Blacksmithing types and forges

By: Joshua Cannon

English IV 2nd Period

Spring 2017
Zimmermen
 Blacksmithing
Dont be fooled. Although much smaller than the katanas, the letter openers have the same spirit

as the swords. (Kiyochika Kanehama). When Kanehama said this he means this as the weapons

he makes are art and culture stemming from the country or area in which one is from and is a

major part of the history in which it originates from. Blacksmithing is an art there is no arguing

that and we can see that in our everyday lives from the door knob to the metal guardrail on any

porch, everything one will see what was made by a blacksmith or a machine. While a machine

will manufacture products at an astronomical rate and a blacksmith can only produce so many at

a time one can guarantee that if one were compare a letter opener from a machine and from a

blacksmith the blacksmiths letter opener will win the competition hands down every time, the

reason being is simple. A blacksmith works on his craft his entire life and can put in details and

control the heat of the forge which tempers the blade and makes higher quality steel and more

detail to every piece of art they create. A machine however uses a cast iron system where in

which the metal is poured into a mold and they then use that mold and give the product enough

detail for it to sell on the market and then the machine continues onto the next product therefore

decreasing the quality of the product. There are many different types of blacksmithing and the

different types are what decides the quality of the product and the durability of the metal, There

are four different types of forging. The different forging processes, swordsmithing, and

what fuels a blacksmith will need to use his skill.

Impression Die Forging

Impression die forging is completed when two dies are pressed together to help the metal form

this causes the metal to form flash that is gradually thinned and gotten rid of. Then one can upset
the forge which makes it to where the metal is Mushroomed and expands the metal further

although the metal is weaker this way it covers more area and can be used for guard rails,

candlesticks and more items which are generally not used in heavy duty jobs. The metal is

formed when the Die is pressed against it on all sides thus causing the metal to Bloom out

and fill in the space left over from when it was put it in the Die.

Cold Forging

Cold forging is a bit more difficult than what people can handle. Cold forging is done by having

2 or more machines go through a process in which they deform the metal at room temperature

and continue to go through several different processes for each machine. A complete cold

forging process includes Forward or backward extrusion, bending, cold heading, coining ,

ironing, piercing, squaring, blanking, threading, and trimming. The cold forging process does not

change the metals atomic structure and lets the metal keep its tensile strength and previous

qualities that would be lost in a Hot Forging process therefore it is better for making items that

need a specific strength to them, such as nuts and bolts, wire, and other materials that would

normally be used to put together machines or other items. The cold forging process also wastes

less material and has a better way for forming the shape needed rather than hammering away at a

slab of metal on an anvil for hours, Although in some peoples opinion that takes the joy out of

forging.

Open Die Forging

Open die forging consists of deforming a piece a metal without completely encasing the metal

the dies are located at the top and the bottom of the forge. The metal is altered as the dies

Hammer or stamp goes through a series of movement and forces the metal to assume the

shape in which one would want the metal to form. Metal formed in open die forging however
often need secondary machining and refining to have the same tensile strength required for the

finished specifications. There are many different types of tools that can be forged with open die

forging however but are generally simple and not complex in design. objects like discs, rings,

sleeves, cylinders, and shafts are made in open die forging. Custom shapes can be produced with

open die forging, though it requires the material to be repeatedly worked on through the

deformation process it increases the strength of the grain structure and therefore raises the tensile

strength of the metal higher than before. There are some additional benefits to open die forging

though and that includes that the metal with be more resistant to fatigue and open die forging

also reduce the amount of Voids in the metal.

Seamless Rolled Ring Forging

Seamless rolled ring forging is a more widely performed process, The seamless rolled ring

forging process plays a huge role in the manufacture of quite a few different components. It is a

way of forging inherently stronger materials and can be used for the different parts making up

quite a few different machines. Such as wind turbines which require higher quality stronger steel

for the gears within the turbine so that the turbines dont break. The seamless rolled ring forging

process starts with cutting a ingot to size and then upsetting the ingot to achieve mechanical

properties. This means that the metal that was began with is pushed between flat dies and

deforms the metal at the proper temperature in order to achieve the shape a blacksmith needs for

the metal. Then the center of the ingot is punched to create a ring which gives the forging process

the Ring in the name. The metal would then be put into a roller where it applies pressure to the

metal, as the pressure gets higher the diameter of the ring gets larger. That completes the

seamless rolled ring forging process.

SwordSmithing
The swordsmithing forging process is quite a bit more difficult than people may think, it requires

hours and hours of concentrated effort put into a piece of metal that is being refined, tempering

and shaping for anything to come out of it. Swordsmithing require one to repeated heat the metal

to temper the blade and it much different than one might think the process is. For example for a

proper blade to be formed in swordsmithing one must heat the metal they have and then hammer

the blade out and form it in the opposite direction of where one would normally think the blade

would go, this forms the spine of the blade which must be of a lower tensile strength than the

blade allowing the spine of the blade to take more and be more flexible than the hard edge where

a blacksmith will sharpen the blade. Next one must slow temper the blade which one must put

the sword in the fire heat it to red hot temperatures and then let the cool down in a bed of hot

coals for anywhere around 10-24 hours. This causes the blade to have the proper temper to

sharpen and finish the blade, after that a blacksmith would grind the black off of the metal

causing the Silver Sheen one would see in swords today. After the blacksmith grinds the black

off of the metal now a blacksmith has the chance to make the blade more aesthetically pleasing

adding designs such as deer or vines to the blade, even putting the blacksmith signature stamp in

the metal so that no one can take credit for the work someone has done except for the creator of

the blade. There are only three different types of Fuel forges can use, gas, coal, and coke.

Coke Forge

Coke is the coal equivalent of charcoal, in that charcoal has a lot of internal surface area and can

create hotter fires to be used in the forging process. while with coke a blacksmith will have to

pump air into the fire while also adding in more to get a hot enough flame to superheat the steel

to the point where the blacksmith can mold it into what they need, it does have some drawbacks

in that it requires maintenance to forge with.

 Coal Forge

Coal forges are often forges that were used by blacksmiths back when america was still a colony

of great britain and are generally 3 sided, made out of brick, and have a hood on the top leading

to a chimney. Coal forges use coal at a high rate like a coke forge and has the same maintenance

requirements to be able to get the forge hot enough, although they do require the blacksmith to

put coal into the forge more often than they normally would for the coke forge.

Gas Forge

Gas forges are forges that run off of propane or any other gaseous fuel that would create a flame

hot enough to mold steel with. Gas forges are often used by professionals because they don't

leave a residue on the metal and are easier to control the heat with. Using a gas forge one can

heat the metal in a quick way with little to no maintenance besides changing out the gas tank

once the gas is empty and replacing it with a new one.

Once one can get a forge they can create anything that can be imagineD with metal. Smithing is

an artform and there are many different types of smith, such as a silversmith or a goldsmith, The

type of smith one is normally said within the first of the name followed by smith, so

Blacksmith for example is a smith who works with black metals, or iron and steel while a

goldsmith works with gold or a silversmith works with silver. Depending on the type of smithing

one is taught they can work with the different metals to create decorations, jewelry, swords,

armor, even guardrails. The type of smith one is is important as it decides what work they would

normally be doing. For example a goldsmith unless trained properly to heat iron and steel would

not be able to make a blade due to the fact he is used to working with gold which is a metal with
a extremely low tensile strength and melt much more easily, requiring more in depth precision

work to heat the metal in the way the smith wants00 for it to be shaped.

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