Blacksmith Tooling History: Rating our era.

[kraythe]

I was talking to a colleague at my paying job about the hobby of blacksmithing. He was intrigued by the hobby as any good red blooded man would be but he asked a question that I wasn't prepared to answer. He asked what era of Blacksmihing I do.

Now clearly I am not an iron age smith because I don't use charcoal or smelt my own iron. I don't avoid using modern electricity in my shop and I have an anvil (albeit small) tater than a piece of metal on a rock.

When I look around the shop I see that in general I eschew some modern tools. I am building a treadle hammer, not a power hammer. If I had my Christmas wish I would have a fly press and I am not interested in hydraulic presses. I use an electric blower for my forge but that is mostly because I don't have an assistant to work bellows for me and I use propane but that is because my neighbors would go ballistic if I used coal (I might even prefer coal if I could use it). Other than that, I use a file and grinder interchangeably. I could live without the grinder if I had to.

So historically where am I at? What would you think? And while we are on the subject can anyone recommend a good book about the history of blackithing including appearance of various tools?

I look forward to your insight.

[Sweany]

2010

[Timothy Miller]

Twenty first century hobbyist suburban blacksmith.:rolleyes:

[Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver]

I would say clearly you are "iron age" as it is defined as about 1200BCE until the present. The three ages (stone, bronze and iron) are defined be the material commonly used to make tools and weapons. Most of us use tools common in a wide range of periods and unless you're striving for a certain period it's pretty hard to define.

[edge9001]

I would say clearly you are "iron age" as it is defined as about 1200BCE until the present. The three ages (stone, bronze and iron) are defined be the material commonly used to make tools and weapons. Most of us use tools common in a wide range of periods and unless you're striving for a certain period it's pretty hard to define.

your in the computer age, a computer age blacksmith. you use any and all historic and modern tools and techniques as they are needed.

[Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver]

Yes, we're in the computer age, we're also in the oil age and the technology age and the age of enlightenment but we're still considered to be in the iron age. Computers haven't replaced iron the way iron replaced bronze. But given that a computer is a "tool" maybe, by some definition.

[Timothy Miller]

Actually we are now in the information age that's was preceded by the industrial era, the iron age ended when we entered the historical era aka written records. At least that's what they taught me in anthropology class.

[kraythe]

LOL, ok. Fair enough. I also use computers to learn about techniques, rather than be an apprentice for 30 years.

I suppose I would just like to know more about the history of some tools.

[Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver]

Pre-history is usually before 3000 BCE. The "historical era" is usually given as starting about 3000 BCE, well before even the start of the iron age. They're two totally unrelated things.

[ThomasPowers]

all I can say is "it depends". When I'm smithing using a clay and straw forge burning charcoal blown by 2 single action bellows and using a "cube" stump anvil it's a bit different than when I'm using the propane forge, powerhammer, etc.

I've smithed everything from bloomery derived wrought iron to Ti.

Pour another Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster and don't let such questions bother you

[arftist]

I am thinking the O.P.'s coworker was looking for a slightly more defined timeframe. For example, I tell people I work in a colonial style. I don't really know what this means, but it gives me latitude.

[dablacksmith]

well... i consider you to be prior to 1880 ..about that time power became available to most blacksmiths (if they could afford it) in the form of steam then gas engines... i personally have set up my shop as what was available in 1910 and am amazed what tools were available! power hacksaw, grinders, mills, lathes, power hammers, fly press, punch press shears ect were all available by 1910 ! in fact oxy acyl welding rigs were around by then... i cant think of much that i use to make product that wasnt around by then... haveing said that the products i make are totally different from what would have been the norm for that time ... not a lot of call for wagon repair or plow shares nowadays .. so i would figure era as mor what you produce than what you use to produce it ... my 2 cents worth!

[Jeff Seelye]

I was talking to a colleague at my paying job about the hobby of blacksmithing. He was intrigued by the hobby as any good red blooded man would be but he asked a question that I wasn't prepared to answer. He asked what era of Blacksmihing I do.

Now clearly I am not an iron age smith because I don't use charcoal or smelt my own iron. I don't avoid using modern electricity in my shop and I have an anvil (albeit small) tater than a piece of metal on a rock.

When I look around the shop I see that in general I eschew some modern tools. I am building a treadle hammer, not a power hammer. If I had my Christmas wish I would have a fly press and I am not interested in hydraulic presses. I use an electric blower for my forge but that is mostly because I don't have an assistant to work bellows for me and I use propane but that is because my neighbors would go ballistic if I used coal (I might even prefer coal if I could use it). Other than that, I use a file and grinder interchangeably. I could live without the grinder if I had to.

So historically where am I at? What would you think? And while we are on the subject can anyone recommend a good book about the history of blackithing including appearance of various tools?

I look forward to your insight.

Do you think he might have been asking, what types of thing you create, and what era were the things you created from? Some Smiths do "Medieval" or some do Civil War, Colonial, modern art, architectural, etc. I have some people who could care less if I do it in a gasser and finish with a Bridgeport and some that would like me to use coal with an oil lamp in my shop when I forge ( and will watch to prove it was done that way). Just a thought

[southernforge]

Third decade of Cthulhu..... or 1860s ;-)

[Mainely,Bob]

I am a blacksmith in the age of Aquarius.I left the age of Pisces and it`s antiquated ways behind long ago.

Every winter I am forced to be a blacksmith from the dark ages for a few days at a time when the power goes out.
Pretty much everybody up here has a wood stove for heating,a gas stove for cooking and plenty of candles and oil lamps so it`s no big deal.I`m one of the few who can still work when it does though. :)

[Timothy Miller]

Pre-history is usually before 3000 BCE. The "historical era" is usually given as starting about 3000 BCE, well before even the start of the iron age. They're two totally unrelated things.

Prehistory ends where there are written records. In north America that started when Europeans came so some time in the 1500's. They skipped bronze age and iron age and went to the historic era, The system is paleolithic, neolithic, Bronze age, Iron age, lastly historic era. This is a system used by archaeologists to describe the technological level of a culture being studied. Yes the native north Americans did use some metal but it was exception not the rule. The iron age starts and ends in different times in different places. :unsure:

[mat]

a lot of metal work history was dependent on the heat that could be generated,so maybe we work pre or post the splitting of the atom?

[Frosty]

I work whatever time period the customer is willing to pay my shop rate for. If you want to pay shop rate I can knap obsidian blades, do a little machine work or most any period in between. Customer's choice.

Frosty the Lucky.

[archiphile]

I am thinking the O.P.'s coworker was looking for a slightly more defined timeframe. For example, I tell people I work in a colonial style. I don't really know what this means, but it gives me latitude.

Sorry I am going to be a little pedantic here. Colonial is not a style, it was an era. You could say you reproduce ironwork from the colonial era or period. Yes that is a lot of words but it is a precise meaning. For instance if you say Colonial Revival Style people will think that you are talking about the architectural style from the mid to late 19th century around the nation's centennial.

[maddog]

... i personally have set up my shop as what was available in 1910 and am amazed what tools were available! power hacksaw, grinders, mills, lathes, power hammers, fly press, punch press shears ect were all available by 1910 ! in fact oxy acyl welding rigs were around by then... i cant think of much that i use to make product that wasnt around by then...

MIG, TIG, plasma cutters, CNC come to mind. What else would you add? None of those brought fundamental changes to blacksmithing or ironworking.

In the 19th century, the Bessemer converter and the change in the balance of costs between labor and material that came with the industrial revolution brought profound changes to smithing. What other comparable events have occurred in the last, say, 2000 years of smithing history?

[arftist]

Sorry I am going to be a little pedantic here. Colonial is not a style, it was an era. You could say you reproduce ironwork from the colonial era or period. Yes that is a lot of words but it is a precise meaning. For instance if you say Colonial Revival Style people will think that you are talking about the architectural style from the mid to late 19th century around the nation's centennial.

Yeah, I said I didn't know what it meant, didn't you beleive me?

[Mainely,Bob]

MIG, TIG, plasma cutters, CNC come to mind. What else would you add? None of those brought fundamental changes to blacksmithing or ironworking.

In the 19th century, the Bessemer converter and the change in the balance of costs between labor and material that came with the industrial revolution brought profound changes to smithing. What other comparable events have occurred in the last, say, 2000 years of smithing history?

Over the last 2000 years I would think the means of powering things would have changed things dramatically.
Off the top of my head it would have progressed from water to steam to electric/internal combustion at nearly the same time.
Add to that the development of electric/electronic and hydraulic/pneumatic drive and control systems and you have some very large impacts that moved and shaped the industrial revolution.
The latest development that has been at least as significant as the Bessemer converter,if not overshadowing it, and a huge change in the balance of labor to material has been what we now calling the "digital age" and computer controls for dang near everything.Digital controls and robotics are probably the biggest change in manufacturing in history to date in relation to labor/manhours vs materials vs manufacturing cost reduction.
After you purchase you digital worker it need only be shut down for periodic maintenance/lubrication,otherwise it continues to pump out highly complicated parts 24/7 to tolerances no human could begin to match at speeds that boogle the mind due to being able to execute multiple processes at once.
No breaks for food,sleep or bathroom.No unions,strikes or benefit package,no lost days due to illness or injury and no retirement package.
Pretty big innovation I`d say.

[jake pogrebinsky]

Yes,quite so-the Iron Age took place at different times for different folks.The Chinese were capable of casting iron around 500-600 B.C.(that's 1400 years before us white devils),as well as forge-welding bronze and iron together.
Juxtposition of Iron and Bronze seems odd to me as well,as they're very different materials,and many a culture used both ferrous and non-f. metallurgy simultaneously(as we do now).Technically speaking,a bronze sword is plenty sufficient for it's job,to poke or to dice-up a human.Better,in fact,than the many iron experiments in the early centuries.
The difficulty in unraveling much of history is thinking too rationally,as humans were historically poor in rational,and vastly rich in myth and funky mores.The Indonesian peoples were comfortable pattern-welding most complex patterns,yet had a taboo against plowing earth with an iron-tipped share(they weren't the only ones).
Some tribes in Eastern Siberia were forging away at the religious objects(forgewelding is often plainly visible),yet used almost no iron in weapons or tools(there are many materials in this world eminently better suited for a specific task).Inuit in Greenland,Tlingit in S.E.Alaska cold-forged meteorite and ingot copper respectively,none of it for practical reasons.
And,one can also say that nothing ever changed:Iron forging is a function of plastic deformation of iron,using heat and pressure.Rock,anvil,or an injection into a mold,all achieve the same end,by the same means.

[Dragons lair]

I am a blacksmith in the age of Aquarius.I left the age of Pisces and it`s antiquated ways behind long ago.

Every winter I am forced to be a blacksmith from the dark ages for a few days at a time when the power goes out.
Pretty much everybody up here has a wood stove for heating,a gas stove for cooking and plenty of candles and oil lamps so it`s no big deal.I`m one of the few who can still work when it does though.

Bob, I used to do it that way. Still have the wood stove,oil lamps and the colman gear. gas lanterns and stove.Hauled water from the creek(200yds)for the john(for
a week)Next storm got a 5KW colman for the house and up graded the 4KW welder/gen
for a 7 KW Lincoln to run the shop. Looking for a propane(bigger)to run off the 100lb forge tanks. Can't retire at 65 but I stay warm,clean and seewhat I am hitting.
Ken. (Old Conn yankee now in the WNC mtns)

[maddog]

Over the last 2000 years I would think the means of powering things would have changed things dramatically.
Off the top of my head it would have progressed from water to steam to electric/internal combustion at nearly the same time.
Add to that the development of electric/electronic and hydraulic/pneumatic drive and control systems and you have some very large impacts that moved and shaped the industrial revolution.
The latest development that has been at least as significant as the Bessemer converter,if not overshadowing it, and a huge change in the balance of labor to material has been what we now calling the "digital age" and computer controls for dang near everything.Digital controls and robotics are probably the biggest change in manufacturing in history to date in relation to labor/manhours vs materials vs manufacturing cost reduction....

Well the wide spread adoption of the water wheel was really the precursor to the Industrial Revolution. The consequences of the digital age will be huge, no doubt about it. It will probably overshadow all the changes that have gone before. It's already had a big impact on the steel industry but it hasn't really hit smithing yet. At least not enough to be considered a revolution. All these changes are in the last few hundred years and part of an era of rapid and accelerating change so they sorta belong together.

I have no argument with the significance of the innovations you listed but I guess what I am asking is, between the dawn of the Iron age and the Industrial Revolution, what profound changes occurred in the craft?