Peat. School of black-smithing (Feb, 11,02)

Allen, David G. History of Blacksmithing Hometown.aol.com/ANVILWORK/history.html

Work cited secondary

Unknown, www.abana.com (02/01/02)
Unknown, www.anvill.clara.net (02/05/02)
Unknown, www.balconesforge.org (02/05/02)
Unknown, www.davibsn01.home.mindspring.com (02/05/02)
Unknown, www.HistoryChanal.com (02/05/02)
Unknown, www.IronFeast.org (02/05/02)
Unknown, www.metalsmith.org (02/05/02)
Unknown, www.snagmetalsmith.org (02/05/02)
Unknown, www.Hometown.aol.com/ANVILWORK/history.html