We often take forged products for granted, but have you ever thought about how they are made? The forging process takes a metal raw material and, through heat, force, and skill, transforms it into useful and artistic product: a work piece. For our students, knowing how these forged objects are produced gives them insight into the nature and possibilities of blacksmithing: its technical and creative sides.
Raw Material
First, the blacksmith chooses the most appropriate steel for a work piece. Depending on the material’s characteristics (hardness, flexibility, strength, etc), some steels will be better than others for certain types of work.
After choosing the material, the blacksmith puts it in the fire, heats it, and makes it pliable.
Anvil Work
Now that the material is hot enough, the blacksmith uses hammers, anvils, and other tools to begin shaping the work piece. The smith might draw out the material, thin it, taper the edge, bend it, or twist it.
Because the material will get colder as they work, the smith often heats it up several times throughout the forging process.
Finishing Work
After the work piece has reached the desired basic shape, the smith refines the details of the object: cleaning up rough surfaces, adding texture, and making other small modifications.
The smith may also decide to heat treat the work piece in order to improve its hardness or strength, or to make it less wear-prone.
Function and Form
The end of this process is a forged work piece that must fulfill a dual role of both being a tool and looking like one too. Whether it is a garden gate, a chef’s knife, a hardware piece, or a work of art, it should look the part and fulfill its purpose well.
It is this combination of functionality with aesthetic form that has allowed forge metalwork to live on to this very day.
Wrap-up
As we’ve seen, it is quite a transformation that a piece of steel undergoes to become a work piece. The work piece’s path involves a number of small, step-by-step modifications and it requires a great deal of skill to forge a quality product. For future smiths, knowing how each product is made is important to their own learning.