|
|
T
H E B L A C K S M I T H
A blacksmith is an artisan specializing in the hand-wrought
manufacture of ferrous (iron) metal objects, such as wrought
iron gates, grills, railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture,
weapons, decorative and religious items, cooking utensils and
tools. Generally, blacksmiths did not work the non ferrous metals
(tin, brass, bronze, etc.). These required a separate set of
skills and acquired their own specialists. Blacksmiths did not
usually make things that were purely decorative in that, until
the invention of stainless steel, the ferrous metals will rust
quickly if not protected with some coating.
Blacksmiths
work by heating pieces of metal (wrought iron or steel) with
a forge until the metal becomes malleable enough to be shaped
to a desired outcome via repeated manipulation with a hammer,
punch or other tooling against an anvil. Heating is accomplished
by the use of propane, natural gas, coal, charcoal, or coke.
Modern blacksmiths may also employ oxyacetalene torches and
electric induction furnaces as a heating medium. The other reason
for heating the metal, other than for increasing its malleability,
is for metallurgical purposes. The metal can be hardened, tempered,
normalized, annealed, case hardened, and other more exotic processes
that change things like the grain structure.
Specific to the craft of the blacksmith, when working with steels,
the metal can be heated and then quenched. The purpose of this
is to produce rapid cooling to generate specific microstructures
in the metal. A quench generally results in steel that is hard
and brittle, so a tempering process takes place to increase
the toughness of the alloy and reduce the hardness. This involves
heating the material to a specific temperature. With most tool
steels, this tempering process can be gauged by the appearance
of a coloured oxidation tint on the metal surface. Different
uses require different hardness and toughness combinations,
and so receive different temperings. It is possible to temper
different parts of an object to different levels, which is one
area where the skill of the blacksmith comes into play. For
example, the face of a hammer is often left as a harder material
than the main body, giving a blend of the hard wearing face
with a resilient and tough tool. Japanese samurai sword makers
were particularly adept at making their weapons very hard on
the cutting edge while keeping the main body of the blade tough
to support the cutting edge in powerful jarring blows.
Blacksmiths work with 'black' metals, especially iron (see wrought
iron), while whitesmiths work with 'white' metals (such as tin
and lead), although such artisans are more commonly called tinsmiths.
The word 'whitesmith' also traditionally refers to a smith who,
instead of leaving the finished product black, files and polishes
his products to a reflective, or "white" luster. The
term 'black' metals arises from the layer of oxides that form
on the surface of the metal during heating (called fire scale).
The black metals have a dark firescale, whilst the white metals
show a light coloured firescale, if any. The art of working
with the precious metals (gold and silver, primarily) is known
as goldsmithing. The term "Smith" originates from
the word "Smite", which means to hit. Thus, a blacksmith
is a person who smites the black metals. (The suffix "-smith"
has since come to refer to other crafts. For instance, a woodworker
is sometimes called a "woodsmith", though hitting
wood is only a marginal part of his craft.) In recent years
the forging of stainless steel has given rise to a fresh approach
to architectural blacksmithing. The work of Giusseppe Lund illustrates
this well.
Mass production techniques have reduced the marketplace for
blacksmith work except in Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and
South America where large numbers of artisans remain doing traditional
work. The great demand for custom metalwork has given rise to
a new breed of smiths commonly known as Artist-Blacksmiths.
Source: WIKIPEDIA - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacksmith
|
|
F
O R G E
rue Notre Dame - 15140 SALERS
Tél. 04.71.40.70.97 (in
season) - 05.63.39.78.53 (other times)
e-mail : contact@forge-salers.com
The forge is open at Easter, from July 1 to August 31 and by appointment.
Crafted by traditional methods - each model is unique.
Custom made to your specifications.
Copyright 2005 Forge Salers - Registered patterns - copies prohibited.
|
|
|
