Musak?

[GNJC]

Is cold worked 'matal' the blacksmithing equivalent of 'musak'?

[Frosty]

No, not at all.

Blacksmith is derived from two words: Black, the black metal is iron. and Smith or to smite, it means "strike."

Heat is an assumption and usually right but it isn't necessary nor desirable for all processes.

Frosty

[Bob S]

matal is to metal as musak is to music

[bonehead11]

Is cold worked 'matal' the blacksmithing equivalent of 'musak'?

If ed bolin's "big saddle"is musak then I quess your right
Edited May 3, 2009 by bonehead11
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[Steve Sells]

Don't blame me for this sub section titles typo, I don't have the controls for setting these up, Its Glenn that sets the sub sections up.

But I might be the carrier that gave him the typo disease :o

[Bentiron1946]

What's the problem with working metal cold or listening to Muzak? I work metal hot, work it cold, I cast it, forge it, file it, grind it, weld it both by traditional and non-traditional methods, so what's the big problem with this section?:confused:

[Steve Sells]

in case ya missed it, this section was typo'd to read Cold MATAL rather than metal... thats all. The subject was not the issue, but the typo in the name was the basis for the word play :)

[Ten Hammers]

A few years ago ( ok I guess 35 years or more ) muzak or elevator music or Kroger music was in vogue to set the mood and make people happy ( allegedly). This was an attempt by someone to set a mood or maintain a mood.

Metalworking in itself has exsisted for millenia. So have dictionaries I suppose but my spelling is still not the best. Somewhere along the line, wives tales of cold and hot metal work got started. In my lifetime, I have learned to do several things with metal starting with cold work ( hand shear, file, grind, drill, rivet, perhaps beat into submission or bend in the vise etc). Following that, I was trained in soldering, brazing and welding. SOME forge and foundry work but nothing like Junior grew up with of course. Depending on the needs and wants, cold metal work has exsisted for a LONG time. I use it most days to a greater or lesser degree. My current job is a welder/fabricator for some folks that own 3 grain elevators, a bunch of trucks, a bunch of farm equipment, some biodiesel plant stuff and a few other things. They have no forge ( yet ). They have welders of various kinds and a pretty nice ( I'm guessing) 250 lb anvil. Tons of air tools, a hand 2 stage hydraulic press, 50+ years worth of drawers containing everything from pipe and hydraulic fittings to roll pins and cotter pins. New bolt bins, yada yada. I frequently build stuff with rusty pipe that has been setting outside for a while. Sometimes life goes better with the rosebud and a few licks on the anvil. I get to use my experience to make catwalks for fertilizer carts and rebuild hitches for 2000 gallon water trailers, corn planters and so on. Stick, Mig, spool gun, acetelene. Some would say that this is not smith work and for a large part they would be right. I can however use my skills to forge what I can with the torch and a couple of hammers I try and keep hidden for forge work only. I am not the only employee. My plans are to build a small gasser for small work. These folks have a bit of prior hot metal work experience but that was a long time ago. they may see the benefit of gas forges. Juniors shop was in the past a mecca for gas forges and plow work. I have no plans for that where I work but a Johnson bought at a sale and run on LP would benefit many issues in my current work.

Cold work is just that. Whatever doesn't need heated. Some things need it, some don't. Some done MUCH better and faster heated but not always time or tools to do it. No I don't make armor but I have made heat shields or safety shields for various issues.

[Mick]

Ya Know Ten Hammers, I reckon if an old time journeyman blacksmith was still alive today, he would be doing pretty much what you just described. Even in his day I don't think his time would have been spent making decorative scrolls, and bottle openers, more likely repairing machinery, fabricating stuff and conjuring up solutions to problems with the tools and equipment available to him, and I also reckon if he could have lit up a gas torch when he needed to make one weld instead of firing up the forge he would have thought himself a lucky man.
By my reckoning the work you described fits the spirit of blacksmithing just fine.

[new guy]

ten hammers: i think that you summed up why i love to dabble in the art of blacksmithing. the history and problem solving or simple every day work. i appreciate modern society far more no that i know what led us here. the simple everyday blacksmith. without them there would not eb sky scrapers or bridges or even knives or wood tools. the every day things that hold soceiteys toghether on the farm or in the city, i think, are based on good old fashoned blacksmiths.