The history of the development of blacksmithing in detail. History of blacksmithing and blacksmith masters

Just 150 years ago, blacksmithing was at the peak of its popularity. Almost every village had a workshop where various things were made and repaired. For example, in Moscow in the mid-19th century there were about 300 forges. And in centers such as Kyiv or Donetsk there were schools where entire trends in blacksmithing were developed.

With the advent and development of machine metalworking, the development of such a craft began to decline. However, in industry, many components and workpieces are still processed by forging. In the 21st century, small-scale forgings are most often of an artistic nature.

How has blacksmithing developed throughout human history and how much has technology changed?

The first metals that man began to process were gold, silver and copper. Later there were more durable alloy- bronze. However, long time Casting remained the main method of metalworking. This was due to the properties of the materials; it was easier to cast the desired object in a mold. And it was impossible to harden such a metal, since when heated and quickly cooled, a lowering process occurred. The product became too soft. The only techniques similar in technology to forging were used after casting. When, to make the product homogeneous, the product was forged, thus removing voids and cavities in the metal.

The first attempts were made in Ancient China. To do this, the rod was initially made from a softer material, and the cutting parts were forged along the edges from a stronger, but brittle metal. However, further development this technology was not received due to its complexity.

But, along with this, such a technique as cold forging also appeared. When a piece of native copper was shaped without preheating.

Bright example cold forging- a dagger found in the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. Long before its spread, it was made from meteorite iron. The blade is cold forged without heating the workpiece.

A real breakthrough in blacksmithing was the appearance of iron. It became clear that such a material requires different processing methods than bronze and copper.

Initially, they used the so-called meteorite iron, then they began to smelt it from ore. Like the first metals, iron was initially used to make knives and weapons. However, even here attempts to forge such metal were not particularly successful.

The real impetus for the development of blacksmithing was the invention of steel and its adaptation for the manufacture of weapons and agricultural implements. Various objects began to be forged from steel and iron: chains, rings, armor and others.

Steel forging began in various parts of the world. For example, Celtic craftsmen are often credited with the invention of “harloug” steel. When several rods of steel of varying carbon composition were twisted and forged, getting quite strong swords. The same method of layer-by-layer welding and forging was used by Japanese gunsmiths.

During the Middle Ages, iron deposits were discovered on the European continent in Gaul (modern France), which led to the invention of phosphate steel as a cheaper analogue of imported crucible steel. Blacksmithing centers began to appear, where weapons and armor were primarily produced.

In ancient times and the Early Middle Ages, a forge was a simple hut or even a dugout, usually built on the shore of a reservoir. All work was carried out manually with hammers and anvils.

In the 16th century, the medieval forge received the first mechanisms to simplify work - lever hammers driven by water power.

During the late Middle Ages, blacksmiths made almost all products from steel, from complex closed armor to ordinary horse shoes. The concept of a blacksmith shop appeared, when many apprentices took part in the manufacturing process. Production has become more massive.

Blacksmithing reached the peak of its development in the 18th century; many examples of products made by craftsmen of that time have survived to this day. The blacksmith shop began to turn into a factory.

In the 19th century, with the advent of steam engines, the forge structure became even more complex. Equipment powered by steam, hydraulic hammers, and rolling mills appeared. The production of things and weapons was put on a massive scale.

At the beginning of the 20th century, welding and machine production technologies appeared and hand forging faded into the background. However, blacksmithing techniques have found wide application in industry and modern metallurgy.

Russian blacksmithing

In Rus', as in Western Europe, blacksmithing occupied a place of honor. Moreover, the art of blacksmithing received its own directions and styles, distinguishable from foreign examples.

Due to the peculiarities of iron mining, metallurgy was separated from metalworking in the early Middle Ages. Earlier than in Europe, Russian blacksmiths began to process and carbon steel. All cutting edges of tools and weapons were made using this material.

The blacksmithing skills of artisans produced all household items, from sickles and scythes to needles and fishhooks. A separate isolated group in Rus' was occupied by gunsmiths producing high-quality weapons.

A huge impetus to the development of blacksmithing was given by the reforms of Peter the Great, who quickly began to develop industry in the country. Workshops turned into entire factories using metal forging technologies. Forges switched from ordinary crafts to mass production.

At the beginning of the 20th century in the Russian Empire there was a forge in almost every locality. The centers became Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv and others.

Industrialization in the USSR practically destroyed individual blacksmith workshops, but forging gained new round of its development.

Forging in modern production

Forging at metalworking enterprises and in mechanical engineering today remains one of the main processes in the technological chain. It is with the help of the powerful that multi-ton parts and their elements are processed. Also, one of the types of forging (stamping) made it possible to make the production of many things mass-produced and cheap.

Modern forging production uses the following technologies.

• Hot and cold stamping.
• Pressing and crimping.
• Drawing.
• Rolling.

Hot and cold stamping

This is the process of shaping blanks according to a ready-made standard sample. That is, all those operations that a blacksmith used to perform to give the desired configuration and volume to a part are now performed at enterprises by stamping machines.

The following types of industrial stamping are distinguished: sheet and.

In the first case, for example, holes are punched in sheets of metal, resulting in perforated surfaces.

The second option involves the production of any volumetric parts and elements using both cold and hot methods.

The use of this technology made it possible to reduce material costs and production time.

Pressing and crimping

Pressing also comes from forging technology, although today it is completely separated from this process.

Previously, before the advent of mechanization, the blacksmith carried out compaction and reshaping of the part manually through the so-called crimping technique. When the entire surface of the metal was forged.

An example of how a hydraulic press works can be seen in the video:

Today, at metalworking enterprises, this is done by multi-ton presses, which are capable of molding and compacting a multi-ton element in a short period of time.

Small forge shops also use pressing technology using mechanical or hydraulic equipment.

Drawing

A technology that also originated from forging metalworking methods. It allows, by pulling round parts through a hole, to make its diameter smaller.

Round elements are also formed using the forging method. For this, various machines (rotary) are used, where the process is practically automated.

Using this technique, various pipes and rolled products of round or shaped shapes are produced. As well as blanks for further production of shafts.

Rolling

This method makes it possible to produce so-called rolled metal, the list of items of which is quite large, ranging from fittings to steel pipes.

What the blacksmith previously did, he does today rolling mill, producing standardized products that go into further processing and construction.

Technologically, this is done by pulling heated metal blanks through the shafts of rolling equipment.

As with forging, this metalworking method allows you to obtain the required shape and the desired structure of the material.

Forging

Forging in industry occurs using various equipment and forging machines.

At the same time, the dimensions of the processed parts sometimes reach significant sizes and weight.

Modern hand forging

Despite the emergence of various modern methods of manufacturing metal elements, hand forging has not lost its relevance and popularity. Those used in interior and landscape design are in particular demand.

Modern hand forging uses both old technological techniques and new ones using machines.

Private forges install hydraulic hammers, which speed up the processing process, as well as equipment for cutting, drilling and pressing parts.

A striking example of modern hand forging is the products installed in the Donetsk Park of Forged Figures. There are more than 200 figures made by blacksmithing.

Learn contemporary art forging can be done in three main ways.

• Enroll in a specialized educational institution.
• Get a job as a student with a master.
• Learn on your own.

There are educational institutions in many cities of Russia: Moscow, Kovrov, Chebarkul, Krasnoyarsk, St. Petersburg, Barnaul and others. In Ukraine, the centers of blacksmithing have traditionally remained: Kyiv, Donetsk and Lvov. Working with a master would also be a good option for training. You can learn the basics of blacksmithing quite well on your own; there is a lot of information today, but the main thing is constant practice.

Over the millennia, blacksmithing has gone through a huge evolutionary path from the simplest methods of forming cold metal to the most complex machines and machines. However, hand forging still remains relevant.

What can you add to this material? Share your opinion in the discussion block for this article.

Forging - Living metal, forged into eternity!

And cannot be compared with the wealth of Croesus,
Elements of flames of fire,
When plain iron
Suddenly, he turns into a horse.
Or the openwork of the parapet,
There is a ringing sound on the anvil...
And Juliet leans
Hand on the wrought iron balcony.

(Eva Skripnik)

Blacksmithing Once upon a time... blacksmith craft can be called the first craft requiring professional skills and craftsmanship. For ordinary people blacksmith craft it was akin to magic and the bearded blacksmiths were almost gods, like Hephaestus. How could it be otherwise - under the low arches of the forges, mysterious actions took place, similar to rituals: fire was tamed by deftly controlled, liquid metal frightened and bewitched the eye, ore piled in shapeless pieces outside the forge was reborn into unusually skillful things. Becoming an apprentice is the dream of all teenagers who watch through open doors how blacksmiths deftly handle hot metal, how hammerers knock out sheaves of sparks from strips of metal. The Inquisition, believing that everything in the forge is not without diabolism, did not touch the blacksmiths, because who else would make shackles for prisoners, shoe horses, weld chains. Blacksmith's forging was valued by all segments of the population. Being a skilled blacksmith was very profitable - the richest nobles asked for armor, the cost of which reached the cost of an entire village or even several, priests decorated temples with forged bars and fences, kings and kings needed weapons for their retinue. Blacksmithing was used in all sectors of the economy, in all spheres of life. Weapons, armor, swords and spears protected the warriors; merchants and priests decorated their homes and temples with bindings of forged strips to protect wealth; plowmen straightened scythes and plows, strengthened the rims of cart wheels and shoed horses; merchants came for the safes of that time - heavy forged chests made of solid wood, bound with thick strips of iron with massive locks; the ladies-in-waiting admired themselves in mirrors with wrought-iron frames; craftsmen building houses turned to nails and hardware

Middle Ages, when blacksmith craft reached its peak, wrought iron could be found everywhere, and of the highest level of artistry - on windows and gates, fences and gates, in the interior of castles and temples. The durability of iron protected by paint allows us to see these works of blacksmithing from those times preserved in old cities.
With the advent of the industrial age, when conveyor technologies and new methods of processing materials produced a technical revolution, blacksmith craft began to lose its traditions. Automation of labor led to a reduction in the cost of most goods; mechanical forging hammers appeared, which managed to eliminate the labor of the hammer hammer, automated forges with blower. It became unprofitable to be a blacksmith, apprentices left for factories and the traditions of blacksmithing began to be forgotten. The secret of making ancient damask steel has been forgotten, the legends of Damascus steel remain in literature and in museums. However, the satiation of mass-produced products in our time has stirred up the demand for blacksmith works and a new wave of blacksmiths has appeared, devoting time to finding new recipes for making patterned steels, new damask steel and new ways of processing artistic metal.

Blacksmith craft. New wave.

Blacksmithing, reborn from the ashes industrial enterprises, can be divided according to levels of blacksmithing skill and methods of metal processing. Low skill level. Small companies, organized with the aim of making money on the demand for forging that has appeared recently, rent garages and hangars with leaking ceilings and do not strive to maintain the level of quality at the proper level, because the fashion for forging may pass, why invest. Average level of quality. This is the most rational option - companies with an established team of blacksmiths and welders, with good workshops, fight for the good name of the company and maintain the required level of quality acceptable to the client. The highest level of quality is provided only by blacksmiths working alone, renowned blacksmiths who are independently responsible for their work, proud of their name and who perform the most complex types of forging. Of course, the biggest money comes from a name.

The article uses drawings and photographs from materials from the company " Korolevskaya forging" Reprinting and quoting in any publications or on any websites is prohibited.

Date of publication: 2008-04-15 (8554 Read)

Other materials in the section

The origins of blacksmithing go back to ancient times. The first mention of blacksmiths is found in myths ancient Greece: from the time when the divine blacksmith Hephaestus forged nails for the crucifixion of Prometheus on the Caucasian rock. This is where the history of blacksmithing began.

The name of Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve, etymologically means “blacksmith.” Among his descendants was Tubalcain, who chose the blacksmith's craft. The Bible defines him as the inventor of various kinds of copper and iron tools, used both for agriculture and for military operations. One of the first mentions of blacksmiths is in the story about the construction of the Jerusalem Temple under King Shlomo. Among those who built the walls of Jerusalem under Nehemiah were blacksmiths who made doors and gates with locks and bolts. In Jerusalem, before its capture by the Romans in 70 BC, some streets and neighborhoods were inhabited exclusively by blacksmiths.

In Rus', iron was known to the early Slavs. The oldest method of metal processing is forging. At first, ancient people beat sponge iron in a cold state with mallets in order to “squeeze the juices out of it,” i.e. remove impurities. Then they began to heat the metal and give it the desired shape.

Already in the VII-IX centuries. The Slavs have special settlements of metallurgists. Forges in Slavic settlements were located away from residential buildings, near rivers: the blacksmith constantly needed fire in the forge to soften the metal and water for cooling finished products. Blacksmithing was considered a mysterious and even witchcraft occupation among the Slavs. It is not for nothing that the word “blacksmith” itself is related to the word “machinery”. The blacksmith, like the plowman, was a favorite hero of Slavic folklore.

In the products of the ancient Slavs, the ornament is very calm, and the images do not inspire fear in a person. A resident of endless wilds, the ancient Slav saw in the fantastic creatures that, as he believed, inhabited forests, waters and swamps, not so much his enemies as patrons. They protected him, took care of him. He felt involved in their lives, and therefore in art and forged products he sought to emphasize this indissoluble connection. The artistic tastes and skills that were formed then did not disappear with the emergence of feudalism and the adoption of Christianity.

The process of feudalization led to the formation in the 9th century. Kievan Rus, a large state that quickly gained fame throughout the then world.

The name of the legendary founder of the city of Kyiv - Kiy - is related to the word “forge”; this name itself could mean “club”, “hammer”. In Ukraine, there are legends about how a blacksmith harnessed a monstrous snake to a plow and forced it to plow furrows that became river beds or were preserved in the form of ancient fortifications - “snake shafts.” In these legends, the blacksmith is not only the creator of craft tools, but also the creator of the surrounding world, the natural landscape.

The labor intensity of the process distinguished the blacksmiths from the community and made them the first artisans. In ancient times, blacksmiths themselves melted the metal and then forged it. The necessary accessories of a blacksmith - a forge (melting furnace) for heating the kritsa, a poker, a crowbar (pick), an iron shovel, an anvil, a hammer (sledgehammer), various pliers for extracting hot iron from the forge and working with it - this is the set of tools necessary for smelting and forging works.

For Kievan Rus, the adoption of Christianity had progressive significance. It contributed to a more organic and deep assimilation of all the best that Byzantium, which was advanced for that time, possessed.

In the 10th - 11th centuries, thanks to the development of metallurgy and other crafts, the Slavs acquired a plow and a plow with an iron share. On the territory of ancient Kyiv, archaeologists find sickles, door locks and other things made by the hands of blacksmiths, gunsmiths and jewelers.

In the 10th century, above-ground ovens appeared, into which air was pumped using leather bellows. The bellows were inflated by hand. And this work made the cooking process very difficult. Archaeologists still find signs of local metal production at the sites - waste from the cheese-blowing process in the form of slag.

In the 11th century, metallurgical production was already widespread in both the city and the countryside. The raw materials for obtaining iron were swamp and lake ores, which did not require complex technology for processing and were widespread in the forest-steppe. The Russian principalities were located in the zone of ore deposits, and blacksmiths were almost everywhere provided with raw materials.

Very quickly the culture of Kievan Rus reached a high level, competing with the culture not only Western Europe, but also Byzantium. Kyiv, one of the largest and richest cities in Europe in the 11th-12th centuries, experienced a brilliant heyday. According to Thietmar of Merseburg, a German writer of the early 11th century, Kiev had several hundred churches and many markets, indicating brisk trade and vigorous construction activity. The applied art of Kievan Rus and the art of blacksmiths were distinguished by high skill. Having become widespread in everyday life, it equally manifested itself in religious objects (settings, carved icons, folding crosses, church utensils, etc.).

Written sources have not preserved to us the forging technique and the basic technical techniques of ancient Russian blacksmiths. But the study of ancient forged products allows historians to say that ancient Russian blacksmiths knew all the most important technical techniques: welding, punching holes, torsion, riveting plates, welding steel blades and hardening steel. Each forge, as a rule, employed two blacksmiths - a master and an assistant. In the XI-XIII centuries. Foundry was partially isolated, and blacksmiths began directly forging iron products. IN Ancient Rus' A blacksmith was any metal craftsman: “iron smith”, “copper smith”, “silver smith”.

The simplest forged products include: knives, hoops and cradles for tubs, nails, sickles, braids, chisels, awls, shovels and frying pans, i.e. items that do not require special techniques. They could be made by any blacksmith alone. More complex forged products: chains, door openings, iron rings from belts and harnesses, bits, lights, spears - already required welding, which was carried out by experienced blacksmiths with the help of assistants.

The production of weapons and military armor received particular development. Swords and battle axes, quivers with arrows, sabers and knives, chain mail, helmets and shields were produced by master gunsmiths. The manufacture of weapons and armor involved particularly careful metal processing and required skillful work techniques. Russian shishak helmets were riveted from iron wedge-shaped strips. This type of helmet includes the famous helmet of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, thrown by him on the battlefield of Lipetsk in 1216. It is an excellent example of Russian arms and jewelry making of the 12th-13th centuries.

In the 11th-13th centuries, city craftsmen worked for a wide market, i.e. production becomes massive.

In the 13th century, a number of new craft centers were created with their own characteristics in technique and style. But we have not observed any decline in crafts since the second half of the 12th century, as is sometimes claimed, either in Kyiv or in other places. On the contrary, culture grows, covering new areas and inventing new techniques. In the second half of the 12th century and in the 13th century, despite the unfavorable conditions of feudal fragmentation, Russian craft reached its fullest technical and artistic flowering. Development of feudal relations and feudal ownership of land in the XII - first half of the XIII century. caused a change in the form of the political system, which found its expression in feudal fragmentation, i.e. the creation of relatively independent states-principalities. During this period, blacksmithing and weaponry, forging and stamping continued to develop in all principalities. In rich farms, plows with iron shares began to appear more and more. Craftsmen are looking for new ways of working. Novgorod gunsmiths in the 12th - 13th centuries, using new technology, began to produce saber blades of much greater strength, hardness and flexibility.

In the architecture of Ukraine 14-17 centuries. Fortress architecture gained great importance. The territory of Ukraine then represented an arena of fierce struggle (Poland, Lithuania, Hungary), and was subjected to devastating raids by the Tatar and then Turkish hordes. As a result, the products of blacksmiths also served to protect the fatherland, and decorative means were used very sparingly.

From the middle of the 13th century, the rule of the Golden Horde was established over Kievan Rus. Events 1237 - 1240 became perhaps the most tragic in the centuries-old history of our people. The cities of the Middle Ages suffered irreparable damage. The craftsmanship accumulated over centuries was almost lost. After the Mongol conquest, a number of techniques familiar to Kievan Rus disappeared, and archaeologists did not discover many objects common to the era preceding the yoke. Due to the Tatar-Mongol yoke in the XIII-XV centuries. There was a significant lag in the development of the cities of feudal Rus' from the cities of Western Europe, in which the bourgeois class was beginning to emerge. A small number of household items from the 14th - 15th centuries have survived to our time, but they also make it possible to judge how the development of crafts in Rus' gradually resumed. From the middle of the 14th century. a new rise in craft production began. At this time, especially in connection with increased military needs, iron processing became more widespread, the centers of which became Novgorod, Moscow and other Russian cities.

In the second half of the 14th century. For the first time in the country, Russian blacksmiths produced forged and riveted cannons. An example of the high technical and artistic skill of Russian gunsmiths is the steel spear of the Tver prince Boris Alexandrovich, made in the first half of the 15th century, that has survived to this day. It is decorated with gilt silver depicting various figures.

From the middle of the 16th century. In Ukrainian architecture one can feel the influence of Renaissance art. The influence of Northern Italian, German and Polish art is most noticeable in the architecture and applied art of the cities of Western Ukraine, especially Lviv. The spirit of medieval aloofness and asceticism was replaced by secular aspirations. In products blacksmiths The motifs of nature, inspired by the landscapes of the Carpathian region, are lovingly conveyed. The “grapevine” ornament has found wide application.

IN full force The artistic features of iron were revealed later, especially in Ukrainian art of the 17th-18th centuries.

Window openings were covered with openwork forged bars, gardens and parks were decorated with skillfully made forged fences and forged gates. Richly decorated iron doors with forging elements adorned stone temples and palaces, in the construction of which masters of all types of crafts took part.

In the 18th century, forging was widely used to make fences for city estates, mansions, and church yards. The iron casting technique competes with it, displacing forging as an expensive job. But the originality of artistic solutions, which is achieved by forging, retains interest in it in the 19th century.

In 1837 A new one was approved general plan Kyiv. In 1830-50. a number of large public and administrative buildings: Institute noble maidens(1838-42 architect V.I. Beretti), ensemble of Kyiv University (1837-43 Beretti), public places (1854-57 M.S. Ikonnikov). A new type of building appeared - apartment buildings with floors for shops, a hotel, a restaurant, and an office.

The imagination and skill of blacksmiths, ingenuity, masterly mastery of technology, excellent knowledge of the features and capabilities of metal made it possible to create highly artistic works of blacksmithing, the infinitely large and expressive world of forged metal.

The use of forms from various historical styles - Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, as well as many oriental elements, led to the emergence of eclecticism.

Fancy patterns are created from bindings. In fences, balcony railings, staircase design - everything is dominated by capricious curvilinear outlines, stylization of plant motifs, especially grasses, flowers, with curved stems and bizarre shapes of petals.

In the 20th century, decorative forged metal was replaced by welded structures, which is associated with the development of rolling and stamping industries, and artistic forging began to be simplified.

The variety of trends and concepts in architecture and applied art contradicted the goals of the totalitarian regime that was emerging at that time. By the beginning of the 30s of the twentieth century, the authorities established strict control over art and architecture. The main components of Soviet decorative art of 1920-30 are simplicity and functionalism. The totalitarian government perceived the formal searches of artists and architects as too apolitical, too democratic, and not amenable to ideological control. The violation of democratic principles in the life of society also affected the creative atmosphere. The basis of the creative process was violated - the freedom of expression of the artist. The years of Stalinism are one of the most tragic periods in the history of art in our country. The method of socialist realism, constrained by the rigid framework of directives, is the only direction of art of the 30-50s. Blacksmithing production was recognized as “bourgeois” and ceased to exist for a long time. Only after the collapse of the USSR and the fall of socialism. system, the art of blacksmithing received the opportunity for uncensored, creative development.

Currently, the popularity of forged products is growing. Decorating a home, garden, apartment and office with forged interior items has become “fashionable” among wealthy people. Nothing can transform and emphasize the individuality of an apartment, house, or garden like truly beautiful and stylish forged interior details. And this is indisputable, since artistic forging is one of the last “living” crafts in our age of standard products produced in mass quantities.

The revival of artistic forging is of great importance for modern decorative and applied arts.

Blacksmithing came to us from ancient times, from the Stone Age. In those distant times, simultaneously with the processing of stone and wood, people learned the secrets of blacksmithing. Many museums around the world keep blacksmith tools from ancient times: small round stones with a ring belt - hammers, oval flat massive stones - anvils. Microscopic examination revealed traces of native metal on the surface of these stones. On the walls of ancient Egyptian temples there are reliefs depicting people working with stone hammers. For more than 10 thousand years, blacksmithing has become one of the most necessary and necessary production, without which it is impossible to create a single machine or mechanism, not a single machine tool or spaceship. Today, the country's forges are equipped with the most powerful presses and hammers in the world, they are serviced by robots and manipulators controlled by computer.

In this article we will open one of the pages of blacksmithing art. We will introduce lovers of technical craftsmanship to the beauty of forged artistic metal, talk about the basic working techniques, tools and equipment.

Blacksmith tool

A - handbrake - the main tool of a blacksmith. B, C - war hammer (sledgehammer) - a hammer tool.

Blacksmithing involves fire, hot metal, and powerful hammer blows, so for convenient and safe work, you need to choose a suitable place for the forge, acquire reliable tools, purchase a canvas apron, mittens and safety glasses. It is advisable to carry out all blacksmith work outdoors; choose a place where you will not disturb others.

The basic tools of a blacksmith are a hammer, pliers, anvil, vice and forge. The hammer, or, as blacksmiths call it, the handbrake, bears the main impact load, and therefore it must be especially reliable. It is better to wedge the hammer handle using a metal “barbed” wedge. When working “with two hands,” that is, with a hammer, heavy war hammers or sledgehammers weighing up to 16 kg are used.

Forging tongs are used to remove heated workpieces from the forge and hold them during forging. The pliers should be light, with springy handles. To clamp the workpiece, a special ring - a spandrel - is sometimes put on the handles of the pliers. The jaws of the pliers must match the shape of the workpiece. Pliers with flat jaws are designed for flat sheet and strip workpieces, with cylindrical or angled jaws - for longitudinal gripping of round bars, with radius jaws - for gripping workpieces of complex shapes.

Most blacksmithing work is done on an anvil. There are several varieties of anvils, ranging from a rectangular steel bar to anvils with several horns, various technological protrusions and holes. The most convenient to use is a two-horned anvil weighing from 70 to 250 kg. On its front surface there are one or two round holes (12-15 mm in diameter) for punching holes in the forging and one square hole (35 X 35 mm), located in the tail area, into which a backing tool (nizhnyaki) is inserted.

The anvil is placed on a massive wooden block-chair, which is buried in the ground and compacted well or filled with concrete. For small jobs, the anvil can be simply installed on the bench through a gasket made of thick sheet rubber. ABOUT good quality The anvil produces a high and clear sound when struck with a hammer. The surface of the anvil should be flat and smooth, and the edges should be free of creases and chips.

For small jobs, a shperak is used as a support tool, which is inserted with the shank into the square hole of the anvil.

Blacksmith chair vise is designed for clamping workpieces. The vice is made of steel (so, unlike cast iron, it can withstand impacts well) and is securely mounted on a special chair or on the main post of the workbench.

A blacksmith cannot do without a backing tool. It is placed under a handbrake or a war hammer when performing certain operations.

A blacksmith's chisel differs from a mechanic's chisel in that it has a hole (boring) for the handle. The working part of the chisel can be located parallel to the handle or perpendicular. In the first case, the chisel is used for transverse cutting, in the second - for longitudinal cutting. To chop workpieces without a hammer, a hook is used, which is installed in the anvil socket, and the workpiece is placed on it and chopped with handbrake blows.

The holes are punched using punches, the working part of which can be round, square or rectangular, depending on the shape of the holes being punched.

To level surfaces, trowels with flat or cylindrical working surfaces are used.

Crimpers are used as a paired backing tool to give forgings the correct cylindrical or prismatic shapes, and tampers are used to speed up the drawing of metal. The upper part of the instrument (tops) has wooden handles. The lower part (lowers or undersides) is inserted with a tetrahedral tail into the square hole of the anvil. To plant the heads of bolts and nails, special boards with holes are used - nails.

To produce curls, meanders and curves from rods and strips, as well as parts from sheet material, a variety of shaped and profile mandrels, plates with holes for pins, grooves and cutouts are used.

The forge is the most complex tool of a blacksmith. Stationary forges are usually installed near the main wall or in the center of the room; they serve as the heart of the forge. The pedestal for the hearth is made of metal, brick or stone. IN rural areas it is often just a box with wooden, brick or stone walls, filled with compacted sand with clay and stones.

For work in the field, as well as for amateur purposes, you can make a simple portable forge. Another option is to place the fireplace in a hole in the ground. The air is supplied by a household electric fan, a vacuum cleaner or a foot-operated car pump. The fuel is wood or coal, coke, peat, firewood and bark, as well as their mixtures. For small blacksmithing jobs, you can build a firebrick hearth using a blowtorch for heating.

Forged art products are usually made from low-carbon steel. It is not difficult to select such steel: it practically does not produce sparks on the emery wheel. Heat the workpiece over low heat until it turns light yellow (lemon) color, preventing the metal from burning. Stop forging when the light turns dark red.

Working methods

Forged metal requires a laconic, finished design. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully approach the selection of the composition, work it out in sketches or sculpt it from plasticine. It is advisable to make templates for all elements from wire and only after you are satisfied with the general design and composition of the product, start forging.

Let's consider the technology of work using the example of small decorative grilles (see figure), which cover radiators, windows, which are installed in country houses and garden plots etc.

The lattice consists of a frame into which two volutes (curls) are embedded. To make volutes, they take strip or rod material, chop off the required workpiece with a chisel or by undercutting, and then bend a figure of a given shape on a conical anvil horn or on a mandrel. The square frame is made from a strip, the ends are connected with rivets or forge welding. Holes in a thin (1-2 mm) strip can be punched with a punch without heating, and in a thick strip - with heating. The workpiece is placed on an anvil over a round hole, a punch is installed and hit with a war hammer, rivets are inserted into the holes and riveted.

To connect the ends of the frame by forge welding, the metal is heated under a layer of flux (quartz sand, borax or table salt) to a white-hot temperature, one end of the strip is placed on the other and welded with hammer blows.

Volutes are inserted into the finished frame and connected to the frame using rivets or interceptions (thin staples). To make the item look “antique,” ​​the ends of the volutes are finished with a tight ball or paw, and the joints are covered with interceptions.

The central pattern of the other lattice consists of eight identical C-shaped scrolls. Here, too, you must first make templates, bend the curls according to them, punch holes in them for rivets and assemble them into a frame.

It is somewhat more difficult to make candlesticks and flower stands - here you need to combine several technological operations. For example, to make a three-arm candlestick, you need to forge 3 bent base brackets, 2 candle brackets, 3 plates and a central rod. For the central rod, take a square-section blank. One of its ends is clamped in a chair vice, a wrench or gas wrench is put on the other and twisted in the longitudinal direction. Cold metal has a larger pitch, hot metal has a smaller pitch. If you need to twist a large number of identical workpieces at the same angle, put a restrictive pipe on the workpiece and twist it until the knob rests on the pipe. To obtain a variable pitch, the heated metal is cooled with a wet cloth as it is twisted, or the workpiece is heated unevenly along its length. Finally, a small cylindrical tip is pulled back on the rod to attach the central plate.

To make plates for candles, flowers, rosettes, you need to cut the metal and cut it along the contour with shaped chisels. After this, using mandrels, hammers and chisels, the product is given the intended shape and a central hole is punched for fastening. A large number of identical rosettes can be made by stamping with an elastic tool (this method was known to the ancient Scythians in the 7th century BC). A blank of thin material is placed on a stamp with any relief. soft metal, an elastic gasket (lead sheet or thick rubber) is installed on it and a strong blow is applied to the gasket. To protect the lead from cracking, the edges are grabbed with a bandage made of a steel ring. The blank produces a reverse copy of the relief. In this way you can stamp flowers, rosettes, etc. The stamp is made of metal, stone and even hard wood. The final assembly of the candlestick is done using rivets or forge welding.

Making lights requires great skill. In the 18th-19th centuries, the light was one of the most common household items; they tried to decorate it in every possible way. The blacksmith who forged the light put all his soul and skill into the work. When forging lights, many techniques are used, ranging from bending to forge welding. The central, main rod, as a rule, has an axial curl; from below it is cut with a chisel, usually into four parts, and attached to a massive base ring. Often the rod is decorated with curls or snakes, which are riveted or welded. The greatest attention is paid to the “head” of the socialite. For splinters, splits are made by longitudinally cutting vertical rods, and for candles, a sleeve is forged.

Using approximately the same technology, it is possible to produce a modern table lamp or floor lamp. Beautiful forged racks are made from two or four rods cut along the axis and twisted. After cutting, the branches are expanded, forged, and then twisted at a small angle (see figure). An interesting twist can be obtained from several thin rods welded at the ends. During twisting, it is necessary to push the rods slightly along the axis with a hammer blow.

A cone of twisted metal is often made above the lampshade. Curling it is also not an easy task. First, the rod is pulled back, and then one part of the workpiece is rolled into three or four turns. The opposite end of the rod is secured in a vice and rolled in the same way. After that, two twisted figures are placed one above the other and after the next heating, the entire cone is stretched to a certain length using mandrels, a hammer and a chisel. The base of the lampshade can be made of cut metal. In Rus', valances were made from perforated metal to finish the eaves of roofs, the ridges of gables and drainage pipes. This work is not very difficult, although painstaking. A design is applied to the sheet blank, and then a notch is made using chisels on an anvil. In order not to spoil the faces of the anvil, a sheet of soft metal is placed under the workpiece. To punch a large number of shaped holes, special punches and dies are usually made.

To create identical patterns on sheet metal, you can also use embossing using matrix boards made by casting followed by engraving. This type of processing is called basma. A sheet of metal 0.2-0.3 mm thick is placed on the matrix board, then a cushion made of lead or sheet rubber is placed, and it is struck with a wooden hammer or clamped in a vice or press.

Wrought iron lanterns or lamps are often decorated with acanthus leaves and curls. They are made from sheet material. First, the product is unwrapped, then it is cut out along the contour. The given shape is given using special hammers and mandrels. The leaves are connected to the product using rivets or forge welding.

Forged metal can be used to decorate doors, gates and gates in an interesting way. The main decorative element of doors and gates in Rus' were zhikovins ( special kind hinges), door handles, overhead ax locks and locks.

Zhikovinas were forged from thick sheet material. At one end the bushing for the axle was bent, and at the other end a decorative finish was made in the form of reds or curls (see figure). To make curls, the main strip was cut into longitudinal strips, which were then unforged and shaped into curls. The surface of the zhikovins was decorated with notches, dots, circles and other ornamental elements. Forged surfaces were often “stuffed” - using smoothers and a hammer they were given a faceted surface.

The door ring, or knocker, is made by bending a round rod, and the bead in the middle of the ring is made by upsetting and then forging with crimps. The cover for the chime is cut out of sheet material and decorated with ornaments.

Ax locks look very impressive on wooden gates. The central part of the ax plates has a beautiful perforation, under which colored materials are placed - this decorates the gate. Caskets, chests and headrests were previously made with the same decorative perforated overlays.

In conclusion, we note that forged and perforated metal looks very good both independently and in combination with colored glass, ornamental stone, tinted wood and smooth fabrics.

Skills blacksmithing, as well as profession - blacksmith, probably originated in those distant times that we call the “Iron Age”.
The first metal objects discovered during archaeological excavations were made almost 5,000 years ago. Early man lived by hunting and gathering wild plants. He hunted with the help of stones, wooden clubs, large bones and sharpened wooden spears. The problem was that cobblestones, dubye and bones require a rough and heavy force, and imply close contact with the prey. The point of a primitive dart, thrown at a distance from the chosen target, often turned out to be not a strong enough weapon to pierce the skin of an animal. Agriculture in our understanding, it did not exist as a current, since poorly turned bones and wood broke on the ground. Everything changed with the discovery of metal and the development of the skill of its preparation.

Someone, apparently by accident, discovered that certain types of rock, under the influence high temperature soften and then, when cooled, harden. This material and its exposed properties were used to create simple tools such as knives and scrapers, and eventually to produce spear and arrowheads that were much harder and sharper than those made from stone.
People who knew how to heat and shape metal into an arrowhead or spearhead, and who could make iron tools suitable for farming, were humanity's first technical experts of their kind. With the ability to cultivate farmland for food, as well as hunt more efficiently, life became easier and blacksmiths became in great demand.

The primary focus of the early blacksmiths was on making deadly weapons. It was easy to create weapons for warfare from weapons for hunting - the same arrows and spearheads can be used both for hunting animals and used against people. IN Peaceful time when there is demand for military weapons was declining, blacksmiths had to produce other products to earn their livelihood. It was during these periods, in the ancient past, that blacksmiths learned the more complex aspects of their specialty and began making household items for everyday use, such as vases, urns, goblets and the like...

Blacksmiths were forced to “keep up the brand”, improving their skills to meet the ever-increasing needs of a discerning clientele.

Of course, over time, blacksmiths learned to produce more and more complex and advanced weapons and equipment, ranging from knives and swords, crossbow triggers, to shields and armor, and then guns along with agricultural products, horseshoes and plows.

The patron of blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans and sculptors, one of many in the ancient Greek pantheon of gods, was Hephaestus. He was worshiped and revered as the god of technology, metal, fire and metallurgy. He was identified with natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions and forest fires, and many of his forges were built in volcanic craters.

Greek artists, as a rule, depicted Hephaestus as a bearded man riding a donkey, holding a hammer in his hands, and his symbols are considered to be: a hammer, tongs, an anvil, and a brazier.

With the advent of the industrial era, the blacksmith became one of the "founders" technical progress. It was he who created the components and parts for assembling the machines that brought about the industrial revolution. As machines became larger and more complex, blacksmiths with the appropriate skills were needed to produce the necessary parts for them. By the end of the 19th century, the factories that had been erected were producing metal in huge volumes and less labor intensively than blacksmiths could.
The sad thing is that the machines in the construction of which the blacksmiths took an active part soon replaced them. However, in the sixties of the last century, metal began to be increasingly used in areas related to architecture and furniture production. Demand for artistic ironwork has grown, and ironworking is still a viable and growing business today, although not as popular as it once was.

Blacksmithing - the shaping of heated metal using a hammer and anvil - has been around for over a thousand years. Without the knowledge of hot metal forging, we would still be living in the Stone Age. Without blacksmiths there would be no tools, cars and trains, or modern industry. And this is just the practical side. Blacksmiths of former times produced many highly artistic products. Openwork bars on windows with complex patterns made of metal, strong and reliable gates, and ingenious locks still decorate and protect ancient cathedrals, castles and palaces around the world.

Blacksmithing is the profession of a blacksmith.. All that is required is metal, fire, water and wind. And, of course, the inspiration of the artist-blacksmith. What could be simpler: heat the metal until it glows red, and then place it on the anvil. Iron, when heated to a certain temperature, becomes pliable and soft, that is, malleable. The artist can only give the workpiece the desired shape with a hammer or other available tools.

The product of a blacksmith's work is called wrought iron or wrought iron. An iron alloy called wrought iron was widely used in the past and was used until about the twenties of the last century. Wrought iron has high mechanical properties, especially useful in hot forging. Products made from it are very corrosion-resistant, even in sea water. Today, most iron products are made from mild steel, which is easily available and cheaper. However, real forged products are slowly returning and occupying their niche, since they have unique characteristics and a very beautiful textured surface.