Posts Tagged: black iron
It’s all about Hand Forged Iron
Posted by on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 in - leave a comment
• Hand forged iron is incredibly desirable among those seeking a look that is both classic and beautiful. Hand forged iron is noted for its strength and durability, as well as its authenticity, but why? Before one can best appreciate the benefits of hand forged iron, one must understand the …
Taking Care of Hand-Forged Iron Hardware
Posted by on Friday, September 14, 2012 in - leave a comment
Hand-forged iron hardware adds a strikingly beautiful period touch to doors, drawers, cabinets, and other areas of the home. In designing such handles, pulls, hinges, and other pieces, Horton Brasses employs the same process used to create 18th century iron hardware, giving each a custom look that …
Sale!
Posted by on Friday, June 8, 2012 in - leave a comment
It is a rare thing, but we are having a sale and we are having one right now! We are discounting our cainet sized H and HL iron hinges. These are a fully forged blacksmith made product. Each one is crafted by hand with a hammer, an anvil, and a coal forge. Why are we having a sale? Because … read more »
One Heat
Posted by on Thursday, February 9, 2012 in - 1 comment
• Small stock heated in the forge cools quickly. This short video shows the shaping of an HF-19 ring grip. The cusps have been forged on each end of the stock and the screw holes punched. • The shaping of a grip is quickly done with the proper heat and tools. We start out with two batches of …
What is Wrought Iron?
Posted by on Monday, December 12, 2011 in - leave a comment
In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, blacksmiths • had a very narrow range of materials to work with under the • hammer. There was wrought iron, wonderfully malleable, and • three types of high carbon steel. • Wrought iron isn’t available to smiths today. What we have …
A Shop Shaded by Trees
Posted by on Friday, September 9, 2011 in - 1 comment
Under the spreading chestnut tree / The village smithy stands • -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • The blacksmith shop, along with all the other buildings on our • property, is heavily shaded by trees in the summer. We did this • deliberately when we laid out the buildings, orienting them so …
What’s It?
Posted by on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 in - 1 comment
At gatherings of blacksmiths, a frequent feature is the “What’s It?” display. In this display are tools from old shops, many of which were individually made by smiths to perform specific jobs. Sometimes the tool in the “What’s It?” display is so specialized and idiosyncratic that the smiths at the …
Using a Power Hammer
Posted by on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 in - leave a comment
While most of the forge work in the shop is done by hand using a hammer and anvil, we do at times use a power hammer. Ours is used to rough out forgings, the work done in traditional shops by the apprentice, where brute force is more important than precise blows. • Diderot Hammer • Power …
Blacksmith’s Riveting, Brazing and Welding, part 2
Posted by on Friday, June 10, 2011 in - leave a comment
In our previous post we talked about how we use mechanical joints, brazing and electrical welding to fasten metal parts together for tools and jigs in the shop. In the work we do for Horton, we use only riveted fastening: we head pins for hinges much like we’d head a rivet, and in making Suffolk …
Blacksmith’s Riveting, Brazing and Welding, part 1
Posted by on Thursday, June 9, 2011 in - 3 comments
There is a great book by Jeannette Lasansky titled "To Draw, Upset and Weld: The Work of the Pennsylania Rural Blacksmith, 1742-1935" that was published 30 years ago. We’re taking a bit from the title in the next two posts in order to begin to describe how blacksmiths fasten two pieces of metal …