Cool Colonial Blacksmith Facts That Are Fun To Know

Blacksmiths played a vital role in history in creating both art pieces and creating innovative designs.

A Blacksmith or metalsmith is a person who designs and mends objects such as nails, hinges, hammers, axes, and other essential tools with the help of tools like an anvil, chisel hammers. He has the art of modulating a piece of metal into a useful art piece or instrument.

Have you ever watched Milwaukee Blacksmith's (2016) show on the History channel? The show features the popular blacksmith Kent Knapp, owner at Milwaukee Blacksmith, who lives along with his wife and six kids, who carry 5000 years old tradition of blacksmithing.

Their ideas and love for blacksmithing show the alluring value of this art. They show how this fantastic family creates different beautiful art pieces from raw metal. History channel also runs a show named 'Forged In Fire', which is many viewers' favorite show featuring iconic bladesmith skills.

Before the 20th-century, blacksmiths, also called village smithies, were prominent in every village. Let us explore interesting facts about these craftsmen.

Their work involves heating the piece of metals at very high temperatures in the furnace until the metal becomes soft and ready to bend. The fuels used in burning metals are oil, coal, coke (a fuel with high carbon content), charcoal. Blacksmithing involves four major steps: forging, welding, heat-treating, and finishing.

When the blacksmiths heat the metals at high temperatures, the metal first turns red, orange, changes into yellow, and still becomes white. The idle color for forging is yellow-orange color.

Blacksmiths deal with iron metal, but they are experts in dealing with brass, bronze, titanium, and Aluminum. During the 19th-century, blacksmith shops are found across US colonies.

Local Americans relied on the blacksmiths to a great extent for everyday household items and farming purposes. A renowned poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1840, elegantly documented the importance of blacksmiths in his documentaries 'The Village Blacksmith'. His work portrays the importance and prominent place of blacksmiths in history.

In 1860, blacksmithing was the most popular trade. As per the 1860 census, the USA recorded 15,720 blacksmiths and 7,504 blacksmith workshops.

But Industrialization became the biggest threat and shattered the life of these craftsmen to some extent. But still, the smith men handled the situation by turning their attention to producing horseshoes and manufacturing and repairing carriages and wagons. Because of the increase in transportation requirements, skilled merchants could survive.

Role of Colonial Blacksmiths

Blacksmiths, also called ferriers, played a vital role during the medieval period. They are essential tradesmen who designed and manufactured tools when the technology era did not start. Blacksmiths are the only source for all the tools in the agricultural battlefield or household items.

Back in history, blacksmithing shops are one-stop shops for all colonial people and the entire community. They dedicated their art to the development and growth of society.

Apart from making horseshoes, they used to manufacture the hardware items such as nails, hammers, axes, chisels, carving tools, farm tools, and hinges. Whether it be transportation, battlefield, agriculture, or small-scale businesses, the blacksmith became a point of contact.

In the transportation sector, blacksmiths used to fit hub rings, wagon tires, in fitting metal parts for carriages, wagons.

Blacksmiths used to accompany the warships and travel along with the army to other places and helped to repair guns and containers on the seas and also items such harpoons and grappling hooks. By the 20th century, the demand for blacksmithing was reduced, and the industrial revolution was one of the reasons.

Importance Of Colonial Blacksmiths

The art of blacksmithing helped flourish many industries such as carpentry, sculpture, farming, mining, fishing, transportation, fisheries, tailoring. They are important contributors to society and aid in the country's financial growth or colony in history.

From sewing needles to horseshoes, from nails to armors, blacksmiths are important craftsmen during the Iron age. Not only manufacturing simple household items, but they are also a point of contact for repairing and maintaining complex weapons and other war field equipment.

Blacksmithing helped flourish the financial returns, foreign trade, and economic growth of the country. Moreover, blacksmithing provided job sources for many skilled and unskilled laborers.

Even apprenticeship in blacksmithing was in good demand during the 1800s, where young kids or youth would join and take training and learn skill set from senior smith. The apprentice is provided with shelter food for assisting the master.

Remuneration Of Colonial Blacksmiths

The art speaks more than anything. There is always a demand for skilled full artisans in every sector. Is blacksmithing beneficial to trade? How much do they get paid?

Do they have a stable salary? Lets us know the remuneration facts of colonial blacksmiths. These details will help the youth who wants to join an apprenticeship program and become a blacksmith.

As per 'History of Wages in the United States from Colonial Times to 1928,' the average blacksmith in new Amsterdam earned 40 cents per day in 1637. Instead of money, the bartering system of goods or food is provided for blacksmith's service.

In the USA, the average salary of a blacksmith is $23 per hour and $46,820 per year. The average salary ranges from $34,675 and $56,966.

Because of technological advancements and automation, blacksmithing became dying art and declining. The declining rate of this field is -13% between the years 2014 and 2024.

Tools Used By Colonial Blacksmiths

Tools are basic essential things need for the blacksmiths to carry out blacksmithing any break. The basic tools required for any blacksmith in their field are forge or furnace, sledgehammer, anvils, tongs, slack tub. The essential skills required for blacksmiths are Hand-eye coordination, technical ability, practical skills, math knowledge. Let's get into the details.

Forge or Furnace: Forge works based on the combination of air, moving air, and fire and also known as the hearth, is the first basic tool of blacksmiths during the colonial period. In this forge, the metal is heated to such an extent that it is easily mendable.

These forges are usually built with the help of bricks, and coal is used as fuel. But in modern technology, blacksmiths use an induction process for heating metals.

Tongs: Tongs are usually U or V-shaped holders that safely remove the hot iron metals from the forge. The primary use of tongs is to hold while bending the metal into desired shape and heat in the forge and safely remove by holding it.

Once the material or metal is heated in a forge, the tongs are used to hold the metal, and this hot metal is mended with a hammer for a desirable shape.

Anvil: An anvil, a forging tool made from steel, was a primary tool of blacksmiths in the olden days. Modern days anvils are usually made up of cast steel. This anvil consists of a flat surface upon which the other metal is struck. It has a rectangular base and a narrow neck for supporting this rectangular base.

Sledgehammer: A tool with a metal head and long handle used to apply the force in a very large, wide area used in shaping the material.

Slack Tub: Slack tub is a tub of water or oil used to cool the hot metal. Once the hot metal is removed from the furnace with the help of tongs, it is immediately placed in the slack tub to cool it down.

FAQs

Q: Did colonial blacksmiths make weapons?

A: The colonial blacksmiths used to be the most important tradesmen in the colony in the past. During the revolutionary war, they dedicated their art to making weapons like knives, guns, guns parts, and cannons.

Q: What tools did colonial blacksmiths use?

A: Forge or furnace used to be the first tool of past blacksmiths. Along with this, they use a sledgehammer, anvils, tongs, slack tubs.

Q: What did colonial blacksmiths make?

A: Blacksmiths are one of the groups of craftsmen who provide us with day to day common agricultural tools like bolts, nails, knives, sickles, axes, screws, iron hoops, plowshares, hammers. They also make household articles such as sewing needles, pans, pots, and other kitchen hold items.

Q: What did blacksmiths make in the 1800s

A: During the 1800s, local people were highly dependent on local blacksmiths. In the 1800s, they created pans, pots, nails, horseshoes, gates, rails, plows, iron hoops.

Q: What did blacksmiths make in medieval times

A: By the Medieval age, blacksmiths started using advanced technology and were available for the people by setting up their shops in the village center. In this age, they started making articles such as door nails, knobs, swords and daggers, amours and arrowheads, locks and keys, jewelry items, horseshoes.

Q: Where did colonial blacksmiths get their metal?

A: The colonial blacksmiths used to get their metal by either purchasing it from iron masters or preparing their iron-on bloomeries.

Q: Who was the first blacksmith?

A: As per Bible, Tubal-Cain or Tubalcain is considered the first blacksmith.

Q: How did blacksmiths get their name?

A: Earlier, iron was called black metal, and a smith was a person who made useful articles from metals. A blacksmith is a person who generally deals with metals especially black metal.

Q: Who was the greatest blacksmith?

A: Lorenz Helmschmied of the Roman Empire was considered the greatest blacksmith for his innovative works and his discovery of the first armor.

Q: What did Blacksmiths do in the old days?

A: During the Medieval period, blacksmithing was one of the seven mechanical arts. They contributed to historical and industrial developments during the olden days used to repair and create small household and agricultural tools like sickles, axes, gates, armors, and weapons.

Editorial credit: Bob Pool / Shutterstock.com

Editorial credit: Bob Pool / Shutterstock.com