Practical blacksmithing and metalworking

Blacksmithing was vital to the growth of world civilization. Now, it lives on only as a symbol of the past, though there remain a few stalwart real-life practitioners who find fulfillment forging iron with hammer, tongs, anvil, and bellows. Blandford's comprehensive text is suitable for researchers or for anyone who desires to work in metal, either in the fashion of the village smithy or utilizing more modern methods. In part 1, the author effectively covers the rudiments-- equipment (bellows, forges, anvils, etc.), smith's tools (hammers, swages and fullers, vises, etc.), and both basic and advanced techniques, offering specific instructions for making various domestic hardware (e.g., latches, door bolts, hinges) and decorative ironwork. Finishing tips are also provided. Part 2 is a fundamental approach to contemporary methods of working with such metals as copper, zinc, brass, tin, lead, and aluminum. Discussion ranges from measuring and holding the metals using friction-joint calipers, micrometers, verniers, etc., through cutting, shaping, drilling, screwing, soldering, and brazing, to more- advanced casting techniques. An excellent hands-on view of a bygone craft and its more- modern incarnation. Glossary; index. Reichelt's collection of interviews holds virtually no practical value. Nevertheless, his volume, comprising the words of still-practicing blacksmiths, presents a rare bit of folk history. The interviewees all hail from the southern Illinois area. Some are smithy-shopowners, some are university artisans, and some, like agricultural blacksmith Leslie Ostendorf, are just rugged individualists who continue the tradition in the face of hard financial times. Recommended especially for regional and rural collections or any larger collection focusing on folk crafts. -- Martin Brady