Main Tools of the Trade - sonumahar/sonu GitHub Wiki

A symbol of the blacksmith is definitely the "anvil". Without it, there is no craft; yet it is only one of the various tools of the trade. In an article By the Mother Earth News Editors (November/December 1975)2, it mentions various sizes of anvils ranging from tiny to the large 500 lbs models. I can easily imagine the best axe seeking out a tree butt to fasten a 200 lb. anvil securely to it. Lighter anvils weren't as steady, more difficult to fasten and prone to crack under heavy hammer strokes while the larger models were hard on the back.

Instrumental to the blacksmith is the hammer. Customizing hammers to fit their skills and jobs, most blacksmiths had several types of hammers; a heavy sledge, or lighter ball-, cross-, and straight-peen which they forged themselves. Handles were an essential component to the hammer. Usually made from hickory or ash and properly wedged plus fitted to the palm of the blacksmith to make forging seem effortless. Knowing which hammer to use, when and how to utilize its effect, with the least expenditure of energy, was the quintessence of this trade.

Link, belt, hoop, and horseshoe are all types of tongs. Sometimes, a blacksmith will have a large variety of different sizes and shapes made for specific purposes. Known as the fire proof extension of the crafters hands, tongs are extremely personal. They are strong but have been known to slip in a loose grip and send red hot bits of iron flying when a hammer hits hard. Most blacksmiths created a hand held vice by adding a catch at the end of one handle to their tongs preventing it from opening and avoiding possible injury or fires.

Upright Chisel is a tool that fits into the anvil's very hard, flattened top surface square hole, called the "hardy hole". This hole is used to hold several tools; including, swages mandrels, fullers and the hardy - its name sake.

Finishing touches to the trade tools punches, files and a water trough. Making holes in metal was made with points of different shapes called punches; files were coarse or fine and used to grate metal deposits creating a smooth surface. To cool down the metal and solidify the finished product a water trough or quench tub was used. It was also handy to have water available to douse the flames if they burned too high.

The Mystery Revealed

An article about 18th Century Blacksmithing states iron made in the North American settlements was called Bog iron - a low grade ore gathered in marshes and ponds. If you got permission from the King, you could set up an iron furnace but you had to own vast amounts of natural resources; wood for charcoal making, limestone outcroppings to flux the ore and a huge ore supply. Therefore, iron was difficult to obtain in the yearly settlement years due to British restrictions.

The article continues to describe the fundamentals of making iron as a trade within itself. When enough ore was gathered the iron furnace fired up with coal and worked twenty-four / seven for two to four weeks. As the iron was smelted from the ore and fluxed with limestone it was tapped. Resembling a sow and her suckling piglets the molten iron ran down into ditches. It was called pig iron. Refined in a foundry-like shop, pig iron was cultured into useable iron metal ready for the maker's hand - a blacksmith to skilfully shape, contour, strike, pound, and hammer.

The Apprentice

The blacksmith life was a hard one but nothing compared to the blacksmith apprentice. Masters gladly took on an apprentice at no charge for roughly a four or five year period and these boys would learn the secrets of the trade in exchange for clothing, lodging, and food until he became a master himself. Small item nails, screws, bolts and hooks were usually made by an apprentice. Farriers

During the mid-to-late 1800s, one could find a blacksmith in cities and towns all across Canada. However, with the Great Depression and World War II, the trade was all but wiped out, leaving only Farriers - a specialized subsection of blacksmithing focusing on horseshoes. The rest of the labour formerly done by blacksmiths was swallowed up by factories, leaving little room for the blacksmith of old. Some blacksmiths were trained to shod or fit shoes on horses. These men were called farriers. They worked with horses exclusively; shaping the shoe, rasping, burning and nailing the shoe on the hoof to protect it. Some farriers evolved into taking care of the lame and sick animals thereby becoming the first veterinarians.