Blacksmithing is a practice and trade passed down generations through apprenticeship. Traditionally, blacksmiths spent the first three years training under a master by watching him and then assisting him with simple tasks such as heating up the iron and carrying his tools around. Finally, they trained in more advanced tasks such as mending fences and melting iron tools. Modern-day blacksmiths create detailed designs in layers of metal that are useful for companies that deal with metal objects such as utensils and household goods.
Source of Income
Companies that deal with locks, tools, weapons and war crafts provide employment for blacksmiths. Metal blacksmiths require the understanding and knowledge of metal, its chemistry and melt and sharpen it. Before industrialization blacksmithing was a family affair and the father passed the skill to his son through apprenticeship; blacksmiths earned money by making and repairing simple tools for the community.
Making Tools
Blacksmiths acquire skills such as melting and bending iron which enables them to make and repair their own metal tools and utensils thus saving funds spent on buying and repairing metal objects such as cooking pans, hinges, horseshoes and cooking grates. Moreover, a blacksmith can customize any object made of iron to fit his desired design and specific needs.
Metal Art
Artists are always venturing and using different media for their art, including metal. With the skills they acquire, blacksmiths can mold and bend iron and other metal to form various pieces of art such as metal sculptures, wall art and functional art. Sites such as Sculptor.org showcase and sell this kind of art. Metal art serves both as an aesthetic addition and as an income-generating avenue.
Enhancement of Technology and New Inventions
While designers and engineers come up with various ideas and inventions, industrial blacksmiths and mechanics use the skills they acquire to help develop the ideas that deal with metal by building metal models that aid in proving an idea's practicality. Blacksmiths have contributed to advancement of technology from the railways to modern metal fabrication with computer-aided technology.
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