[TheForge] Historical type Forge

Thu Apr 24 11:21:00 2003

Good for you Al. You'll love doing this for kids. Be sure and create a barrier between you and them as they'll walk up and stick there hand in the forge and ask if it is hot. They'll get in your tools --in general, they'll pick up anything they can reach. Don't expect parents to oversee their kids.

First off, forges were generally not portable in the pre-1840 era. A blacksmith was stationary and business came to him, not vice versa. Remember, this was before there was any rolled steel in America, so sheet metal would not have been available. The forge you are trying to replicate was most often made of brick (or stone) and mortar. I've seen a friend take faux brick and attach it to plywood sides to give the impression of old but still to portable and light.

Smiths were working almost solely in iron at this time and would only steel an edge of an axe or knife or some other specific application. 

The forge then relied on forced air from a bi-fold bellows, often 6' from end to end and over 3' across. These are still available if you will look at antique shows and on eBay. Put an add on the ABANA website. Using one requires more energy, but it lends a wonderful image to the forge. 

There is a high probabilty your anvil would have been a Mousehole, manufactured in England. Most probably it would be this London-pattern in styling. There is a smaller probability it could be an earlier colonial style still in use, made by numerous small foundrys in America. Mouseholes are much easier to find and cheaper than Colonial anvils. Also, Colonial anvils should be preserved not used-- I would think there is little reason to actually work on one today. Kids won't appreciate you using an authentic anvil anyway. They just want to see the sparks and transformation metal goes through.

I demostrate 3 days a week at an 1880s Old West village. Believe me, authenticity is completely lost on 99 % of all spectators. I use period equipment (crank blower, Hay-Budden anvil, post vise) but almost no one knows new from old except if it has rust on it or not. The public just hasn't been exposed to blacksmithing enough to know how they use to do it. In short, you can get by with a later depiction of smithing and the message will still get across.

Contact Rob Lyons at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. He is their head blacksmith. OSV does an authentic depiction of Colonial era smithing down to their clothing. They are online. He might also have plans for a brick forge. 

Let me know if I can help. Also, attention span of kids is very short-- you are competing with computer games, remember? So you will only be able to forge simple items and hold their attention, like nails, wall hooks etc., Do tapers, bends, twists and other 5 minute projects. I do work on bigger projects but I have slightly more adults than kids.

Best of fortune in your endeavor. Feel free to contact me off list at [email protected].

Reynolds

 --- On Thu 04/24, Al McClure < [email protected] > wrote:
From: Al McClure [mailto: [email protected]]
To: [email protected]
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 08:20:55 -0400
Subject: [TheForge] Historical type Forge

<br>I am wanting to build a portable forge that would be very close to a correct<br>type used in pre-1840 time period.<br><br>Can anyone point me in the right direction to find the plans for such a set<br>up?<br><br>What I will be using this for is for demonstrations for our boys ministry<br>(Royal Rangers / FCF) to demonstrate how things were made by hand during<br>this time period.<br><br>All help is appreciated and wanted.<br><br>Alfred McClure<br>Griffin, GA<br><br>____<br>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge<br>theforge mail list group photo site is<br>http://www.photoaccess.com<br>Login:  [email protected]<br>password:  anvil<br>___________<br><br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge<br>theforge mail list group photo site is<br>http://www.photoaccess.com<br>Login:  [email protected]<br>password:  anvil<br>___________<br><br><br>

_______________________________________________
Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!