[TheForge] Peter Ross' Machine / Hand Mentality

[Vincent Nakovics]

I posted this on my blog (www.happyhavenforge.wordpress.com)  after reading and thinking about Peter's 1998 speech, I have been acquainted with Peter, Ken Schwarz and Shel Browder since 99'. Reading his speech last week made me realize what an impact that Peter has had on the way that I approach work. Thanks Peter!

                          Precise Imprecision:


What????
This isn’t about Ying and Yang, not all so long ago I was used to working in
very precise measurements. I was, as
Peter Ross (Past Master Blacksmith, Colonial Williamsburg) puts it, in a
“Machine Mentality”. I have since then come to understand and respect to a
greater degree of what he
calls the “Hand Mentality”. I did not realize until I actually read Peter’s
1998 speech how much of an impact he actually has had on the way that I think
about Blacksmithing and reproducing 18th C. cannon carriages. I only
read his speech about 1-1/2 weeks ago. I have been acquainted with Peter since
1999 when I thought all I needed was to make Strake Nails for the carriages.
Things have changed since then. 


Picture of elevation plate hinge deleted  showing both hand and machine work
 
I
have had several of my fellow blacksmith enthusiasts laugh at me because I talk
about the metal telling you what it wants to be. Well sometimes in an artistic
manner that is what happens and I will shape a piece until it looks good or I
start to do something and decide that it looks better, rougher, etc. Not having had to perform
repetitive tasks at the anvil I probably lost out on many nuances of hand work.
I developed many bad habits and wrong thinking in the early years. In truth,
I never thought that Blacksmithing was going to be the major component of my
job, nor did the people that hired me. So I started out thinking one thing and
ended up with a very different outcome. Sounds familiar. 


The
major part of my employment involves making 18thCentury
Cannon Carriages for Colonial National Historical Park. I rebuild entire
carriages, woodwork, wheelwrighting and blacksmithing. When I first started to
build these carriages I was using a machinist rule, you know the ones marked in
Hundreds! Well the old books were quite specific about the sizes, in decimals
to the Thousandth. That standard was very hard to meet considering wood moves
more than a Hundredth of an inch in high humidity like we have during the
summer months in Virginia. Not the least of which those little lines were and
still are getting harder to read. I pressed on with the belief that the men who
did this in the 18th C. had nowhere near
the capability that we do today and if they could do it, I could do it! I
fought this process for several years until around 2004-2005. During my continuing research of carriages and building
processes I kept running across references to 1/64” as an error allowance in blacksmithing
and wheelwrighting. I acquiesced; this made life so much easier, at least now I
did not feel like I was being tested at every turn. I also started to reevaluate
the entire process that I developed to building carriages. They are not mass
produced so why would I try to make them that way. Hmmm once again. Keep in mind that I am on occasion talking to
Peter Ross, Ken Schwarz and Shel Browder of CW. All of whom have formidable
knowledge on 18th C. blacksmithing and
the processes that they used during that period. 


It
is about this time I think I started to change my attitude about blacksmithing
and this impacted the way that I approached wheelwrighting and the building of
the carriage trail. I did change to a certain degree, but I was still really looking
at a mass production process. If I cut all my parts for several carriages in
advance then it would surely save me time. Not so fast. Cannon tubes are not
all the same, even if the books say so, even if they are reproductions, i.e.
trunnions which are oblong vice round. The fact remains that there are
variances and they will affect
the work you do, much to your displeasure. But my focus here is really about
the changes to my blacksmithing processes. 


Since
2004-2005 I find that I do more
work at the anvil than ever before. I still use arc welding, A/O torch, etc.
but if it can be done at the anvil while I have the fire going I prefer to do
it there. That includes punching, slitting and drifting. Those skills really
didn’t exist to me and only after 2005 did I really start to perform them.
Drill it, ream it, weld it, etc. was the order of the day. What I began to
discover is that in many cases it is faster for me to do it at the anvil. Those
times it is not or time
constraints require, I still have the option to use a saw, drill or
brush. I do so with the understanding that the piece will never look like it
would if I did the work at the anvil. It just doesn’t. Try an experiment and
you will see it for yourself. While I have a long way to go to make something
as nice as Peter Ross and most of the Smiths I have learned from I take comfort knowing that my
efforts have lead to small improvements. I am not of the “Hand Mentality”
uniformly nor naturally, but I think I understand it and use it as a tool to make
items look more beautiful.  


Having
given Peter’s speech some thought over the past week I would have to say
that I have benefited more than I
realized from being exposed to him and CW’s staff in particular. That
exposure has brought me closer to or at least understanding the “Hand Mentality”.
 


So
do you, do I really need to use that cutoff saw? 


I
encourage you to read Peter Ross’ Keynote speech and please share your thoughts
on it. 


See ya at the Forge!


Vince


Note:
The elevation plate hinge has both hand and machine work visible in it.