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Acoup.blog had an excellent series on this[0], but anything made out of iron was stupendously expensive. Even neglecting the work to forge it into final shape,

Acoup.blog had an excellent series on this[0], but anything made out of iron was stupendously expensive. Even neglecting the work to forge it into final shape, the metal alone was expensive. Kingdom Come Deliverance started with a good quest that highlighted this [1, sections relating to Kunesh] but didn't follow through and for game balance reasons iron is way too cheap in that game. In reality, even a small axe or hammer would have been so expensive that it would be an heirloom object. We are completely spoiled by modern materials science, I'm typing this out resting my elbow on a workbench that would have been worth a literal kings ransom 500 years ago, and now having a 4x8' bench of 5/16" plate steel isn't an insane thing to own. 500 years ago, this bench would equal the yearly iron output of a normal European country, with a price tag to boot. And automated manufacture of fasteners makes the modern world run, even with a lathe making a single screw takes me at least 5 minutes assuming everything is already set up. Forging a nail? Here [2] is a modern blacksmith taking ~2 minutes and 3 heats to forge a simple nail. Having exposure to blacksmithing, I'm always shocked at how cheap modern fasteners are. [0]https://acoup.blog/tag/iron/ https://acoup.blog/tag/iron/ [1]https://kingdom-come-deliverance.fandom.com/wiki/Unexpected_Visit https://kingdom-come-deliverance.fandom.com/wiki/Unexpected_... [2]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBfkmPt-WYw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBfkmPt-WYw

jacquesm 4y ago
One of my cousins is a blacksmith, one of very few remaining in Western Europe. He has a ton of interesting knowledge and is the nearest equivalent to a real life Popeye that I've seen. One day, visiting in Canada there was a chunk of ground that needed to be opened up in spite of being frozen. He took a pickaxe, swung it overhead and aimed for the frozen ground. Then he ended up having to hold on to it for dear life when it rebounded. He looked quite funny, and I'm super happy that he managed to hold on to it, it would have done a lot of damage if he had not. Most of his work involves horses, which brings in good money but is a real risk for your back.
- zrobotics 4y ago
  There are almost certainly blacksmiths in your country, most of them have concentrated on either farrier (horseshoing) or ornamental work. Blacksmithing is still a very common way to do architectural work, think railings or decorative ironwork for buildings. It is sadly a dying trade, those 2 paths above are basically the only ways to make money in the trade besides custom knife making, which is more of a separate trade anyway. Farrier work is still needed, since factories can't stamp out horseshoes that exactly fit the horse's foot, so a blacksmith needs to custom match the shoe to the hoof. I'm curious why you say it is a risk to your back? Farriers can definitely get injured, I know a few who have had broken ribs, but I've never heard of that having back issues. Is there a risk I'm not aware of?
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    > There are almost certainly blacksmiths in your country, most of them have concentrated on either farrier (horseshoing) or ornamental work. Yes, as I wrote, my cousin is one of them. When shoeing a horse you carry a good chunk of the weight of the horse, and that's before we get into the kind of contortions you have to go through to do a proper job mostly under a horse.
  - iamflimflam1 4y ago
    I recently did a blacksmith “experience” day. It’s a good way for blacksmiths to bring in a bit of extra income. Pretty pleased with what o made: https://youtube.com/shorts/Ly4k-55902c?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/Ly4k-55902c?feature=share
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      You have all the right to be pleased if you did that all by yourself on day #1. Super impressive! Was this done in coal?
      - iamflimflam1 4y ago
        Yes, it was a proper old fashioned blacksmith - though he did have an electric blower - we weren’t pumping the bellows :) It was exhausting - towards the end I could barely lift the hammer. I did it here - https://www.hotmetalworks.co.uk/ https://www.hotmetalworks.co.uk/ The museum it’s in is worth a visit as well - especially when they are running all the steam engines.
bradknowles 4y ago
I have had the great experience of learning some blacksmithing techniques from Brad Silberberg, who is a master professional structural artisan blacksmith and former president of the Blacksmiths Guild of the Potomac. He also has some pieces on permanent display at the Smithsonian. He uses the making of nails as a form of physical meditation in motion where he gets to turn off his brain and just use his arms. When he's on a roll, he's making three nails in a single heat. Which is apparently about the speed that a good Nailer did back in the day. If you want to learn more about blacksmithing, I would point you at the Artisan Blacksmith Association of North America at ABANA.org.

jacquesm 4y ago

One of my cousins is a blacksmith, one of very few remaining in Western Europe. He has a ton of interesting knowledge and is the nearest equivalent to a real life Popeye that I've seen. One day, visiting in Canada there was a chunk of ground that needed to be opened up in spite of being frozen. He took a pickaxe, swung it overhead and aimed for the frozen ground. Then he ended up having to hold on to it for dear life when it rebounded. He looked quite funny, and I'm super happy that he managed to hold on to it, it would have done a lot of damage if he had not. Most of his work involves horses, which brings in good money but is a real risk for your back.

zrobotics 4y ago
There are almost certainly blacksmiths in your country, most of them have concentrated on either farrier (horseshoing) or ornamental work. Blacksmithing is still a very common way to do architectural work, think railings or decorative ironwork for buildings. It is sadly a dying trade, those 2 paths above are basically the only ways to make money in the trade besides custom knife making, which is more of a separate trade anyway. Farrier work is still needed, since factories can't stamp out horseshoes that exactly fit the horse's foot, so a blacksmith needs to custom match the shoe to the hoof. I'm curious why you say it is a risk to your back? Farriers can definitely get injured, I know a few who have had broken ribs, but I've never heard of that having back issues. Is there a risk I'm not aware of?
- jacquesm 4y ago
  > There are almost certainly blacksmiths in your country, most of them have concentrated on either farrier (horseshoing) or ornamental work. Yes, as I wrote, my cousin is one of them. When shoeing a horse you carry a good chunk of the weight of the horse, and that's before we get into the kind of contortions you have to go through to do a proper job mostly under a horse.
- iamflimflam1 4y ago
  I recently did a blacksmith “experience” day. It’s a good way for blacksmiths to bring in a bit of extra income. Pretty pleased with what o made: https://youtube.com/shorts/Ly4k-55902c?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/Ly4k-55902c?feature=share
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    You have all the right to be pleased if you did that all by yourself on day #1. Super impressive! Was this done in coal?
    - iamflimflam1 4y ago
      Yes, it was a proper old fashioned blacksmith - though he did have an electric blower - we weren’t pumping the bellows :) It was exhausting - towards the end I could barely lift the hammer. I did it here - https://www.hotmetalworks.co.uk/ https://www.hotmetalworks.co.uk/ The museum it’s in is worth a visit as well - especially when they are running all the steam engines.

bradknowles 4y ago

I have had the great experience of learning some blacksmithing techniques from Brad Silberberg, who is a master professional structural artisan blacksmith and former president of the Blacksmiths Guild of the Potomac. He also has some pieces on permanent display at the Smithsonian. He uses the making of nails as a form of physical meditation in motion where he gets to turn off his brain and just use his arms. When he's on a roll, he's making three nails in a single heat. Which is apparently about the speed that a good Nailer did back in the day. If you want to learn more about blacksmithing, I would point you at the Artisan Blacksmith Association of North America at ABANA.org.