Author(s): Dona Z. Meilach

Craft

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, references have relegated the blacksmith to a more poetic than productive position, but today ironworkers are rediscovering what generations of smiths knew long ago-- that iron has remarkable properties. It is a metal that can be drawn out, formed, machined, cast, laminataed, hammered, inlaid, etched, punched, split, rolled, bent, chased, spun, welded, riveted, collared, and more. And now, with the help of this unique book by Dona Meilach, all the fascinating properties of iron and other metals can be creatively explored by anyone interested in this exciting medium. Beginning with a short history of ironwork the author goes on to discuss the ironworking shop, the forge, and the tools, including anvils, vices, hammers, tongs, punches, centrifugal blowers, and machine tools. Here is invaluable information on building, lighting, and maintaining a fire, and safety precautions. Basic forging procedures are explicitly shown: drawing out, flattening, bending, upsetting, twisting, splitting, punching and drifting, hot cutting on a hardy, and joining and finishing techniques. Additional working methods are illustrated in each chapter. Ironworkers can fashion a wide variety of objects by following the author's clear directions and step-by-step photographs. There are imposing pieces of sculpture: carved animals, gates, grilles and railings, locks, blades for knives, choppers, and scissors, along with ideas for toys, clothes racks, weathervanes, tables, buckles, necklaces, even decorative helmets! As Dona Meilach has said: "There is no doubt that blacksmithing, though an ancient craft, is new, vital, and open to infinite exploration in our contemporary art-craft context."