What kind of craft did they do on blacksmith street. The history of the evolution of blacksmithing. Forging in modern production

Forging - Living metal chained in eternity!

And do not compare with the wealth of Croesus,
fire flame elements,
When nondescript iron
Suddenly, he turns into a horse.
Or the openwork of the parapet,
The ringing sounded on the anvil...
And Juliet leans
Hand on the wrought iron balcony.

(Eva Skripnik)

Blacksmithing A long time ago... blacksmith craft can be called the first craft that requires professional skills and craftsmanship. For the townsfolk blacksmith craft it was akin to magic and the bearded blacksmiths were almost gods, like Hephaestus. But how else - under the low vaults of the forges, mysterious actions took place, similar to rituals: the fire was tamed, controlled deftly, liquid metal frightened and captivated 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 have watched 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 devilry, did not touch the blacksmiths, because who else would make shackles for prisoners, shoe horses, weld chains. Blacksmith forging was valued by all segments of the population. Being a skilled blacksmith was very profitable - the richest nobles applied for armor, the cost of which reached the cost of an entire village or even several, priests decorated temples with wrought iron 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 houses and temples with wrought-iron bindings to protect wealth; plowmen ruled scythes and plows, strengthened the rims of cart wheels and shod 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 their wrought-iron mirrors; artisans building houses turned for nails and hardware

the middle ages when blacksmith craft reached its peak, wrought iron could be found everywhere, and 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 art of that time, preserved in old cities.
With the advent of the age of industry, when conveyor technology, new methods of processing materials made a technical revolution, blacksmith craft began to lose their traditions. Automation of labor led to a reduction in the cost of most goods, mechanical blacksmith hammers appeared, which managed to eliminate the labor of a hammerer, automated forges with a blower. It became unprofitable for a blacksmith, apprentices left for factories and the traditions of blacksmith crafts began to be forgotten. The secret of making ancient damask steel has been forgotten, the legends of Damascus steels have remained in literature and in museums. However, the surfeit of mass-produced products in our time has stirred up the demand for blacksmith works and a new wave of blacksmiths has emerged, devoting time to finding new recipes for making patterned steels, new damask steels and new ways of processing artistic metal.

Blacksmith craft. New wave.

The craft of blacksmithing, reborn from the ashes of industrial enterprises, can be divided into levels of blacksmithing skill and methods of metal processing. Low skill level. Small firms, organized with the aim of making money on the recent demand for forging, rent garages and hangars with current ceilings and do not strive to maintain the quality level at the proper level, because the forging fashion can pass, why invest. Average level of quality. This is the most rational option - firms with an established team of blacksmiths and welders, with good workshops are fighting for the good name of the company and maintaining the required level of quality acceptable to the client. The highest level of quality is provided only by blacksmiths who work alone, blacksmiths with a name, independently responsible for their work, proud of their name and performing the most complex types of forging. Of course, the biggest money is taken for the name.

The article uses drawings and photographs from the materials of the company " Royal forging". Reprinting and quoting in any publications and on any sites is prohibited.

Publication date: 2008-04-15 (8553 Read)

Other materials of the section

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

In this article, we will slightly open one of the pages of blacksmithing art. We will acquaint lovers of technical skill with the beauty of forged artistic metal, tell about the basic working methods, tools and equipment.

blacksmith tool

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

Blacksmithing is associated with fire, hot metal, powerful hammer blows, so for convenient and safe work, you need to choose a suitable place for the forge, get a reliable tool, purchase a canvas apron, gloves and goggles. It is advisable to carry out all blacksmithing work in the open air, choose a place where you do not interfere with others.

The main tools of a blacksmith are a hammer, tongs, anvil, vise and forge. The hammer, or, as the blacksmiths call it, the handbrake, carries the main shock load, but therefore it must be especially reliable. It is better to wedge the hammer handle with a metal “brushed” wedge. When working "two-handed", that is, with a hammer, heavy war hammers or sledgehammers weighing up to 16 kg are used.

Forging tongs take out the heated blanks from the hearth and hold them during forging. Tongs should be light, with springy handles. To clamp the workpiece, a special ring is sometimes put on the handles of the tongs - a spanner. The jaws of the pliers must match the shape of the workpiece. Tongs with flat jaws are designed for flat sheet and strip workpieces, with cylindrical or corner jaws - for longitudinal gripping of round bars, with radius jaws - for gripping workpieces of complex shape.

Most blacksmithing is done on an anvil. There are several varieties of anvils, ranging from rectangular steel bars to anvils with multiple horns, various technological protrusions and holes. The most convenient in work 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 (bottoms) is inserted.

The anvil is set on a massive wooden deck-chair, which is buried in the ground and well tamped or poured with concrete. For small work, the anvil can simply be installed on the bench through a gasket made of thick sheet rubber. The good quality of the anvil is indicated by a high and clear sound when it is struck with a hammer. The surface of the anvil should be flat and smooth, and the edges should be free of kinks and chips.

For small work, a spur is used as a support tool, which is inserted with a shank into a square hole in the anvil.

The blacksmith's chair vise is designed for clamping workpieces. Vices are made of steel (therefore, unlike cast iron, they withstand shock well) and are securely mounted on a special chair or on the main pillar of the workbench.

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

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

Holes are punched with punches, in which the working part can be round, square or rectangular, depending on the shape of the punched holes.

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

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

For the manufacture of curls, meanders and curves from bars 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 horn is the most complex blacksmith's tool. 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 more 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 bugle. Another option is to place the hearth in a recess in the ground. Air is supplied by a household electric fan, a vacuum cleaner or a foot pump. The fuel is charcoal or coal, coke, peat, firewood and bark, as well as their mixtures. For small blacksmithing jobs, you can fold a refractory brick hearth using a blowtorch to heat it up.

Forged art products are usually made from low carbon steel grades. It is not difficult to select such steel: it practically does not give sparks on an emery wheel. The workpiece is heated over a calm fire to a light yellow (lemon) color, preventing the metal from burning. Stop forging with a dark red glow.

Working methods

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

Consider the technology of work using the example of small decorative grilles (see fig.), which cover batteries, windows that are installed in summer cottages and garden plots, etc.

The lattice consists of a frame in which two volutes (curls) are embedded. For the manufacture of volutes, strip or bar material is taken, the required workpiece is chopped off with a chisel or by cutting, and then a figure of a given shape is bent on a conical horn of an anvil or on a mandrel. A 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 one - 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 applied to the other, and they are welded with hammer blows.

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

The central pattern of another lattice consists of eight identical C-shaped curls. Here it is also necessary to first make templates, bend curls along them, punch holes for rivets in them and assemble them into a frame.

It is somewhat more difficult to make candlesticks, flower stands - here you need to combine several technological operations. For example, to make a three-horned candlestick, it is necessary to forge 3 bent brackets for the base, 2 brackets for candles, 3 plates and a central rod. For the central rod, a square section is taken. One of its ends is clamped in a chair vise, a crank or a gas key is put on the second and twisted in the longitudinal direction. Cold metal has a larger step, hot metal has a smaller one. If you need to twist a large number of identical workpieces at the same angle, put a restrictive tube on the workpiece and twist it until the knob rests against the pipe. To obtain a variable pitch, the heated metal is cooled with a wet cloth as it is twisted, or the workpiece is given uneven heating along its length. Finally, a small cylindrical tip is pulled on the rod to attach the central plate.

To make plates for candles, flowers, sockets, you need to cut the metal and cut it out along the contour with shaped chisels. After that, with the help of mandrels, hammers and chisels, they give the product the intended shape and punch a central hole 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 made of thin soft metal is applied to a stamp with some kind of relief, an elastic gasket (sheet lead 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 seized with a steel ring bandage. On the workpiece, a reverse copy of the relief is obtained. In this way, you can stamp flowers, rosettes, etc. The stamp is made of metal, stone, and even hardwood. The final assembly of the candlestick is done with rivets or forge welding.

Great art requires the production of lights. In the XVIII-XIX 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 his whole soul and skill into his work. When forging svetzets, 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 is attached to a massive base ring. Often the rod is decorated with curls or snakes that are riveted or welded. The greatest attention is paid to the "head" of the light. For splinters, splits are made by longitudinal cutting of vertical rods, and for candles, a sleeve is forged.

Using the same technology, you can make a modern table lamp or floor lamp. Beautiful forged racks are obtained 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 Fig.). An interesting twist can be obtained from several thin rods welded at the ends. During twisting, it is necessary to slightly upset the rods along the axis with a hammer blow.

Above the lampshade, a cone of twisted metal is often made. Curling it is also not an easy task. First, the bar is pulled, and then one part of the workpiece is folded into three or four turns. The opposite end of the rod is fixed in a vice and folded 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 with the help of mandrels, a hammer and a chisel. The base of the lampshade can be made of perforated metal. In Rus', gaps were made from perforated metal, which completed the overhangs of roofs, crests of gables and spillways. This work is not very difficult, although painstaking. A drawing is applied to the sheet blank, and then a notch is made with the help of chisels on the anvil. In order not to spoil the faces of the anvil, a sheet of soft metal is placed under the workpiece. For punching a large number of shaped holes, special punches and dies are usually made.

To create identical ornaments on sheet metal, embossing can also be used using matrix boards made by casting with subsequent 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 pillow of lead or sheet rubber is placed, and it is struck with a wooden hammer or clamped in a vice or in a press.

Wrought iron lanterns or lamps are often decorated with acanthus leaves and swirls. They are made from sheet material. First, the product is scanned, then cut down along the contour. The given shape is given with the help of special hammers and mandrels. The leaves are connected to the product with rivets or forge welding.

Forged metal can be interesting to decorate doors, gates and gates. The main decorative element of doors and gates in Rus' were zhikovins (a special type of hinges), door handles, false ax locks and masks.

Zhikovins were forged from thick sheet material. At one end, a bushing for the axle was bent, and at the other end, a decorative finish was made in the form of little chervonoks or curls (see Fig.). To make curls, the main strip was cut into longitudinal strips, which were then forged and shaped into curls. The surface of the zhikovins was decorated with a notch, dots, circles and other ornamental elements. On forged surfaces, they often made “stuffing” - with trowels and a hammer they gave them a faceted surface.

The door ring, or stucco, is made by bending from a round bar, and the bead in the middle of the ring is made by upsetting and subsequent forging on crimps. The overlay for the glass is cut out of sheet material and decorated with an ornament.

Ax locks look very expressive on wooden gates. The central part of the ax plates has a beautiful notch, 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 punched metal looks very good both on its own and in combination with colored glass, ornamental stone, tinted wood and smooth fabrics.

copper age

The first metals mastered by people were gold, silver, copper and its alloys. This is due to the existence of these metals in a native form, chemical resistance and ease of their processing in a cold state. The fusibility of copper made it the first metal smelted by man. The oldest finds of copper products date back to the 7th millennium BC. e.

Talking about the blacksmiths of the "copper age" is not entirely correct. Actually blacksmith forging was rarely used for processing, more often the product was cast.

Actually blacksmithing (impact) technologies for copper products at that time mainly concerned finishing - chasing, engraving, polishing or coating products (fragments) with blackening, gold or silver.

iron age

Around 1200 BC, the "Iron Age" began - a person crossed the temperature barrier and learned how to get iron from ores. An open fire (bonfire flame) can give a temperature of 600-700˚С.

Temperatures of 800–1000˚С are obtained in a closed pottery furnace, and there is already a possibility of obtaining grains of pure metal. Only in a cheese-blast furnace can temperatures up to 1100˚–1300˚С be ensured. and confidently receive reduced iron.

We need furnaces of a special design (with intensive pressurization), the metal melts and flows into the lower part of the hearth, so that the slag floats on it. Unfortunately, this technology leads to the carburization of iron and the production of cast iron, which is not amenable to forging.

Forging

Forging is the main technical action of a blacksmith. It is produced exclusively with heated metal, which fundamentally distinguishes blacksmiths from metalworkers, craftsmen in cold metal working.

A large number of identical shaped metal products can be made by stamping, which can be hot and cold. This method is also referred to as blacksmithing and plumbing.

Tools

In the forge you can find a lot of equipment, tools and fixtures. The main (mandatory) equipment includes:

• Horn (device for heating workpieces)
• Container with water (for cooling).
• Large (main) anvil.
• Blacksmith tools and accessories for manual forging of various types and purposes.

Only the main tools, equipment and devices are named and classified. In addition to them, there are many others, with the help of which blacksmiths used to perform a lot of specific operations, which are currently fully automated in industrial enterprises.

Products

Blacksmiths made a huge number of items necessary for human existence:

• tools
• weapon
• horseshoes
• building elements
• decorations, etc.

With the onset of industrialization, manual production was replaced by factory production. Modern blacksmiths, as a rule, are engaged in manual artistic forging and make piece products.

Nowadays, the term is also used in the sense of a worker in a forge and press shop (for example, "blacksmith-puncher")

In our time, blacksmithing is also in great demand. Forged furniture, fences, interior and household items. Probably, people will not be able to do without this profession for a very long time. Even technological progress will not replace the manual labor of a blacksmith - an artisan.

To shoe a horse, to forge a horseshoe, to make a complex figure for the interior - this is only manual work.

Surnames

Due to the fact that blacksmiths stood out from the general mass of the people earlier than others, and due to the fact that usually a blacksmith was a respected, fairly wealthy person.

One of the most common surnames in the world is based on this profession - the all-Russian surname Kuznetsov, as well as Koval, Kovalev, Kovalchuk, Kovalenko (ukr.), Kovalsky, Kowalczyk (Polish), Smith (English), Schmidt (German), Lefevre, Ferrand (fr.), Herrero (Spanish), Darbinyan (arm.), Mchedlidze (cargo.), Chkadua (Megr.), Azhiba (abh.), Sepp (est.), Seppenen (fin.) and so on.

Blacksmith in mythology, religion and literature

In the myths of ancient civilizations, the blacksmith god appears as a demiurge, the organizer of the world order, the initiator of the emergence of crafts. Often he is either a thunderer, or is associated with him (for example, he forges lightning), and also with the Sun.

He may be characterized by lameness, curvature, hunchback, etc. - in ancient tribes, defective boys who could not become full-fledged hunters or warriors were given to blacksmiths as apprentices.

In ancient times, blacksmiths could deliberately damage their legs so that they could not run away and join a foreign tribe. As a result, they became "master-priests" associated with secret knowledge, not only crafts, but also religious (hence the special mind of blacksmith heroes).

In some tribes, blacksmiths merge with kings. The mastery of blacksmithing was also attributed to mythical dwarfs, gnomes, cyclops, etc. In myths, a blacksmith is often a cultural hero.

Photo gallery

Helpful information

A blacksmith is a metal worker.

blacksmith craft

The main material for the work of a blacksmith is metals: iron (steel), as well as copper and its alloys (bronze ...), lead, noble metals. Blacksmith craft includes: free forging, blacksmith welding, casting, mountain soldering with copper, heat treatment of products, and so on.

"Metal of the Sky"

Man has known iron (Fe) for a very long time, but it was meteoric iron. Ancient chronicles speak of weapons made from the "metal of the sky", which belonged to heroes or generals. Products made of meteoric iron are easily distinguished by their high nickel content. But this resource did not satisfy the needs of mankind.

Locksmith is not a blacksmith

Originally, the word locksmith meant "locksmith", from the German lock (Schloss) or key (Schlüssel). In the future, before the appearance of machine tool masters, this was the name of all craftsmen who processed metal with cold. For example, blacksmiths and locksmiths can connect individual parts into a single product with one technique - riveting, but forging (forge welding) is exclusively a blacksmith's technique, just like soldering is a locksmith's.

About drawing

Previously, such operations were performed manually, now they have been completely replaced by mechanisms. For drawing (manufacturing) of wire, drawing boards were used. These are steel plates with a number of calibrated holes, the diameter of which increases with a given step. The blacksmith took a workpiece (rod), heated it along its entire length, processed (narrowed) one of the edges with a handbrake, inserted boards into the hole, on the other hand grabbed the end with tongs and pulled the workpiece through the hole. Thus, he evenly reduced the diameter of the workpiece and lengthened it (hood). Then the workpiece was released in the hearth and pulled through the next hole, of a smaller diameter.

Archetypal blacksmith

Blacksmithing is one of the oldest crafts. The blacksmith, earlier than other craftsmen, had to stop doing other things (for example, plowing, weaving, doing subsistence farming at the same time, and so on) and fully concentrate on his occupation, which requires rather complex technological processes. To other peasants (or nomads) this was not always clear and seemed mysterious. In addition, due to the danger of fire, blacksmiths usually settled on the outskirts, which created additional mystery. Therefore, blacksmiths were often considered shamans, later - sorcerers associated with the devil, dark forces.

Etymology of the word "blacksmith"

“treachery” (of the same root as the word “forge”; cf. Czech. kovářstvo = blacksmithing and “intrigues” (of the same root as the word “blacksmith”). In Russian villages, it was believed that a blacksmith could not only forge a plow or sword, but also heal diseases , arrange weddings, tell fortunes, drive away evil spirits from the village.In epic tales, it was the blacksmith who defeated the Serpent Gorynych, chaining him by the tongue.

Special positions

In "pre-Petrine" Russia, state blacksmiths were service people "according to the instrument" and received a salary from the state treasury. In the suburban Cossack regiments, blacksmiths were non-combatant Cossacks-"assistants" and took part in campaigns. In the cavalry units and horse artillery of the Russian army and the Red Army, until the middle of the 20th century, there were also full-time positions of blacksmiths.

Ancient characters

• Hephaestus - the ancient Greek god of blacksmithing, the first master god
• Vulcan - the ancient Roman god of blacksmithing, identified with Hephaestus
• Seflans - Etruscan deity of underground fire, blacksmith god, corresponds to the Roman Vulcan
• Telchines

Celtic and Scandinavian characters

• Goibniu is a Celtic blacksmith god whose name even comes from the word "blacksmith".
• Gofannon - analogue of Goibniu among the Welsh
• Thor - Scandinavian God of Thunder
• Velund (Volund, Weyland) - a blacksmith in Scandinavian mythology, a character in the Song of Velund in the Elder Edda. In the Arthurian cycle of legends, he is credited with the creation of the sword Excalibur. In German legends, with the advent of Christianity, he ceased to be a deity and became the name of Satan (in the German pronunciation "Woland") - see the character of Goethe's Faust, from where he migrated to Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. The lameness of Satan has the same roots as the lameness of Hephaestus
• Mimir - Dwarf blacksmith who taught Siegfried (also the blacksmith's son)
• the Irish blacksmith Culann, whose dog was killed by Cuchulainn
• Kalvis is the blacksmith god of the Baltic mythology, who “forged” the Sun, like the Finnish god Ilmarinen (see Kalevala), the Finno-Ugric Ilmarine, the Karelian Ilmoillin and the Udmurt god Inmar, also Telyavel

Slavic characters

• V East Slavic cue
• Perun - ancient Slavic god of thunder
• Svarog - ancient Slavic blacksmith god

Biblical, Christian, folklore and literary characters

• the biblical Cain, the murderer of the shepherd Abel, according to one of the apocryphal versions, was a blacksmith. Has a physical handicap - the so-called. the “seal of Cain” with which God marked him.
• Jewish Tubal-Cain (Tubalkain, Fovel), kabir, "father of all blacksmiths", 7th generation from Cain. In addition, this name is used in the ritual of the third degree of Freemasonry. Descendant of Cain in the 6th generation.
• blacksmith st. Eligius, Bishop of Noyon, (c. 588-660) - patron of gold and silver craftsmen and chasers.
• St. Dunstan, shoed Satan - patron of blacksmiths and jewelers
• Ilmarinen is a character from the Karelian-Finnish epic Kalevala.
• folklore hero Kosmodemyan (Kuzmodemyan)
• blacksmith Vakula, a character from Gogol's "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" - is the son of the witch Solokha and tames the devil
• cunning Lefty, Leskov's hero
• The blacksmith from Wootton Big - the hero of Tolkien's work of the same name
• Aule - Tolkien has the third most powerful of the Valar, the blacksmith of Arda, in his competence is solid matter and crafts; gnome maker; teacher of the Noldor, husband of Yavanna Kementari.
• Jason Ogg, the son of Nanny Ogg, is a minor character in Terry Pratchett's books. For generations, representatives of his family, blacksmiths, have been shoeing Death's horse.
• Bear-smith from "The Pit" by Andrey Platonov.
• Cossack blacksmith Ippolit Shaly from Mikhail Sholokhov's novel Virgin Soil Upturned.

Works of wrought iron of the XVII-XVIII centuries have historical and artistic value. In them, the originality of artistic images received a masterful embodiment in the material. The use of various methods of ornamentation, the richness and variety of patterns, the sense of the shape of the object make it possible to attribute them to the best achievements of Russian artistic metal.

Russian blacksmithing has a long tradition. It developed in ancient times. For centuries, experience has been accumulated, blacksmithing techniques have been improved. Simple, but requiring certain significant skills, various objects were made from wrought iron: they bent thick rods for svets and gate rings, keys and cuts, forged and pulled iron ribbons for chests and caskets.

It is difficult to trace the development of blacksmithing as one of the types of folk art in its entirety and consistency - a limited number of monuments have come down to us. It is also quite difficult to determine the time and place of their production, since items similar in nature and methods of ornamentation are found in different regions.

For many centuries in Russia there were crafts for processing iron. The history of their origin and development is connected with the sources of raw materials, with the growth of ore mining and iron smelting.

The demand for blacksmith art products was great, their sale was ensured by wide trade. They were transported all over Russia. In the 16th-19th centuries, significant forging industries were concentrated in Moscow, Ustyuzhna Zheloznopolskaya, Veliky Ustyug, Tula, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod. Each of these centers developed its own traditions, had its own talented and skilled craftsmen.

Blacksmith's craft played a significant role in the life of towns and villages. Craftsmen could shoe a horse and make a plow, forge a fence and make a new castle. But the names of those who, with skillful hands, made amazingly beautiful products, have irrevocably gone into the past.

From time immemorial, the craft of a blacksmith was revered in Rus'. His attitude was special. This occupation has always aroused a hidden interest among the people, the work of the master was surrounded by a certain haze of mystery and mystery. Not in vain, probably, in Russian fairy tales and songs, the blacksmith was the most cunning and smartest.

This is probably why the ability to smelt ore, correctly guess the additions to iron, and the heating temperature was recognized as almost miraculous. And, perhaps, by right, Kuznetsov can be considered the first metallurgists and chemists. In Rus', the production of flash iron was established early, so called from the word "crown" - a piece of metal obtained by processing ore. After the slag was mechanically removed from it, the red-hot ingot was subjected to forging.

The premises for the forges were always strong and reliable. They were usually located outside the village or city. After all, blacksmithing is associated with fire, so often forges were built closer to a lake or river, in case of a fire. Sometimes they were just earthy. But built from dry, large logs, they served for eighty to a hundred years. But in vain the people said: "You will survive two huts, but it is difficult to survive the forge."

A necessary accessory for any forge was a forge - a brick oven with a hole for an air pipe - bellows. The workshop equipment is simple: anvils, hammers of various sizes and weights, files and chisels, tongs and tongs for holding red-hot blanks and horseshoes. The master rarely worked alone. Only when forging small items could he get by with a white assistant. The assistant usually put coals on, lit and fanned the fire, and set the bellows in motion. The blacksmith threw a piece of iron into the fire and glowed it white. If a piece of iron was small, then with one hand the blacksmith took it out with tongs and put it on the anvil, and with the other hand he forged an object of the desired shape with hammer blows. This operation required considerable physical effort and skill. If a large piece was forged, then the assistant left the bellows, took the hammer and worked together with the blacksmith. Several times the iron passed from the fire to the anvil, and then returned to the fire again for further incandescence. At the end of forging, the master lowered the product into the water. Then followed the assembly and finishing of the product. This is hard and painstaking work. Since ancient times, craftsmen have known such techniques as welding, turning, cutting, polishing, and soldering. Knowledge of these processing techniques made it possible to manufacture various tools, weapons, and household items.

In the collections of artistic metal, the most valuable are the products of Russian blacksmiths of the 17th-18th centuries. These are the most diverse household items in terms of purpose and form - chests, svetets, cuts, keys, masks of locks, etc. They allow one to judge the high skill of nameless artisans.

In the 17th-18th centuries, blacksmiths used various methods of decorating products. They punched through patterns on iron strips, covered smooth surfaces with notches and engravings.

The products of the masters of Veliky Ustyug have features of a certain stylistic unity. Since ancient times, the city has been famous for its skilled artisans. But he was especially famous for his blacksmiths. Until now, the names of city streets (Kuznechnaya, Kuznetsovsky lane) keep the memory of local craftsmen. Strong and reliable chests were made here, bound with metal plates, thanks to which they looked elegant and beautiful; made locks, forged lattices, various small and large decorative ornaments.

But Veliky Ustyug chests were especially highly valued, which were made to order and presented as gifts. They kept valuables and documents, so ingenious locks were often cut into the wooden frame.

Two types of chests are known - caskets - "teremki" and "headrests". The most common and characteristic form was the "teremok" with a hipped lid. The “headrests”, which were placed at the head, had rectangular bases and sloping covers on the front side. The outer walls of the chests were painted with paint, covered with leather, covered with mica, and on top they were beaten with perforated iron sheets. Often the entire chest was completely surrounded by iron plates. In both cases, they emphasized the shape and proportions of the thing.

The ornament on the iron strips was made up of curly curls, bizarre leaves. They, as a rule, were located in a certain rhythmic order. Intricate patterns were applied to an iron sheet and cut through with a special punch. This work required a precise eye and high skill.

Fine welt patterns adorned door and chest hinges, the outer parts of locks and latches, and church utensils.

The top of the banner strengthened the flag banner. The place of production of the presented sample is unknown, but in its design, ornamentation techniques similar to the Volikoustyug caskets were used. A pattern of symmetrical wavy shoots with small curls is organically woven into the triangular shape. Motives are given soft, smooth outlines.

Characterized by the repetition of identical elements, the complexity of the pattern of intertwining stems, leaves. Plant forms are summarized. In the light, the ornament resembles a light openwork fabric.

Sometimes the punching technique was used in combination with engraving. An interesting and few items of this type include a mortise lock of the 18th century. Its outer shield is shaped like an axe. The contours of the object determined the location of the engraved incisions and the welt pattern. In the design of vegetative curls, there is much in common with the ornaments of iron strips for fettering chests. The massive shield of the castle is decorated with an openwork welt pattern. Small curls against the background of a mica lining look light and elegant. To shade the through ornament, the craftsman covered the smooth surface of the shield with small depressions in the form of dots, which were made using a special tool - a sharp chaser. The dotted pattern contrasts with the plastically processed through pattern.

Carved ornaments were varied. In the decoration of iron ribbons and locks, they are finely patterned, of a generalized vegetative nature. In the design of the mask of the castle, the master used a large plant motif. In the intricate pattern of the mask that framed the key hole, the wide and smooth movement of the stem is emphasized by the lush forms of the flowers. The generalized nature of the ornament is achieved by a planar interpretation of the details, and the through background reveals the pattern, its linearity, and a clear silhouette.

Pendants and brackets for lamps and chandeliers played an important role in the decoration of the interiors of cathedrals and churches. Such decorations were especially widespread in the 17th-18th centuries. These works make it possible to highly appreciate the technical achievements of the masters, their artistic flair in creating three-dimensional objects designed for viewing in space.

Forged brackets with details made of sheet iron were fixed in the walls. Large, sharp-edged leaves hid a curved rod, from which a lamp was hung. Flowers and shoots are riveted to the rod in different directions, so the bracket seems to float in the air, resembling a plant with lush flowers. The rounded edges of the buds and bent leaves are clearly outlined by chiaroscuro.

The dynamism and composure of the composition can be noted in the pendant for the chandelier. Elastic curls turned in different directions and thin iron plates-leaves are symmetrically located on the sides of the twisted rod and emphasize the direction of the spirals twisting inward. With the help of simple concise means, a decorative expressiveness of the object is achieved.

Looking at the products of blacksmiths, we come across things that are very close in shape and ornaments, but in a series of similar items we will not find absolutely identical ones.

The desire for organization and clarity of compositions and forms of ornament is also noticeable in the artistic design of everyday household items of the 17th-18th centuries.

The handle for chopping cabbage is decorated with horse heads. Their images are associated with ancient magical ideas of people. The image of a horse in folk art is endowed with strength and courage. He was a symbol - a "talisman", protecting from everything bad and sorrowful. Flexible animal heads and large curls on the sides of the cut give the object a beautiful outline. The rhythmic repetition of spiral curls combines the decoration of the upper part of the cut with the soft oval of the blade. The plastic balance of masses, symmetry, laconic clarity of silhouettes dominate here.

Blacksmiths also created lights - a once common household item, a kind of device for lighting a room. Without a torch, slowly burning down and falling in a trough with water, it is difficult to imagine a village hut. Not a single house could do without such a "lamp". Birch or pine chips were inserted into iron svetets. At the same time, the metal rod, to which the holders were attached, was pointed at the bottom so that it could be inserted into a special stand or fixed into the log wall of the house. In some cases, the rods were welded to round annular bases. With their proportions and silhouettes, the Svetets evoke an association with light blooming buds on high legs. A frozen flower in its curly shoots hides holders for torches. The usual height of the svetets does not exceed 1-1.3 meters, but they always seem higher, resembling flowers growing rapidly upwards. This impression is largely facilitated by the proportionality of the curls, fixed in pairs along the entire height of the stem.

On one of the svetets, the upper part is designed in the form of a stylized female figure. Such an image is an exceptional phenomenon. Perhaps this figure personifies mother earth, an image that symbolizes nature. With all the laconism and decorative expressiveness of the silhouette, the image retains echoes of its ancient content.

I. Boguslavskaya, V. Pushkarev - "Good hands skill"

It has its pros and cons, restrictions associated with time, the ability to move to study, and so on, if you are interested in institutions, follow the following link.

Option 2 - get a job as a blacksmith apprentice

I recently received an email from a visitor to a site about blacksmithing, it was about learning to be a blacksmith. Or rather, where to learn blacksmithing. It can be seen that people are interested in forging and there are people who want to work as blacksmiths. Therefore, I decided to write this post about where to find blacksmithing training. I think that my answer to the letter can help not only Andrey, but also everyone who wants to become a blacksmith.

There is not much time to write, so I quote the correspondence.

Hello, Alexey Valerievich.

I really like working with metal, but unfortunately, mastering this craft is very difficult.

A big request to you - can you tell me where you can unlearn a blacksmith and master artistic forging, do they take students in this specialty?

Thanks in advance, best regards.

I am glad that there are people who want to become blacksmiths. Answered:

Hello Andrei!

I received a letter from you with a question and I am happy to answer.

As for training as a blacksmith, if you are interested in a specific educational institution, then I can hardly help you, because I don’t even know where you live, in which region. But I'll tell you a more practical way: find a forge in your area and try to get a job as a blacksmith's apprentice. Even if it's for a low salary. So I did 12 years ago and have no regrets. It is much more practical than studying theory. You can work with masters of their craft and learn different subtleties not only from their lips, but also by watching how they work.

And if there are no forges in your area (although then all the more so, there are no forging educational institutions there) - then study for yourself, for example, with me on my website. After all, I myself am mastering artistic forging at home, having some experience as an industrial blacksmith and very little experience in artistic blacksmithing. I write about my business in a blog and also often skilled blacksmiths come to my site and also share their experience.

Option 3 - self-taught

If the first and second options did not fit, are undesirable or impossible, then there is a third - to study on your own from books and the Internet.

In fact, making a forge is not difficult. If you wish, you can forge something by equipping a place in the garage, shed, under a canopy. See. If you have a dacha or a private house, then you can do forging in the yard. , get a hammer and go. The blacksmith makes many devices himself, and you will do it with the help of and. If you have questions or doubts, ask, we will help with advice.

There is a lot of information on this topic on our website:

• The heading "" contains a lot of materials on the theory and practice of blacksmithing.
• The heading "" examines in detail the manufacture of specific forged products (tools and artistic forging).
• The heading "" teaches the basics from simple to complex, blacksmithing.

If you want to learn forging on your own, equip a forge with your own hands, but are experiencing difficulties, insecurity, you can