Blacksmithing came to us from ancient times, from the Stone Age. In those distant times, simultaneously with the processing of stone and wood, a person comprehended the secrets of blacksmithing. Many museums around the world store blacksmith tools of ancient times: small round stones with an annular belt - hammers, oval flat massive stones - anvils. Microscopic examination of the surface of these stones revealed traces of native metal. Reliefs depicting people working with stone hammers have been preserved on the walls of ancient Egyptian temples. For more than 10 thousand years, blacksmithing has become one of the most necessary and necessary productions, without which it is impossible to create a single machine and mechanism, not a single machine tool and spaceship. Today, the country's forges are equipped with the most powerful presses and hammers in the world, they are serviced by computer-controlled robots and manipulators.

In this article, we will slightly open one of the pages of blacksmithing art. We will acquaint lovers of technical skill with the beauty of forged artistic metal, tell about the basic working methods, tools and equipment.

blacksmith tool

A - handbrake - the main tool of a blacksmith. B, C - war hammer (sledgehammer) - hammer tool.

Blacksmithing is associated with fire, hot metal, powerful hammer blows, so for a comfortable and safe work it is necessary to choose a suitable place for the forge, acquire a reliable tool, purchase a canvas apron, mittens and goggles. It is advisable to carry out all blacksmithing work in the open air, choose a place where you do not interfere with others.

The main tools of a blacksmith are a hammer, tongs, anvil, vise and forge. The hammer, or, as the blacksmiths call it, the handbrake, carries the main shock load, but therefore it must be especially reliable. It is better to wedge the hammer handle with a metal “brushed” wedge. When working "two-handed", that is, with a hammer, heavy war hammers or sledgehammers weighing up to 16 kg are used.

Forging tongs take out the heated blanks from the hearth and hold them during forging. Tongs should be light, with springy handles. To clamp the workpiece, a special ring is sometimes put on the handles of the tongs - a spanner. The jaws of the pliers must match the shape of the workpiece. Tongs with flat jaws are designed for flat sheet and strip workpieces, with cylindrical or corner jaws - for longitudinal gripping of round bars, with radius jaws - for gripping workpieces of complex shape.

Most blacksmithing is done on an anvil. There are several varieties of anvils, ranging from rectangular steel bars to anvils with multiple horns, various technological protrusions and holes. The most convenient in work is a two-horned anvil weighing from 70 to 250 kg. On its front surface there are one or two round holes (12-15 mm in diameter) for punching holes in the forging and one square hole (35 X 35 mm) located in the tail area, into which a backing tool (bottoms) is inserted.

The anvil is set on a massive wooden deck-chair, which is buried in the ground and well tamped or poured with concrete. For small work, the anvil can simply be installed on the bench through a gasket made of thick sheet rubber. ABOUT good quality The anvil makes a high and clear sound when it is struck with a hammer. The surface of the anvil should be flat and smooth, and the edges should be free of kinks and chips.

For small work, a spur is used as a support tool, which is inserted with a shank into a square hole in the anvil.

The blacksmith's chair vise is designed for clamping workpieces. Vices are made of steel (therefore, unlike cast iron, they withstand shock well) and are securely mounted on a special chair or on the main pillar of the workbench.

A blacksmith cannot do without a backing tool. It is substituted under the handbrake or war hammer when performing certain operations.

A blacksmith's chisel differs from a metalwork chisel in that it has a hole (insert) for the handle. The working part of the chisel can be parallel to the handle or perpendicular. In the first case, the chisel serves for transverse cutting, in the second - for longitudinal cutting. For cutting workpieces without a hammer, a cutting is used, which is installed in the anvil socket, and a workpiece is placed on it and chopped with handbrake blows.

Holes are punched with punches, in which the working part can be round, square or rectangular, depending on the shape of the punched holes.

To level surfaces, smoothers with flat or cylindrical working surfaces are used.

Crimps are used as a paired backing tool to give forgings the correct cylindrical or prismatic shapes, and to speed up the drawing of metal - punchers. The upper part of the tool (tops) has wooden handles. The lower part (lowers or bottoms) is inserted with a tetrahedral tail into the square hole of the anvil. To disembark the heads of bolts and nails, special boards with holes are used - nailers.

For the manufacture of curls, meanders and curves from bars and strips, as well as parts from sheet material, a variety of shaped and profile mandrels, plates with holes for pins, grooves and cutouts are used.

The horn is the most complex blacksmith's tool. Stationary forges are usually installed near the main wall or in the center of the room, they serve as the heart of the forge. The pedestal for the hearth is made of metal, brick or stone. IN rural areas it is more often just a box with wooden, brick or stone walls, filled with compacted sand with clay and stones.

For work in the field, as well as for amateur purposes, you can make a simple portable bugle. Another option is to place the hearth in a recess in the ground. Air is supplied by a household electric fan, a vacuum cleaner or a foot pump. The fuel is charcoal or coal, coke, peat, firewood and bark, as well as their mixtures. For small blacksmithing jobs, you can fold a refractory brick hearth using a blowtorch to heat it up.

Forged art products are usually made from low carbon steel grades. It is not difficult to select such steel: it practically does not give sparks on an emery wheel. The workpiece is heated over a calm fire to a light yellow (lemon) color, preventing the metal from burning. Stop forging with a dark red glow.

Working methods

Forged metal requires a concise, finished design. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully approach the selection of the composition, work it out in sketches or mold it from plasticine. It is advisable to make templates of all elements from wire, and only after you are satisfied with the overall design and composition of the product, start forging.

Consider the technology of work using the example of small decorative grilles (see Fig.), which cover batteries, windows that are installed in summer cottages and garden plots, etc.

The lattice consists of a frame in which two volutes (curls) are embedded. For the manufacture of volutes, strip or bar material is taken, the required workpiece is chopped off with a chisel or by cutting, and then a figure of a given shape is bent on a conical horn of an anvil or on a mandrel. A square frame is made from a strip, the ends are connected with rivets or forge welding. Holes in a thin (1-2 mm) strip can be punched with a punch without heating, and in a thick one - with heating. The workpiece is placed on an anvil over a round hole, a punch is installed and hit with a war hammer, rivets are inserted into the holes and riveted.

To connect the ends of the frame by forge welding, the metal is heated under a layer of flux (quartz sand, borax or table salt) to a white heat temperature, one end of the strip is placed on the other and they are welded with hammer blows.

Volutes are inserted into the finished frame and connected to the frame with rivets or interceptions (thin staples). To make the thing look “antique”, the ends of the volutes are finished with a tight ball or foot, and the joints are closed with interceptions.

The central pattern of another lattice consists of eight identical C-shaped curls. Here it is also necessary to first make templates, bend curls along them, punch holes for rivets in them and assemble them into a frame.

It is somewhat more difficult to make candlesticks, flower stands - here you need to combine several technological operations. For example, to make a three-horned candlestick, it is necessary to forge 3 bent brackets for the base, 2 brackets for candles, 3 plates and a central rod. For the central rod, a square section is taken. One of its ends is clamped in a chair vise, a crank or a gas key is put on the second and twisted in the longitudinal direction. Cold metal has a larger step, hot metal has a smaller one. If you need to twist a large number of identical workpieces at the same angle, put a restrictive tube on the workpiece and twist it until the knob rests against the pipe. To obtain a variable pitch, the heated metal is cooled with a wet cloth as it is twisted, or the workpiece is given uneven heating along its length. Finally, a small cylindrical tip is pulled on the rod to attach the central plate.

To make plates for candles, flowers, sockets, you need to cut the metal and cut it out along the contour with shaped chisels. After that, with the help of mandrels, hammers and chisels, they give the product the intended shape and punch a central hole for fastening. A large number of identical rosettes can be made by stamping with an elastic tool (this method was known to the ancient Scythians in the 7th century BC). A blank made of thin soft metal is applied to a stamp with some kind of relief, an elastic gasket (sheet lead or thick rubber) is installed on it, and a strong blow is applied to the gasket. To protect the lead from cracking, the edges are seized with a steel ring bandage. On the workpiece, a reverse copy of the relief is obtained. In this way, you can stamp flowers, rosettes, etc. The stamp is made of metal, stone, and even hardwood. The final assembly of the candlestick is done with rivets or forge welding.

Great art requires the production of lights. In the XVIII-XIX centuries, the light was one of the most common household items, they tried to decorate it in every possible way. The blacksmith, who forged the light, put his whole soul and skill into his work. When forging svetzets, many techniques are used, ranging from bending to forge welding. The central, main rod, as a rule, has an axial curl, from below it is cut with a chisel, usually into four parts and is attached to a massive base ring. Often the rod is decorated with curls or snakes that are riveted or welded. The greatest attention is paid to the "head" of the light. For splinters, splits are made by longitudinal cutting of vertical rods, and for candles, a sleeve is forged.

Using the same technology, you can make a modern table lamp or floor lamp. Beautiful forged racks are obtained from two or four rods cut along the axis and twisted. After cutting, the branches are expanded, forged, and then twisted at a small angle (see Fig.). An interesting twist can be obtained from several thin rods welded at the ends. During twisting, it is necessary to slightly upset the rods along the axis with a hammer blow.

Above the lampshade, a cone of twisted metal is often made. Curling it is also not an easy task. First, the bar is pulled, and then one part of the workpiece is folded into three or four turns. The opposite end of the rod is fixed in a vice and folded in the same way. After that, two twisted figures are placed one above the other, and after the next heating, the entire cone is stretched to a certain length with the help of mandrels, a hammer and a chisel. The base of the lampshade can be made of perforated metal. In Rus', gaps were made from perforated metal, which completed the overhangs of roofs, crests of gables and spillways. This work is not very difficult, although painstaking. A drawing is applied to the sheet blank, and then a notch is made with the help of chisels on the anvil. In order not to spoil the faces of the anvil, a sheet of soft metal is placed under the workpiece. For punching a large number of shaped holes, special punches and dies are usually made.

To create identical ornaments on sheet metal, embossing can also be used using matrix boards made by casting with subsequent engraving. This type of processing is called basma. A sheet of metal 0.2-0.3 mm thick is placed on the matrix board, then a pillow of lead or sheet rubber is placed, and it is struck with a wooden hammer or clamped in a vice or in a press.

Wrought iron lanterns or lamps are often decorated with acanthus leaves and swirls. They are made from sheet material. First, the product is scanned, then cut down along the contour. The given shape is given with the help of special hammers and mandrels. The leaves are connected to the product with rivets or forge welding.

Forged metal can be interesting to decorate doors, gates and gates. The main decorative element of doors and gates in Rus' were zhikovins ( special kind hinges), door handles, overhead ax locks and masks.

Zhikovins were forged from thick sheet material. At one end, a bushing for the axle was bent, and at the other end, a decorative finish was made in the form of little chervonoks or curls (see Fig.). To make curls, the main strip was cut into longitudinal strips, which were then forged and shaped into curls. The surface of the zhikovins was decorated with a notch, dots, circles and other ornamental elements. On forged surfaces, they often made “stuffing” - with trowels and a hammer they gave them a faceted surface.

The door ring, or stucco, is made by bending from a round bar, and the bead in the middle of the ring is made by upsetting and subsequent forging on crimps. The overlay for the glass is cut out of sheet material and decorated with an ornament.

Ax locks look very expressive on wooden gates. The central part of the ax plates has a beautiful notch, under which colored materials are placed - this decorates the gate. Caskets, chests and headrests were previously made with the same decorative perforated overlays.

In conclusion, we note that forged and punched metal looks very good both on its own and in combination with colored glass, ornamental stone, tinted wood and smooth fabrics.

I want to tell you about the crafts of our ancestors, which have long since sunk into oblivion. Now there are many automatic machines and tools that make work easier, but before everything was done with skillful calloused hands

Blacksmith.
Blacksmithing is one of the oldest crafts. The blacksmith, earlier than other craftsmen, had to quit doing other things (for example, simultaneously plow, grind, engage in subsistence farming and so on) and fully concentrate on their occupation, which requires quite complex technological processes. To other peasants (or nomads) this was not always clear and seemed mysterious. In addition, due to the danger of fire, blacksmiths usually settled on the outskirts, which created additional mystery.

Cooper.
The cooper, using an ax and other carpentry tools, adjusts the staves of the barrel one to the other, cuts them out, makes folds (chute) with a chime, drives the bottom into them and ties everything with wooden or iron hoops.

Shoemaker.
The shoemaker's profession has given rise to many phenomena modern culture, for example, the saying “Shoemaker without boots” (describing a situation when a professional in some field does not use his own skill in vain for personal purposes). Shoemakers are also called shoe repairers.

Lapotnik
Bast shoes, and under a different name "lychaks", were also common among Belarusians, Karelians, Mordovians, Tatars, Finns, Estonians, Chuvashs. A similar type of footwear was used by the Japanese, the North American Indians, and even the Australian Aborigines.

Weaver
An artisan who makes wicker products from a wicker: household utensils and containers for various purposes, such as boxes, baskets, vases, etc., furniture (tables, chairs, chests, cradles), etc. A vine means any natural material of plant origin that, with a certain processing, can easily bend, and under normal conditions keep its shape.

Joiner.
Professional worker, skilled craftsman, craftsman who works with wood, turning and making wood products or products based on wood.

Potter.
At first, pottery was a craft that served to prepare vessels for food or to preserve liquid and loose bodies; but over time it developed and enriched itself with new articles of manufacture, namely refractory bricks, stoneware, tiles, tiles, drainage pipes, architectural decorations and similar products.

Lozhkar.
Wooden spoons in Russia in the 19th century. were manufactured in quantities of at least 150 million pieces (worth over a million rubles) per year. The material for spoons is: aspen, birch, partly alder and mountain ash, and occasionally only maple and palm (boxwood), and in the western provinces and the Caucasus - pear.

Toymaker.
Craftsman who makes toys various materials. In Rus', they were carved from wood, molded from clay or woven from straw.

Dyer.
An artisan who dyes yarn, fabrics, leather, etc.

Fuller.
Felt boots are traditional shoes of the peoples of Eurasia, which are used for walking on dry snow. To slow down wear, boots are hemmed with leather or rubber soles or worn with galoshes. Traditionally, felt boots are brown, black, gray, and white, but in last years felt boots of the most different colors. The prototype of felt boots was the traditional felt boots of Eurasian nomads (“pima”), whose history dates back more than 1.5 thousand years.

Weaver.
Until the 19th and 20th centuries weaving was one of the most common household activities in the traditional cultures of the peoples of Russia and neighboring territories. It was used mainly in the manufacture of linen and hemp (the so-called lean) canvas for underwear, cloth for outerwear, as well as belts and trimmings. With the weaving process, especially with the critical stages of beginning and cutting finished product(for example, canvas strips), many beliefs and signs are associated.

Embroiderer.
Passion for decorating yourself and your clothes in order to stand out with something from environment characteristic human nature, even in its primitive, semi-wild state; so, for example, red-skinned Indians decorate blankets with various embroideries; Laplanders embroider a wide variety of patterns on their deerskin clothing. Embroidery was known in ancient times, and, like many other branches of art and science, the East was its cradle. In Asia, this art flourished widely long before it became known to the Greeks and Romans, although the Greeks attribute the invention of embroidery to Minerva, Pallas Athena.

Distaff.
The spinning wheel accompanied the girl from birth to marriage. Among the Eastern Slavs, the umbilical cord of a newborn girl was cut on a spinning wheel or spindle; through a spinning wheel they passed the newborn to the godmother; put the spinning wheel in the girl's cradle. A personal, signed spinning wheel was not loaned, otherwise, as it was believed, there would be a fire or the bees would die. In the Russian North, a guy who wrote his name on a girl's spinning wheel was obliged to marry her. Usually the groom gave the girl a new spinning wheel, made and decorated with his own hands.

Lace craftswoman
In Rus', lace was created on bobbins in three different ways in terms of technology, namely: numerical, paired and coupling. For the manufacture of lace, equipment is needed: bobbin, on which the thread is wound, a roller (“pillow”, “tambourine”) and a stand, for weaving coupling lace, in addition to traditional pins, a hook is also required. Most often, lace is woven according to a pre-drawn pattern - a chip. Modern fashion designers use the traditions of Russian lace in their collections.

Handicraftsman.
Handicraft production - small-scale production of products using manual labor. artisanal method production has been used by people since ancient times. Initially, handicraftsmen set as their goal to satisfy the needs of their own economy, but with the development of commodity-money relations, an increasing number of goods produced by them began to be supplied to the market. Mostly it was household products: dishes, furniture, jewelry, souvenirs, clothes, shoes. However, over time, other goods began to come on sale, such as weapons.

Plowman.
A plowman is a person who plows the land for the needs of agriculture.

The emergence of the craft falls on the beginning of human production activities. Since ancient times, the beginnings of

The concept of crafts

Craft is production activity, based on the manufacture of industrial items with the help of small manual labor, prevailing before the development of machine production and preserved with it.

A person who is engaged in the professional manufacture of items is called an artisan.

What is folk craft

Folk crafts are called items that are made using ordinary materials at hand and simple designs. Folk crafts are diverse in their creative activity, products are made by hand and most often from natural materials or close to them (wood, fabrics, metal, etc.). This type of activity was formed from home crafts, when the necessary household items were made. Like art, folk crafts have evolved depending on culture, religion, and sometimes political views.

History of the craft

The craft has long history occurrence. Primitive communities were most often engaged in domestic crafts, making objects from stone, bone, clay, wood, etc. Home craft is the production of products necessary for housekeeping. In some places, even today, this activity is of great importance.

Later, people began to lead artisans appeared. Many artisans worked on the farmlands of kings, temples, monasteries and slave owners (Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece and countries of Mesopotamia). Initially, the craftsman worked alone, but since this gave small income, the masters began to unite in groups. These groups were called artels and took orders from the population. Some of the masters went to towns and villages, while others lived and worked in one place. Crafts and handicrafts to order gave rise to the emergence and development of cities as centers of handicrafts and trade. To this day, in many settlements, the names of streets have been preserved, indicating the place of work of one or another master. For example, Goncharnaya - it organized the production of Tannery - leather processing, production of leather products, shoe repair, Brick - production of bricks.

A form of professional craft appeared. A new social stratum appeared in the cities - these are urban artisans. The main branches of urban craft were: the manufacture of metal objects, cloth-making, the production of glassware, etc. Urban craftsmen had such privileges as city law, craft workshops, and their own freedom.

With the advent, many types of crafts have lost their primacy in production, factories and factories began to use machines. Today, artisans survive in industries that cater to the personal needs of customers and in the manufacture of expensive art products(shoemakers, tailors, jewelers, artists, etc.).

The history of the development of crafts in Russia

The population of Russian cities mainly consisted of artisans. Most of them were engaged in blacksmithing. Later, metalwork was formed from blacksmithing. His products were in great demand in Europe. The production of weapons has singled out craftsmen for the manufacture of bows, guns, quivers, etc. The armor of Russian artisans was considered an order of magnitude higher than Turkish, Syrian and Italian.

According to information from the annals, in 1382 there were already cannons in Rus'. In the 14th century, foundry business (casting of bells) was formed. With the invasion of the Mongols, production fell into decay.

Jewelry craftsmanship served the needs of the aristocracy. The surviving items (icons, gold belts, crockery, book bindings) testify to the high professionalism of jewelers in engraving, artistic casting, forging, niello and embossing. In the 14th century, it began in several Russian principalities, which formed a money craft. Leather, shoemaking and pottery were designed for the market and a wide range of customers. Clay was used to make various utensils, toys and Construction Materials. In addition, stone churches were built in Moscow and other cities (mainly of white stone) and chiming tower clocks were installed.

The works of the craftsmen made a great contribution to the restoration of the destruction after the Tatar-Mongol conquests. Russian crafts influenced the preparation of economic prerequisites for the creation of a Russian centralized state.

Since 1917, the number of artisans in Russia has declined sharply, they have united in trade cooperation. However, even now Russian crafts include several world-famous folk art crafts.

Various types and kinds of crafts

Types of crafts are formed from the material from which the object is made. For a long time people know such crafts as:

blacksmith craft

This is one of the first occupations that appeared in Rus'. People have always marveled at the work of a blacksmith. They could not understand how the master made such amazing objects from gray metal. For many peoples, blacksmiths were considered almost wizards.

Previously blacksmith craft required special knowledge and a specially equipped workshop with many tools. Metal was smelted from which were mined in spring and autumn. Old Russian blacksmiths made sickles, coulters, scythes for farmers, and spears, swords, axes, arrows for warriors. In addition, the household always needed knives, keys and locks, needles, etc.

Nowadays technical progress somewhat changed and improved blacksmithing, but it is still in demand. Offices, apartments, country houses, parks, squares are decorated with artistic forging, it is especially in demand in landscape design.

jewelry craft

Jewelry craft is one of the most ancient in the history of mankind. Products made of gold, silver and precious stones have long been considered a sign of power and wealth of the aristocratic class. Back in the 10th - 11th centuries, jewelry masters were famous for their talent throughout Europe. Since ancient times, people have been passionate admirers of jewelry. Beads were made from precious metals or colored glass, pendants with various patterns (usually of animals), silver temporal rings that were hung from a headdress or woven into a hairstyle, rings, kolts, etc.

In the 18th century, jewelry art flourished in Russia. Just at this time, the profession of "gold and silversmith" began to be called "jeweler". In the 19th century, Russian craftsmen developed their own style, thanks to which Russian jewelry remains unique today. The famous firms of the Grachev brothers, Ovchinnikov and Faberge began their work.

Nowadays, due to the growth of prosperity, the population is more and more in need of highly artistic jewelry.

pottery

It is known that from the 10th century, earthenware was produced in Rus'. This was done by hand, and mostly by female hands. To increase the strength and durability of the product, small shells, sand, quartz, granite, and sometimes plants and fragments of ceramics were mixed with clay.

A little later, they appeared, which made the work of the potters easier. The circle was set in motion by the hand, and then by the feet. At the same time, men began to engage in pottery.

Pottery reached industrial scale in the 18th century. In St. Petersburg, and a little later in Moscow, ceramic factories appeared.

Items made by modern potters are still amazing. Today, pottery is a popular occupation in many regions of Russia, and the demand for pottery self made is constantly increasing.