Blacksmithing for Beginners. Visit a living history site and there will be a crowd around the blacksmith. It pulls people in…How does he do that? 150 years ago most census records showed that a fifth of the respondents listed their occupation as blacksmith, including my 3rd great-grandfather, Roger Farrer. I don’t know what Grampa Farrer fabricated every day, but if he was like most smiths, he was making everything.
Horseshoes were a small part of the job. He was more likely fabricating or repairing a farm implement, making hardware like hinges or pulleys, or even something as mundane as nails. The box of nails we buy at the hardware store for a few dollars were once made one at a time–by hand. The methods Grampa Farrer used are essentially unchanged. Since most people don’t know a blacksmith, I get a lot of questions about the trade. “Where’s the coal?” Many blacksmiths still use coal, and there are good reasons for it. “Where do you get steel?” From a steelyard. “How hot does it get?”
Very hot. 1400 degrees, big F. How It's Made Steel Forgings. How to EASILY forge Steel and iron... If for some reason, you've needed some sort of tool, or some heavy object made of steel or iron...and you've gone online, searched for that tool, and realized how expensive it was? Forging steel and iron isn't actually all that hard, you only need a few things to do it properly. 1. A vice of some sort. My granddad happened to have one he doesn't use. You need to make sure it's properly anchored in some way, otherwise you won't be able to bend the steel very well. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Also as a word of warning, I'M not responsible for anything bad you may do with this information. Forging. This article is about the metalworking process. For specific hot forging hearth, see forge. For the act of counterfeiting, see forgery. Hot metal ingot being loaded into a hammer forge Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. History[edit] Forging is one of the oldest known metalworking processes.[1] Traditionally, forging was performed by a smith using hammer and anvil, though introducing water power to the production and working of iron in the 12th century drove the hammer and anvil into obsolecence. In modern times, industrial forging is done either with presses or with hammers powered by compressed air, electricity, hydraulics or steam.
Advantages and disadvantages[edit] Some metals may be forged cold, but iron and steel are almost always hot forged. Processes[edit] There are many different kinds of forging processes available, however they can be grouped into three main classes:[1] Temperature[edit] Drop forging[edit] Medieval Technology and American History - In-Depth Articles - The Tools and Trade Techniques of the Blacksmith.
The Tools and Trade Techniques of the Blacksmith From Henry J. Kauffman, Metalworking Trades in Early America, 1995. The tools of the blacksmith varied from time to time and from place to place. They were generally divided into three groups. The first is the hearth with its bellows, water trough, shovels, tongs, rake, poker, and a water container for damping down the fire and cooling objects.
The second group consists of the anvil, sledges, tongs, swages, cutters, chisels, and hammers. The blacksmith worked with charcoal iron, so named because charcoal was used for fuel in the furnace that produced the iron. Blacksmiths of the 18th and 19th centuries had different qualities of iron available to them. A certain amount of improvement in the texture of the iron was inevitable, since the blacksmith, after taking the iron off his rack, usually found it necessary to reshape it for his specific need.
Drawing out not only improved the quality of the iron but also its appearance as well. History of the Blacksmith. Gold is for the mistress -- silver for the maid --Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade. "Good! " said the Baron, sitting in his hall,"But Iron -- Cold Iron -- is master of them all. "Rudyard Kipling What is a BlacksmithA Blacksmith makes many kinds of tools and other objects out of metal. He heats the metal in the forge to make it soft, and then hammers it on an Anvil to shape it. Iron ProductionIron was smelted from the ore in a blast furnace and the molten iron allowed to run from the furnace into a bed of sand.
The role of the Blacksmith The role of the Black smith was very diverse not only was he the local toolmaker and "engineer" he was sometimes called upon to act as Dentist, Doctor, Undertaker,Veterinary surgeon and horse dealer. Simon specializes in craftsmans tools. So what is the History of the Blacksmith? Traditional hand forged tools Forging edged tools The amount of carbon in Steel determines whether it can be hardened or not.
Simon grant-Jones AWCB, CERT.Ed. What Does a Farrier Do? - The Farrier Guide to horseshoeing schools and employment. Farriers specialize in equine hoof care—caring for animals such as horses and donkeys, but mostly horses. The profession is an old one that stretches back hundreds of years, paralleling the increasing domestication of horses. A look at the history of the word “farrier” explains something about the profession. “Ferrarius” is a Latin word meaning “of iron” or “blacksmith,” which explains why farriers are so often confused for being blacksmiths. Years ago when workers weren’t as specialized as today, blacksmiths would be called on to make horseshoes since they knew how to work with iron, and with that job already done they would also be the ones to put the shoes on the horses.
(see Blacksmith school or farrier school? For a more detailed distinction between the two occupations). Being a farrier involves some skills of a veterinarian in caring for the horses’ feet and some of a blacksmith in making, applying and adjusting horseshoes. Observation Trimming Cleaning Horseshoeing. Farrier. Some farrier tools (pincers, hammer, rasp, and hoof knife) with a pair of horseshoes A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adjusting metal shoes) with some veterinarian's skills (knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the lower limb) to care for horses' feet. History and ceremonial[edit] Historically, the jobs of farrier and blacksmith were practically synonymous, shown by the etymology of the word: farrier comes from Middle French: ferrier (blacksmith), from the Latin word ferrum (iron).[1] A farrier's work in colonial America or pre-Industrial Revolution Europe would have included shoeing horses, as well as the fabrication and repair of tools, the forging of architectural pieces, and so on.
Work[edit] A farrier's routine work is primarily hoof trimming and shoeing. Qualifications[edit]