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I Forge Iron

brandin

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  1. here is my final paper thanks everyone for the help and hopefully i gave everyone proper credit if i didnt use your info in paper it wasnt that it wasnt helpful or interesting but that i could have writen all year and not finished with info i still wrote twice what i needed. hopefull everyone will enjoy and get something interesting from it. thanks all “The Fall and Rise of a Spark” Throughout history leading all the way up to the industrial revolution the smith and the skills which they used to create unique but usually very usable utilitarian object had a place in almost every village or community. In large communities the Smith was able to diversify into very specific crafts some being the Ferrier, Wheelwright, Armorer, Whitesmith (lead), Silversmith, and Blacksmith (iron) but in smaller rural communities the local smith usually known as the blacksmith had to be able to be more diverse in his skill, one day he might need to shoe a horse, the next he might need to craft the ironworking’s for a door, and the next he might have to dress a farmers plow or replace a wagon wheel. As America Emerged into the industrial revolution the need for the Blacksmith in everyday life begins to wane and by the 1960’s there are very few working Blacksmiths. If we look now, there are many blacksmithing groups scatted throughout the country,and many colleges are starting to have degree programs in blacksmithing or at least non degree classes in blacksmithing. As my interest in blacksmithing has increased so has my interest in its history. With the decline in Blacksmithing we also lost a lot of the knowledge of the techniques and skills of the Blacksmith due to not very many books were written with much detail on the subject before the 1970’s and the information was passed by word of mouth or visually from master to apprentice. Why then did America have such a rapid decline and lose of the Blacksmith and traditions then its gradual Interest in Blacksmithing but quickly picking up its pace in the 1970’s. One of the ways to figure this out is to one look at what the job of the blacksmith before the industrial revolution was compared to today’s blacksmiths. Historic blacksmiths did many different tasks they might have been a specialist that created armor, a simple nail, horseshoes, or he may have been a small village smith that did a little of it all with less focus towards one area of expertise (Blandford 4,5). The historic blacksmith although they were greatly skilled and produced some famous metal like Damasteel (Damascus) most of what they produced was more utilitarian in nature other than the very few smiths that might work for the high kings or nobles producing ornate iron work like the one shown in the National industrial Exhibition in the summer of 1881 in Milan. It was said the mansion gates and rails shown by Officiani francesi, of Surina and Prestini, of Milan “no one was there masters” (Cope 85,86). As the invention of better weapons like the gun came about it made most armourers and bladesmiths an obsolete trade and they had to change or die out which also happened with the invention of the automobile and better casting methods. The automobile made the horse and carriage die out which was a main income of the wheelwright and the Ferrier. With the better methods of casting being found at the rise of the industrial revolution and the cheaper cost of factory labor the parts that a blacksmith might spend days making at the high cost of his manual labor were now being made by the heavy machines and forge presses that could cast them out by the hundreds. These cheaper products the average family were much more able to afford and didn’t always see the value in the one of a kind hand forged product of the Blacksmith. In Blandfords book he said that most city blacksmiths at the rise of the industrial revolution as their jobs died they turned to factory work in the foundries and ironworks (4, 5). A small rural or village Blacksmith who does a little of all the different trades focusing mostly on dressing farm implement, shoeing a horse, or fixing a broken axle on a wagon these blacksmiths with the car taking the place of the horse and factory made farming implements made it cheaper to buy a new tool than to redress it. These blacksmiths had to take any and all jobs that came to them to make ends meet or find a new trade. I found out from my Grandfather that his Father was a rural Blacksmith that died from galvanized poisoning in 1966 while taking jobs to weld galvanized metal a known danger at the time, but one of the many dangers a poor Blacksmith might take trying to make it by in those times but in the past wouldn’t have touched. Talking to many Blacksmiths that operate now as a business and some that started around the 1970s along with the many hobbyist it seems that most of the interest into Blacksmithing began to rise around the 1970s. One Blacksmith I talk to in a forum named Rich Waugh that has a lot of background and information said that a lot of the rise in popularity and availability came with the Group called ABANA (Artist Blacksmith Association of North America), Alex Bealer’s book “The Art of Blacksmithing”, a magazine called the ‘Whole Earth Catalog”, and that the blacksmithing rise came more with artist blacksmithing than just general blacksmithing (metalartistforum.com). Frank Turley who started and still runs Turley Forge Blacksmithing School started in 1970 the oldest modern school in America. He tells how he started as a Ferrier in the 1960s and then wondered into a wider scope of Smithing and soon opening a school(metalartistforum.com). Turley talked about how he work with Victor Vera in his shop early in his career and how Vera has an astounding history from starting with his dads forge making branding irons, to his time with Pancho Villa and his guerrillas fixing weapons, to making torpedoes in WWII, then later moving to Santa Fe forging branding irons, spurs, and even silversmithing for the “Charros” gentlemen of wealth were Frank Turley began working with the 70 year old Vera (Turley). It seems back in the time that the trade was dying out and even now that a blacksmith had to be able to bend and mold like the hot metal they formed to provide for their family moving into other fields of metal work. Were as the few others that Continued the Blacksmithing trade had to find those niches of their trade like producing only branding irons for wealthy people or those people willing to pay top dollar for their custom product. Another area to look at to figure its continuing rise in interest we need to look at what started many into the trade. Turley tells how he like many others started with ferrying which lead to further interest. Then there is the young artist wishing to develop or show more of their art like Bentiron1946 talked about in the forum, also those who liked armor and weapons and desired to reproduce relics of the past like Matt Bower, but most of the blacksmiths I talk to their story starts in a similar fashion. It starts as a child getting to watch the roar of the fire that fascinates the mind of a child and the fascination as they watched a Smith mold and shape the cherry red metal(metalartist.com). I think part of the fascination with the molding and building of the Blacksmiths trade these days comes from many peoples desire to do something with their hands since many people these days do jobs were they do not get to make things or use their ingenuity or imagination which is what blacksmithing is all about. Even with this rise in popularity many blacksmiths are just hobbyist and the ones that run a business doing it do not become rich off of it normally but usually are struggling to make a living with many even shutting down in this slow time. Some of what I think is behind this can be the industrial revolution thinking of machine fabrications are as nice and well made as the smiths handmade works. Also I think the American thinking that looks are more important than quality have caused this. We can see this in how many people might be driving around the brand new top dollar car but living in a house that’s barely standing. Or like Steve Sells points out his hand made fencing he has to charge 100 dollars per foot for it and some costumers complain that they can get it from the box store for 20 dollars per foot. They do not see the skill of the artisan (Sells). I believe the decline of the smith was an example of many reasons combining together in a very short period of time to make the American Blacksmiths trade become viewed as an unnecessary expense for the typical customers at the time of its decline. Also because of the Blacksmiths skills and techniques being passed by practice and word of mouth it became hard for those desiring to learn it after its decline to study it. I believe its rise was quickly renewed like its fall but it seems the culture it shifted to at first was different it went from being a utilitarian skill and use to more of an artistic expression and aimed at a smaller class of people that see its worth in its one of a kind pieces and the skill and work of the human hand and who are willing to pay the premium price that in tells. Like myself who has came into it in more recent years the internet and its ability to traverse continents and place information in your hands in such mass has helped spark the rise and push those interested in the art of blacksmithing into a reality. Work Cited Bentiron 1946. “Re: Analytical Research Paper.” Web Log comment. www.iforgeiron.com. 3 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. Blandford, Percy W. “Practical Blacksmithing and Metalworking”. Tab Books 1988. 3-6. Bower, Matt. “Re: Analytical Research Paper.” Web Log comment. www.iforgeiron.com. 3 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. Cope, George W. McAllistor, Henry. Swank, Moore. American Iron and Steel Association. “Statistics of the American and Foreign Iron Trade”. Ebook. http://books.google.com. Web. 4 Dec 2011. Einhorn, David. “Re: Analytical Research Paper.” Web Log comment. www.iforgeiron.com. Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. Fe- wood. “Re: Analytical Research Paper.” Web Log comment. www.iforgeiron.com. 3 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. Powers, Thomas. “Re: Analytical Research Paper.” Web Log comment. www.iforgeiron.com. 3 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. Smooth Bore. “Re: Analytical Research Paper.” Web Log comment. www.iforgeiron.com. 3 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. Sells, Steve. “Re: Analytical Research Paper.” Web Log comment. www.iforgeiron.com. 3 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. Turley, Frank. “Re: Analytical Research Paper.” Web Log comment. www.iforgeiron.com. 1 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. Turley, Frank. “Victor Vera, Man of Metal”. Paper. 2001 anvilfire.com. 3 Dec 2011. Waugh, Rich. “Re: Analytical Research Paper.” Web Log comment. www.metalartistforum.com. 3 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011.
  2. thanks all for the replies this information will be very helpful if anyone knows anyother blacksmiths around if you could refer them to this i would appriciate it thanks.
  3. can i ask for any blacksmiths who read this no matter proffesional or hobbiest to tell me in short when you got interested and started blacksmithing and what it was that sparked this interest and what helped you get started.
  4. I am writing a research paper on why the trade of blacksmithing almost died out in america in the middle of the 1960's and why it is haveing a strong reamergence now. I would appriciate any help with information on blacksmithingin the 1960's and if you are a blacksmith, if you could leave me information on when you started the trade,if it is a job or just a hobby, and short reason on what got you started or interested in blacksmithing. also if any one knows any blacksmiths makeing a liveing in the 1960' if you could ask them to chech this out i would appriciate it. Background on why i am doing this is for a college class and in about 2004 while in the navy i started getting into blacksmithing and later from my grandfather i found out that his father was a blacksmith barely makeing it in the 60's and because of this takeing any job he could to provide died from galvanised steel poisoning in 66 after battling from it several times. I heard that there were only a few blacksmiths doing it as a trade at this time and it interest me how such an awesome trade and art form can almost die. i think it would have been a huge lose.
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