Standard Blacksmithing, Horseshoeing and Wagon Making: Containing: Twelve Lessons in Elementary Blacksmithing Adapted to the Demand of Schools and Colleges of Mechanic Arts: Tables, Rules and Receipts Useful to Manufactures, Machinists, Engineers and Blacksmiths

Shoes

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

"If the iron be blunt,

And he do not whet the edge,

There must be put to more strength."

—Solomon.

Only ten years ago, the blacksmiths, wagonmakers, and horseshoers who read a trade journal, or a book devoted to their trade, were few and far between. It is not what it ought to be now, but it is moving in the right direction.

What would a person think of the physician who boasted of the fact that he had never read or subscribed for a medical journal? We would not trust him to experiment with our health, much less place our lives in his hands, when we knew that the time spent by a medical student at the college is hardly enough to acquaint him with the names of the different diseases and herbs used for medicine. The healing of diseases is something he must learn through practice or experiment. Then, if he is too selfish to profit by the experience of others, he must begin the experiments himself; and that means that many must die to make this man wise. We have this class of self-sufficient people in all walks of life; and mark it down, they never will amount to much. There are mechanics who know all the latest rules and tricks of sport life, from prize fighting and foot ball down to solitaire, but they have never learned the A, B, C of their trade. These are, as a rule, the knockers, the men of great cry and little wool, men who have mastered an ism,—braggardism. But it is consoling to know that this species is dying out fast, for here, as everywhere else, only the fittest will survive.

Solomon dubbed the blacksmith father of all mechanics; and so he is, and he can point back to Tubal Cain as the first artificer in his trade. We would expect that followers of such a trade should stand at the head and in the lead, when it comes to intelligence and general knowledge, in comparison with other mechanics; but I am not sure that he does. Only 20 per cent, of the blacksmiths of the United States have read a book or a magazine devoted to their trade, and when we look at other countries it is worse yet; but an awakening has begun, and I hope the smiths will remember to strike while the iron is hot.

Of course, trade journals should be read with discrimination, for these papers are edited by men without practical experience; hence we find many misleading articles appear from time to time.

There is, so far, a lack of system in our trade. We have no authority. Every beginner imagines he is the best mechanic in the land, and what he does not know is not worth knowing. I often hear this remark from people in other walks of life: He is a good mechanic; he is the best blacksmith in the state; while the fact in many a case is that he is the biggest lubber and bungler in the state. I never saw a man, no matter how poor a blacksmith, but what some one would think him a master in his trade. I hold that there is no trade where there is so great a per cent, of poor workmen as in the blacksmith’s trade, because the blacksmith’s trade is a hard trade to master, and, no matter how clever a young man might be, he will never be an all-around blacksmith in less than ten years, and many will never learn the trade.

The blacksmith must not only be a mechanic, but he should also be an artist. The work must be right in construction and beautiful in design. Then, when it comes to the working of highly carbonized steel, how few, how few, who know how to handle it without ruining it! Then, again, the simple-looking process of welding. There are smiths whose good welds are accidental. Now, why is it so? Because we have no system of learning the trade.

After three months’ apprenticeship with a bungler, many a young man hangs out his shingle and advertises for work he never learned to do. The man who has not learned the elementary rules for a trade or a profession will never be efficient. On the other hand, the man who has learned these rules has learned the A, B, C, he is on the right path, and time and perseverance will bring him out right.

We visited the manual training school (slojd) in our city, not long ago, and when I left I felt sorry for both the scholars and taxpayers. These scholars imagine, now, that they are mechanics, since they are able to make a few articles; but I hold that this training will harm them through life. They were pegging away like a woodpecker, without system or order. The positions of their bodies and of the handling of the tools were awkward and unnatural. If an old carpenter had been called in as a teacher, he would soon have given them some instruction in this respect that would have been a help to them in after life.

It will be our aim, therefore, to present a book that will be a beginning to a better system, or, rather, a beginning to a system. We shall begin with a series of lessons, giving the elementary rules and steps necessary to successfully master the trade.

HORSESHOEING.

Horseshoeing is a distinct trade, but to most people blacksmithing and horseshoeing are synonymous terms. There are thousands of smiths who have never nailed on or made a horseshoe, and there are a great number of horseshoers who cannot be termed smiths in that sense of the word, for their knowledge of blacksmithing is limited to the fitting of horseshoes. Sometimes we find a olacksmith who is a fairly good shoer, but we shall never find a horseshoer who is a good blacksmith; but in the smaller towns and country shops the smith must practice both trades.

In no other trade has there been such a great confusion in the last decade as in the horseshoer’s. Every horseshoer, with few exceptions, has his whim or hobby. They are mostly one-idea men. The shoe is shaped a little different at the heel, and that is it to one man. Another believes in side-weight shoes, another toe-weight shoes, another bar shoes; and many have such faith in their fad that they can make any old nag compete with Dan Patch for championship of the world, and cure diseases of all kinds simply by shoeing with the right kind of shoes. From their talk, you are certain that they can subdue any disease, from glanders to corns. And I warn the horse owner against the toe-weight farrier, for he might put on such toe-weights in front that the front quarters of the horse might run away from the hind quarters.

To follow all these whims would require a large volume alone, and we assure the mechanic or apprentice who wishes to know the facts that we shall not be guilty of any hobbyism of any kind, but give the rational ideas and facts. We do not believe in faith-cure shoeing.

WAGON MAKING.

Wagonmaking has also become an almost extinct trade outside of the large wagon factories; and we meet a very old man, when we meet one who has made wagons. This trade, or what is left of it, is also performed mostly by the farrier or the smith; and to tell the truth, the work is not always the best, for a jack of all trades is a failure. But when we have not the wagonmaker, and the work must be done, we must excuse the farrier or the smith for their shortcomings. In many cases, lack of knowledge is the cause of a poor piece of work. This volume will give the smith or farrier, as the case may be, information on such work, which is regarded as a trade secret with wagonmakers, and must be understood in order to make the wheels go around. We shall begin with forging, and take up the different kinds of work that come within the scope of a modern blacksmith, horseshoer, and wagonmaker.

CHAPTER II.

Now there was no smith found in all the land of Israel to make swords and spears.—I Sam. 13, 19.

Tools, and good tools, are the first essential to a mechanic’s success. The tools should be suited to the work. It is no use trying to make a square hole with a round punch. The tools should also be kept in good condition and in their places. The aphorism, A place for everything and everything in its place, is very appropriate in regard to tools. Neither should we forget that a man is known by the company he keeps, and a mechanic by the tools he uses.

Tools, now-a-days, are mostly bought. The smith even buys his tongs and chisels; but it is so in regard to almost everything that is used by the smith in his trade. It is ready made, and sold by the manufacturers. The result is that we have smiths who are not smiths.

I often meet young, unthinking smiths who boastingly ask: What would the old-fashioned smith do if he could come back and had to do our work? He would not be in it, would he? The old-time smith, if he could come back and see the manufactured tools, and all the articles he used to make by hand sold ready made to the smith, he would evidently exclaim: How easy; no smithing about it. Just put it together; it is all ready made.

LESSON I.

The first thing for the amateur smith, as well as the apprentice, to learn, is how to use the tools; also how to place them. Most of our blacksmith shops lack order. The forge and the anvil are so crowded together that it is almost impossible to get in edgewise between them. And in most cases the anvil is placed too high. The distance between the fire—not the forge—and the anvil should be from six to seven feet. The anvil should be just high enough to toudi the knuckles of the smith’s hand when it is closed and the smith stands erect at the anvil. This will give the right height for all smiths.

Fig. 1. Correct Position.

The anvil block should be a square block, the size of the foot of the anvil, and not like the chopping block in a butcher shop, as we often find. Nothing can be more awkward than a large block with all kinds of tools on—the anvil in the center, and the smith stretching out in a half circle, trying to reach out far enough to reach the anvil. When we see a mechanic with these arrangements, we know he is rated in the third class.

Correct position and composure of the body must be attained—First, for the ease it gives in performing the work second, it lends grace to the movements, which we should strive to gain, for it is very painful to look at an awkward mechanic, and such a workman will never succeed as well as the easy workman, whose movements are both correct and graceful.

Figure 2. Incorrect Position.

In looking at Fig. 1, p. 7, you see a smith with free and easy position. Fig. 2 is the opposite to this. Here is a third-class man. Just mark his awkwardness. He presses his elbows against his rib. When you see a smith of this kind, you can rest assured he would not command a very high salary if he were to work for another, for he is a bundle carrier; that is, he squeezes his arms against his sides as if he were afraid he would drop something. It is generally the case that he also turns his toes in, forming a triangle.

LESSON II.

THE SLEDGE.

The right use of the sledge is important. The helper should stand in front of the smith and anvil, and not to one side. When we see a helper standing either at the butt or the horn-end of the anvil, we know that he has not received the first lesson in striking.

Fig. 3. Correct Position.

In Europe it is customary to hold the sledge so that the handle will be under the arm,—the right or left, as the case may be. In this position, it is impossible to strike hard or endure,-for the helper must first put one arm around to the other side, which is an unnatural position.

Let the apprentice take hold of the sledge handle in such a manner that the hind hand will hold at the extreme end of the handle, and the fore hand slide up and down as it best suits, to make the work easy. See Fig. 3. Another position must be taken in swinging the sledge. The apprentice should take hold of the extreme end of the sledge with both hands, and let the sledge describe a perpendicular circle. After the sledge has struck the iron on the anvil, it should drop straight down to the floor. See Fig. 4A.

Figure 4. Swinging the Sledge. Incorrect Position.

THE FIRE.

A poor smith makes a poor fire, and a poor fire makes a poor weld, and a poor weld makes a poor job. It is a fact that very few smiths have learned the art of making a good fire. First clean out all clinkers and cinders; then take some shavings and set them on fire; let them burn well down; then take a handful of dry, small green or fresh coal, and sprinkle this on top of