Defining the Artist Blacksmith
A well known comment in popular culture is "You talk the Talk - But can
you walk the Walk".
Terminology, what you say about what you do - and just what you mean by
it, is extremely important. 'Saying what you mean and meaning what you
say' is one measure of someone knowledgeable in their trade. This is
even more true for any artisan involved in a traditional skill in a
modern world. The blacksmith also faces the twin problems of being
involved in a highly technical and mysterious process which has also
been surrounded by huge public misconceptions.
To that end, some terms should be defined, with some of the related
history of their use (and misuse!) given.
Artist:
There may be as many definitions of the term 'art' as there are people
who are involved in the creation of it - hence 'artists'. One useful
way of applying the terminology is by considering the nature
of the individual objects created : If the function
of the object is primary concern to the piece, it could be considered
to be 'craft'. If the appearance been the major factor of the overall
design, it could be considered to be 'art'. Needless to say, there is
can be considerable overlap between the two aspects - what is useful
can be beautiful and what has beauty can be functional. At
its core however, the artist is most concerned with the overall design
of each object, to maximize its decorative qualities beyond mere
technical constraints. In its purest form, the artist made object will
be both an original inspiration and a one of a kind creation.
Ideally, an 'artisan' will be one who blends form with function,
employing skill to create distinctive objects that are interesting to
the eye while at the same time being a pleasure to use and high
quality. Many of those who approach the creation of the object from the
starting point of function (hence 'craft') yet strive for perfection of
design (thus 'art') find the term 'artisan' to ideally describe their
work.
Blacksmith:
Quite literally 'iron worker'. 'Smith' is derived from a Germanic root
- 'smyte', meaning to strike. Historically, smith has referred to those
who work metals employing hammers. Iron has been known as the 'black
metal' since ancient times. This is a reference to the dark grey oxide
that forms on an iron surface when it is heated to incandescent
temperatures. So to truly earn the description as 'blacksmith' you must
work iron metals at glowing temperatures using hammers.
The current generation of Artist Blacksmiths can trace their origins
primarily to the resergance of traditional skills that took place in
the late 1960's and early 1970's. In Canada, as was the case in most of
North America, blacksmithing had become a totally shattered tradition
by that point. The fast development of machinery for farming in the
early decades of 1900, coupled with the twin blows of the Great
Depression of the 1930's and World War Two in the 1940's effectively
stopped an entire generation from entering the blacksmith's trade. Work
with horses continued, but now diverted in a specialist skill - that of
the farrier, with its concentration not on metal, but on orthopedics. A
man picking a career in the 1950's, if interested in the trades at all,
would consider tool and die, machinist, or welder. In this way, the
ancient chain of master blacksmith to apprentice was almost completely
severed.
Outside of a few rare exceptions, almost the entire current generation
of blacksmiths are self taught. This has required the rediscovery of a
huge body of technical knowledge and physical skills. Along with this,
the re-establishment of blacksmithing has allowed for some clear
advantages, for example a stress on occupational health and safety.
Most importantly, the breaking of the ancient method of training has
allowed for the addition of a new dynamic force, that of women, inside
what had previously been a 'males only' tradition.
Coupled with this has been a significant shift in the approach to
blacksmithing as an undertaking. In ancient and historical times, the
blacksmith was valued for his practical skills. 'By Hammer and Hand, do
all the Arts stand' is a well known statement reflecting the importance
of the primary iron worker inside a pre-Industrial society. Without the
tools created in the forge, no other craftsman could function. Without
agricultural implements of iron, no food could be grown.
Today however, the single most common path to interest in blacksmithing
is that chosen by the artist, not the technician. The skills of the
blacksmith are seen as as methods to manipulate a material, chosen for
their vast possibilities to create novel forms and textures.
Hand Forged:
The forge is the fire used by a blacksmith to heat the metal. So
'forged' refers to metal which has been heated and then shaped while it
is hot. (It should be noted that jewelers use 'forged' to refer to any
metal that has been hammered, in their work primarily cold. As the term
originally derives from the work of the blacksmith, this usage is
incorrect.) 'Hand' means just that - work that is undertaken with hand
tools. A modern alternative would be industrial 'drop forged' where all
the hot forming work is done with mechanical tools.
Wrought Iron:
Is a specific type of iron metal. It is created using a special
equipment that results both a distinctive physical structure and also a
specific chemistry. All three of these factors combine to a metal that
is quite different than modern steel alloys. 'Wrought' in this case
refers to the hammering process required to compress and purify the
spongy iron bloom that is extracted from a bloomery furnace. There will
always be some microscopic layers of silica slag remaining within any
wrought iron bar. It is this slag that gives this metal its
distinctive fracturing pattern, breaking as short tendrils.
"Iron' is the primary element in the metal, and unlike modern alloys,
most wrought iron will have few other components. Typically wrought
iron has extremely low carbon content, on a grinder the sparks will
test as dull red balls. Wrought iron is an ideal material for the
process of hand forging. It will remain workable over a wider range of
temperatures than modern steels. It will tend to de-laminate as it is
worked, requiring it to be re-welded to consolidate the surface (a step
not required with steel). Any forge welding is considerably
easier with wrought iron, where the slag incorporated within the
material tends to float to the surface at welding temperatures, so that
often no additional flux needs to be applied.
The modern steel alloys start replacing wrought iron when the Bessemer
furnace was introduced about 1855. This new technology not only allowed
for greater control in the iron smelting process, it also increased the
volume of production by an order of magnitude. Both of these factors
made the new steel more dependable in quality and also considerably
cheaper than the old wrought iron. By the early 1900's very little of
the older metal was still being produced.
The last commercial production of true wrought iron was stopped in
1974. There has been no new wrought iron produced * anywhere in the
West since that date.
Any real wrought iron available for sale today will be reclaimed from
structures being dismantled. Most commonly the material will be from
structural elements from things like bridges. In some cases, larger
diameter bars may be reworked down before being sold. A modern
industrial substitute is sold, under the trade names 'Electric Iron',
'Rivet Iron' or 'French Iron'. These materials are in fact low carbon
content steels, with a carbon content in the range of .05%, but still
with the crystal structure of modern steel.
Typically, only small amounts in random dimensions of true wrought
iron, often originally created in the 1850's, can be found. Often this
collected by blacksmiths as personal stockpiles of these historic
materials. Historic wrought iron is treasured for its easy working when
hand forged and its better aging characteristics than modern steels. It
also becomes an interesting addition to the mix when creating layered
steels for knife making.
The term 'Wrought Iron' has undergone a radical shift in its meaning at
the hands of popular culture. The term moved from the technical
language of the blacksmith into a descriptive term used by antique
collectors in the early 1900's. When referring to objects hand forged
by blacksmiths in the Settlement / Colonial period, they were correctly
described as being made of wrought iron. Eventually however, the
definition became less exact, coming be used for any object that was
hand forged - regardless of the metal content. Over time (into the
1950's, as blacksmiths disappeared) the term 'wrought iron' has come to
refer to 'any piece of metal with a shape that is painted black'. Now
objects that are composed of modern mild steel, formed cold, shaped by
machine (even plasma cut!), and then painted black - are referred to as
'wrought iron'. This is almost as far from the correct
meaning of wrought iron as its possible to get.
( * There are two exceptions. There are a small number of museums
preserving the history of technology and industry. Some of these will
conduct smaller scale demonstration firings of their historic furnaces.
The metal produced is typically kept inside the museum community for
restoration work. The second exception are the small group of people
using experimental archaeology methods to rediscover what are often
ancient and lost smelting techniques. Yields from these test
smelters are quite small, typically 5 - 10 kg per firing.)
On Production Methods:
There are obviously other methods of taking the modern raw material -
lengths of industrially produced mild steel bar, and converting these
into objects, be it practical or decorative in nature.
At one end of the scale will be the Welder. It is possible to purchase
industrially manufactured elements, both structural and decorative, and
assemble these pre-made pieces into a larger construction. More stress
has been placed recently on the technical skill of welding through
recent changes to the Ontario Building Codes. Obviously this type of
work requires no direct manipulation of the metal in any form whatever.
With care and a good eye, pre-made elements can be combined into
effective designs, however this work is simply not Blacksmithing in any
form.
On a level of complexity, the next step would be that of the
Fabricator. In this process, some new elements are created by working
metal stocks while cold over standardized jigs or using bending
machines. These elements may be combined with the same industrial
elements mentioned above. The results may be decorative elements that
are distinctive to a workshop, but most commonly are repeats of
standard patterns between individual objects. Once again, the forge is
not used in the creation of forms, so this also is not Blacksmithing.
The most complex work will be that of the Blacksmith. Metal will be
shaped hot from the forge. In the very best artistic work, each
individual bar will be radically transformed from its original
industrial shape. The true Artisan Blacksmith may work within a
recognizeable style, but each object may be a one of a kind creation.
Be it a modern gas or more traditional coal fired, the forge remains
the required heart of the true Blacksmith's method. Although technical
ability is important to produce objects of quality, without a creative
spark the work will not inspire the viewer.
Truth in Terminology
:
We all know how retail stores and mere fabricators deliberately and
knowingly misuse the technical language of the blacksmith to increase
the value of their products in the eyes of the customer. Its
also painful to admit that within the blacksmithing community itself
there are those who have converted what were once technical terms into
mere advertising copy. Unfortunately, this relatively recent trend has
also been increasing in frequency. "Its just easier to tell them what
they want to hear" is an explanation that is often given.
If those who have a genuine interest in the traditional skills of the
Blacksmith are not informing and educating the general public on the
true nature of this trade - who then will do this? All of us involved
in the work of the Artisan Blacksmith have a double sided
responsibility to both correctly use and continually define our
specialized terminology to the public.
The first and quite selfish reason is that a clear understanding of the
distinctive way that we work can only increase the perceived value of
that work in the eyes of the public. Only a fool would continue to
attribute Walmart prices to the skilled labour required to create a one
of a kind forged metalwork.
The second, and perhaps most important reason to 'Say what you Mean,
and Mean what you Say' is to uphold the tradition passed down to us
from the ancient line of Blacksmiths that stretches behind us all. As
part of a generation who had to re-discover so much from what had been
an almost shattered tradition, may of us do understand how easily that
thread can be severed. As one line of Blacksmiths hands the hammer to a
new generation of enthusiastic Artisans, it is crucial that the
responsibility for preserving that hard won wisdom is passed on as well.
Darrell Markewitz
the Wareham Forge
copyright
2006
Comments? - E-mail
Darrell
Author's Note:
The text here is offered as a consistent and measured discussion of the
topic. It is the opinion of the author and does not reflect that of
OABA.
An issue of The Iron Trillium published an 'article' on this
topic attributed to me in the winter of 2006. The content was cut
together from a pair of e-mails which in turn where only a small part
of a
larger discussion on the Metal Arts Guild disusion group MAGLIST.
That text was copied and printed without my knowledge or
permission.
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