David Einhorn

I have placed a lot of information on constructing a Civil War Period Traveling Forge on the new TWiki Blacksmithing Encyclopedia. If you need any other information, just let me know and I will try to add it to the encyclopedia... other than posting whole books of diagrams and manuals of course. Click Here for Traveling Forge Construction Here is a picture of my traveling forge, all it needs are the wheels, bellows and pipe to be finished and usable.

Actually, the equipment used by both sides were identical. A majority of the officers, manual writers and army documentation producers were southerners and owed their allegiance to the south. So the Traveling Forge was also used by southern forces, and much of the equipment at the beginning of the war was acquired from battles with northern army units. It is important to our history not to underestimate the sophistication and skill of the period artisans in producing quality equipment. Neither side used junk during the Civil War, and smiths took pride in the quality of their work.

Hello folks. I have been doing blacksmithing for a hobby for around 34 years. For the past year I have been working on the construction of a Civil War Traveling Forge using a copy of the official US drawings and specifications that were produced by Captain Albert Mordecai in the 1850s. I don't have a current photograph of my progress as most of the parts are fit to the frame and then removed for easy access to fit the next set of parts. Definitely not a weekend project as there are lots of parts to make. Here is a photo of what it looked like in January before I removed the fireplace to fit the stock and the axle assembly. I'm a bit slow in constructing parts for it. Many of the photos and postings on the forum where folks talk about building traveling forges are postings that I contributed: TRAVELING FORGE DISCUSSION - Home There are some really nice historical photographs and sketches of a Traveling Forge in use on the Library of Congress web site. And before anyone asks, a common question is where to get a copy of the plans. The answer is that Antique Ordnance Publishers sell copies either directly or through supplies of Civil War reenactment gear. This book called "Field Artillery Traveling Forge book No. 61" is a bargain for $20.00 (plus shipping, Antique Ordnance Publishers, PO Box 610434, Port Huron, MI 48061). Personally I prefer to purchase copies from the Regimental Quartermaster store located at 49 Steinwehr Ave. Gettysburg PA 17325 (717-338-1864). But that is my preference. They also publish and sell the plans for the official sheet metal forge designed for mountain terrain use, where the Traveling Forge wagon could not navigate. No the Union Army did not use makeshift forges, wooden forges, angle iron forges, or any of the other stuff that people normally drag to Civil War period reenactments. But as long as people are having fun, I figure they can use whatever equipment they want. Hopefully though, they will explain to the public that their equipment is not historically correct so as not to rewrite history, and so as not to belittle our blacksmithing heritage. Construction of a Traveling Forge is not for the faint at heart. It may look like a week-end project, but to build one that is reasonably nice and somewhat historically accurate, takes time. I know one gentleman, that spent so much time in his garage building one that his wife and kids were extremely annoyed with him. Each regulation No. 1 wheel weighs 190 pounds, so the Traveling Forge is not a light project either. The middle board of the bellows weighed in at about 60 pounds on my bathroom-type scale. Inserting the bellows into the back of the Bellows House should prove interesting, especially single-handed. The TRAVELING FORGE DISCUSSION - Home shows other various parts and progress that I have made. For me, the Bellows Pole and the Bellows Pole Stud (pivot point for the pole) each took about a week's worth of spare time..... As I said before, I am not very fast at this stuff, especially making something for the first time. If the Traveling Forge is functional by July 2008, it has been invited to the 145 Anniversary Reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg. It all depends on how well my attempt to construct the 57 inch diameter wheels progresses, after the axle assembly is completed.