Henry Toll 12/8/16
Humanities 7A Mathew
Fire and Metal: Blacksmithing in Colonial America
Imagine a hot fire with a smoke storm coming into your eyes, while you’re hitting a piece of burning hot metal with a massive metal hammer, and doing this for hours using many techniques to make a metal tool. In this job you would have to learn many techniques to forge metal into useful items for different trades. You guessed it, it is the blacksmith.
The blacksmith would have to heat up metal and shape it into useful tools. After 6 years of apprenticeship they would use techniques they learned to make all sorts of tools. Then he would sell the tools at his shop to people who just wanted to feed their families, or to the richest farmers in colonial America. Blacksmiths were intelligent and were hard workers; they were not dumb. The blacksmith in early America was very important because if there was no blacksmith there would be no metal tools for Colonists and the colony could not survive.
The blacksmith had many ideas about blacksmithing metal and what you need to do to be successful at the task. There were no women blacksmiths because of sexism: this is sexist because they thought that women were not strong enough which is not true. The blacksmith would have all his tools and items to forge very close to him, so he could be fast, which was necessary to forge. He often dressed in a white shirt with tucked-in sleeves. Another piece of clothing he would wear would be an apron. It was strange that blacksmiths wore white because blacksmithing is not a clean job, it might be because it was cheaper.
The blacksmith had many handheld tools used to make iron items for the colonists of Colonial America. The main handheld tool was the hammer, and the blacksmith had a lot of them. The hammer was important because they cut and shaped very hot iron into usable tools. Hammers had two main sides: the peen and the face. Each side could do something very different from the other. On page 17 of The Blacksmith, it reads “Most blacksmiths had twelve types of hammers. The different hammers allowed the blacksmith to make an object of almost any size or shape.” This is important because it proves the point and shows that blacksmiths had 12 hammers. The hammers were all very different so some of them were very strangely shaped. On page 17 in The Blacksmith, it says a “blacksmith did not want to waste time looking for his tools.”(Bobbie Kalman) This means that the blacksmith liked to know all his tools and where they were at all times, so he could work very fast.
One of the main hammers was the flatter hammer: it is a hammer that would not dent iron because it had a face that was very smooth. Another hammer is the Ball Peen Hammer. This hammer would be used to round something into the shape of a sphere with its rounded peen. Another hammer was the sledge hammer. This hammer had no difference between its face and peen. It looks like a rectangular block of metal put into a wooden handle. This hammer was used to strike iron with a lot of force. Another hammer was the Set Hammer. This hammer had a protruding metal point that was used to bend iron. They would bend the metal by putting the pointed edge on the iron and then hit the face with a sledgehammer. Another hammer was the chisel. It was very similar to the set hammer it had a protruding sharp blade. It was often used to cut the iron by putting the blade on metal, then hitting the opposite end with a sledgehammer. It is important to know all the main types of hammers because it was the main tool used by blacksmiths. It shows that blacksmiths were not dumb they were smart or they were just good at remembering things.
The other hand held tools blacksmiths used were files and tongs. These tools were used for more specific or less important tasks than hammers. Tongs were used for holding iron when it was hot. There were several types of tongs. Each tong was used for different things. Some were made for holding circular shapes, some were made for holding rectangle shapes. A blacksmith file was made out of metal and was used to smooth iron for handles. It was also used to smooth any metal piece one would hold onto in the colonists’ lives. On page 19 of The Blacksmith, it says “The blacksmith smoothed the ladle handle with a file.”(Bobbie Kalman) This proves that a blacksmith file is made out of metal because it could be pretty challenging to file down burning hot metal with wood. This is important because blacksmiths often used files to smooth out iron, and if you don’t have one you can’t make good tools with a hard to grip handles. The blacksmith had to be very strong because they would have to hold a big metal stick with a metal holder and if you dropped it, it could start a fire.
The blacksmith also used larger tools to beat his hot iron into sellable items. The main tools he used that were not related to the forge were anvils. An anvil is a large metal piece cut into ways that is used for many purposes. Most people think that it is used to hammer iron. This is true but they were also used to chip, bend, cut, and put a hole in iron. Anvils are 300 pounds and were put on top of a large stump buried into the ground. The stump would have to perfectly match the height for the blacksmith because he would become tired if he had to bend down or hold his hand high. Then the blacksmith would secure the anvils with large heavy metal hooks that would be deep in the stump. On page 12 of The Blacksmith, it says” The anvils were the only tools that the blacksmith did not make himself. It was made for him at a foundry.” This shows that the blacksmith himself could not make an anvil because he could not melt iron. This also shows how important it is that the anvil was perfect because that could not be cheap to make and deliver.
The anvils have six named parts, four other parts made for making specific things, and one part made for hammering. The six parts all have very not creative names that sound like colonial names. The six-parts of the anvil that blacksmiths used are the pritchel hole, heel, hardy hole, chipping block, face, and horn. The pritchel hole was a hole in the back of an anvil that was used to make holes in iron. The heel was the back of the anvil, and this was not used to make stuff. This is an interesting name because what do we call the bottom back of our feet, a heel. The hardy hole is a square hole that is used by putting a tool called a hardy in the hole. This tool was used to cut large metal bars, and it would cut them because the hardy end was sharp. The chipping block was used to bend iron by putting metal in it then hammering it. The final part was most commonly called the horn, and it was used to bend metal. It is also called, the beak, the pike, the bickern, and the cone.
The vise was another very important tool. It was used to hold the metal item in place while the blacksmith hammered it. The vise had a lever that was twisted around to make it close or open. The vise was a tool the blacksmith did not always need like anvils, but they were very helpful. The blacksmith would sometimes close it a little before he forged, so he only had to close it a little more on the iron. This would save a little bit of time, and in a blacksmith forge, time meant everything.
The blacksmith would have to be a master at knowing and controlling fire to forge his tools. He would have to add coal and air from a bellow on the fire to make the fire hotter, and it would have to be two thousand degrees to be able to bend metal. A bellow is a very large tool that is made out of leather. It would suck air then blow it out. Blacksmith bellow would often be five to seven feet long and would be hanged up. One of the handles would be attached to a chain and would tangle over the blacksmith if he wanted to increase the fire’s heat. There was also smaller bellows made for a gentry class to heat up their fire. A blacksmith had to know all the colors of the fire and what that color was best for. The color red was best for smoothing iron without changing its shape. The color white was best for bending and cutting the iron, changing its shape. This shows blacksmiths would have very tough eyes because they looked at fire dead on, staring at a piece of iron while smoke came in their eyes.
The blacksmith had a safety system for the forge to put out fires quickly. The safety system was called a washer. They are a makeshift bucket made out of twigs filled with water. The reason it was twiggs is that it will burn from the fire and the water will fall. The blacksmith would not often put out his fire because it was hard to get going again. He would do this by covering the hot coals with ashes at night, then in the morning, he would blow and poke the ashes to start the fire again. It was often one of the apprentice’s jobs to fill and check the washer before use of the forge. The hearth was made from brick and raised off the ground with a large area for coal to make it hot. The forge was a very open fire so the blacksmith could use it from most sides. Over the hearth there was a hole that led outside of the smithy, this was used to get rid of the smoke. The hearth was a very important part of the forge because it was the most dangerous and one of the only things needed to make metal tools.
The blacksmith shop or the smithy was a very crowded social place in towns. The blacksmith of that forge would sell what he had made. It was always packed and very social because a lot of people who came there were farmers that would not go very far to see people, but if you need something then you can talk. Most people would order their goods so the blacksmith made them right there. It says in ‘The Blacksmith” on page 7 “It was a busy place! Most colonists needed objects made from iron.”(Bobbie Kalman) This shows that blacksmiths were very important to towns because it was cheaper than silver and it could be made into many things that are necessary like nails. It was often located on the main streets or main areas because it was so often used.
The smithy was a very fun place for children because it was easy to find and the blacksmith made toys for them. He would make a toy that was a metal loop made from old wheels and barrels. The children would race their friend with these, by using a stick to wind it up and then let it roll. If the metal loop broke they would bring it back to the blacksmith to fix for them. At this time kids did not have to much free time so they didn’t like to waste it. This was a very fun thing to do for poorer kids, for their free time and many of the those kids did.
There was no Native American metalworking when the Europeans arrived. Native Americans did not have any metal working, but they were able to survive because of their knowledge of the land. The Native Americans had many of the tools used by the colonists, except they were made from other resources. For example, they would use plant fibers to make ropes, and they would plant their crops together in special ways so the plants grew better. They also made boats in a special way where they would cut a trunk of a tree, and then put clay on parts they didn’t want to burn. Then they would burn the wood and scoop out the burned parts. The colonists who came first did not have such knowledge and would rely on the natives to help them. The Native Americans never need to find a new way to survive and make metal tools because they had an abundance of food and resources. The reason that the Native Americans did not have metal is that they were in a place where they did not need to adapt or change their thinking way. This leads to a primitive technological society compared to Europe and Asia.
Africa was in a renaissance era in African history. They had great successful cities and rulers. They also had: painting, farming, good morals, and a somewhat fair class society. They also had better slavery then most of Europe. But what is most important is they had metal in this society. The only reason the civilization fell is because the Europeans gave them guns to kill each other. When the Africans came some were metal workers and would work with metal because they were treated a little better. Early on blacksmith slaves could be released after a little while if they worked hard. The Native Africans were very good at blacksmithing, sometimes much better than the European blacksmiths. Even though they were better at blacksmithing, they were still interfere in the europeans eyes and were being dehumanized to the same level.
The blacksmiths had many steps when blacksmithing items. One item he made was a ladle. This is how blacksmiths made items by a step to step process. The first step was called cutting, in this step you would cut a piece of iron. They would cut this piece of iron by using a hardening and a sledge hammer. The blacksmith hit it on both sides then he would flip it around multiple times to get a clean cut. This would prevent more work and make the finished product better quality.
The blacksmith would then do a step called upsetting. This was done by heating up one end, then putting the heated end into the face of the anvil. Then to finish this they would hit it on the other side. This would make the side expand so it could be turned into a scoop. The next step was called drawing out, and this step was used to easily hold the ladle. This was done by heating up the side that had not been heated up yet, then hitting it while turning it to make it longer and thinner and make it thin on all sides. The next step has three smaller steps in it. The big step is called forming. This was used to make the scoop in the ladle and smoothen the ladle. First he would hammer the upsetting side on one side to make a flat side. Then he would heat it up again and use the peen of the sledge to make a scoop in the flattened side so it could hold things. This is still part of the forming step, but I think it should be its own step because it is so different from the beginning of forming. In the final part of forming you would use a metal file to smooth out the handle. The next step was called bending. You are probably wondering what you do in this step — time to enlighten you. In this step you use the horn and a sledge hammer to bend the handle part into a loop so it could be hanged on the wall or held in your hand. The final step is called hardening. It was a step that was very often be the final step of most items made by the blacksmith. This step was made to make the iron harder. They would do this by repeatedly heating it then quickly putting it into cold water. This step was done very quickly.
All these techniques were used in different metalworking step-based projects because they were all very specific. Some things needed specific steps like handles to be made well because they are very challenging to make. Some steps were always or almost always done when working with iron, like cutting and hardening because they’re necessary to make stuff. The amount of steps and time it took to make something depended on what they were making and how skilled the blacksmith was. For perhaps a nail only takes only a few steps, when a door hinge takes many. The blacksmith also made things like horse shoes, and metal parts of a horse’s saddle, and face gear like the bit. He also made farm equipment like: cradles, iron handles, axe heads, sickles, hoes, and plowshares. The main job of the blacksmith was to repair things, because he could prolong equipment bought for a long time. A musket metal part could be prolonged for 10 years. This shows that blacksmithing was not a easy job because you had to learn all the techniques and perfect them, then learn all the steps for all the things he made. He also had to really know how to make things because he had to repair the tools and find the problem with them. This is why the blacksmith would have to go through 6 years of apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships were great for families and blacksmiths. This is true because if he bought a shop then he got a free worker, and then later on he got a paid worker who knew his trade, and then the blacksmith could do a two person job and get a striker. A striker is a journeyman who helped with two person jobs or did the hard hitting of the hammers. The journeyman could also help out with future apprenticeships. Apprenticeships were good for the father, because they could get his family a lot of money. They brought poor families out of poverty, which was very hard in this era. The father of the kid and the kid had to sign a contract before the child could become an indentured servant to the blacksmith. A blacksmith apprenticeship was a rare event because blacksmiths did not have many apprentices at one time. Apprentices were trained to run errands and learn how to read and write for the business side of running a smithy the first two years. Then they were taught all the techniques of forging for the rest.
There were four levels of a blacksmith shop. The first was an apprentice which was an indentured servant to a blacksmith for 6 years, then he was released and became a journeyman. The journeyman was as good as a blacksmith at forging. The only difference was that the journeyman did not have an apprentice yet. The blacksmith was the highest level of forging. The next level just means you were more wealthy. To become a blacksmith you had to take an apprentice and be a journeyman. The final level was a master which was a owner of a shop. You could be a journeyman or never touched a forge but if you own it then you were a master.
Blacksmiths in Jamestown had very different jobs then blacksmiths later on. In Jamestown they were brought to repair and make things like nails. Because they did not have the supplies to make countless new things. They also brought many other smiths to Jamestown and other specific workers like: silversmiths, jewelers, glass workers, and gunsmiths. They all came to become rich or for the rich to get richer. The silversmiths were not necessary because they made nice items. The colonists needed to survive not have lavish lives, but that’s probably what the gentlemen wanted. The jewelers were even more crazy to bring, because what would you use a necklace for? The glass workers were also a bit strange to bring because they were brought to check if America’s sand was good for glass. The only good workers they brought were people like gunsmiths because they could repair guns, but they could not make them. Blacksmiths made a lot of new things like new armor made from scraps of metal for the Virginia climate. The jobs and roles of other workers in Jamestown were very different to what they did later in colonial times.
There were two other very important workers in colonial America. One was the silversmith and the other was the gunsmith because they both had very important roles. The silversmith was a person who did much of what blacksmiths did except they made nice items made out silver, sometimes with designs on candle holders or cups. The silversmith often used molds when making items to make them look good over function. There were people like the silversmith like goldsmith that did the same thing except it was gold and it was for the richest people. The gunsmith made guns that required metalworking and woodworking so they were very multidimensional. Gunsmiths made guns mostly from standard guns so people could share, but sometimes they made their own, which armies didn’t like because they could not share amo or parts of guns. The gunsmith was very important to America because it let the second amendment stand and shows we are different.
Blacksmiths were among the most important people in Colonial America, because they supplied the tools for farmers which was bad and good. It was good because the economy and freedom of America originated from tobacco which was harvested with metal tools. It is bad because to mass produce tobacco you need land and a labor force and tools. The land came from Native Americans’ land which they lived on, but they stole land from each other all the time. The colonists got the labor force from Native Africans which was one of the worst things that happened in the history of the world. The colonists got the tools and repaired the tools from blacksmith which is where the blacksmith got a lot of business from. Nowadays we also use metal tools when we farm and eat. But now they are made in factories and it’s not special to be a blacksmith anymore, because there are millions of blacksmiths. Most of the things we use are made overseas, which was the same for Jamestown. This did not continue after Jamestown though because they could make their own items. Now it is cheaper to ship items overseas from countries where they can pay tiny wages. Maybe the Colonial America blacksmith was better, because he was paid more?