[TheForge] thank you :)

Sun Jan 5 12:57:00 2003

You can take a look at the contents of the Mastermyr find from Scandinavia 
to get a good idea of what might have been in a tool box.

mike

At 04:48 PM 1/4/03 -0900, you wrote:
>Cool.
>
>Alternate universe stories have their up and down sides. Best of all, you
>get to make up what you want and the worst part is you have to make it up.
><grin>
>
>A number of things would be made on-site, primarily the forge itself. The
>forge is basically just a fireplace and can be nothing more than a campfire
>for many operations. A proper forge though will deliver a hotter fire and be
>much more economical with the fuel. Fuel is also something a smith would
>produce on-site or perhaps buy or trade for. anyway, the smith wouldn't be
>packing everything necessary.
>
>To start a journeyman smith probably wouldn't have a large tool kit, maybe
>not even an anvil and certainly not a large anvil. It would certainly
>contain at least one: pair of tongs, and a couple of hammers. Punches,
>chisels and various files. A hardy is a chisel cutoff tool with a square
>shank that fits in the square (hardy) hole in the anvil and I'm sure the
>smith would have one. A full size anvil isn't necessary, many smiths still
>use stake anvils which are basically large spikes with a small anvil for
>it's head, driven into the ground a stump, etc. Traveling bellows, maybe a
>tueyre iron of some type and other things I can't think of off the top of my
>head.
>
>Perhaps a hacksaw, shear or snips would be in there too but not necessarily.
>Things like fullers and swages are for more specialized work so are less
>likely to be found in a journeyman's traveling kit. Still, you could expect
>to find some specialized tools depending on where the smith's going, local
>trade/work requirements or personal expertise.
>
>For instance a smith working in or around a logging community would probably
>have shears, a number of saw sets, sharpening stones, saw tongs and perhaps
>even a sawyers anvil. There'd also be punches and drifts suitable for making
>large handled tools: Axe heads, adzes, pickaroons, etc.
>
>Perhaps your smith discovers a real talent for making and repairing
>cookware, vessels or other sheet metal work. Maybe making knives or blades,
>tools in general, etc. The tool kit would reflect this.
>
>Frosty
>------------------------
>If it ain't forged
>it ain't real.
>Wrought iron is.
>The FrostWorks
>
>Meadow Lakes, AK.
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Jane Skretvedt" <[email protected]>
>To: "TheForge" <[email protected]>
>Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2003 3:28 PM
>Subject: [TheForge] thank you :)
>
>
>You are all being very helpful, and I truly appreciate it!
>Donn, the link you gave me to the History page on the Appalachian
>Blacksmithing is very useful, and is helping me to clarify my thinking even
>further. I've been able to narrow my time period to the 18th century, which
>I hope will make for a more interesting story and there will hopefully be
>more information for me to find.
>I think my main confusion (and probably, what help to make my research more
>difficult) was because I'm bascially creating my own world. The topography
>and climate is similar to the Upper Midwest, but my main character spends a
>great deal of the story in seaside towns and villages. So, I don't know if
>that helps or not. I do know that I'm enjoying everything I've been reading
>(on and off-list).
>Rick, you said that "He would also, thru this time, build his tools of the
>trade. (As he learned how and what he needed.)" when referring to the
>apprentice. I know this may sound totally ingnorant, but which tools would
>he be making? Do you know of a website or book that I could look at to learn
>which tools and how they would be made? I'm guessing that after
>apprenticeship, he would carry his tools along while working as journeyman.
> >From what I've been reading so far, I'm having a hard time envisioning how
>he would be able to carry a double-jack, tongs, fuller, chisels, hardies
>(which I still am unsure of their exact usage), or am I wrong in assuming
>that he would carry all of his tools with him?
>Since my story isn't going to be be necessarily American in culture, I would
>love to read the stories you've uncovered, Dan. I've been checking our local
>library, but haven't come across anything just yet. But, I've still got the
>college library I can check into (need to get pay a user fee, and until now
>haven't felt the need to use their resources).
>Thank you again, everyone. And please, let me know if I'm being a nuscience.
>:)
>-Jane
>
>
>
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         Michael Linn
       Artist Blacksmith
      McCalla, Alabama
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http://afc.abana-chapter.com