The reserve is large enough that it would probably last at least until the end of Reid's career.We all know the Recession has been hard on the construction industry.my main customer base for the past 18 years has been the construction industry and national historic sites. Salvage and mild steel shores up a "wine cellar" of wrought iron Colonial Williamsburg bought years ago in preparation for when the wrought iron salvage well runs dry, Mankowski said. Both iron and steel are considered black metals, giving the blacksmith his name. Often mild steel - a kind of steel similar enough to wrought iron to be a substitute - is used, Mankowski said. This makes salvage from old bridges and buildings the main source of the material now. However, new wrought iron hasn't been produced anywhere in the world in decades, Reid said. Wrought iron was the traditional material used in 18th-century metalworking, and was once a main export from Colonial Virginia to England, Reid said. Just as knowledge is old, so are some of the materials. As such, it's a job more in tune with nature than most modern vocations, Mankowski said. Inside a shop without electricity, a dark day can mean difficult working conditions for the shop's six workers. The traditional work also has a traditional schedule. Sometimes, the shop is contracted to create pieces needed by other historical sites and museums. The apprentice's learning curriculum has him creating objects in step with his skill level and the needs of the museum. The process draws on almost 100 years of collective experience in the shop to inform his sense that the fire was spreading too far and had to be reined in. Measurable temperatures affect metals in the forge, but the ability to determine when to increase heat or pull material out of the forge is a process of interpreting changes in flames, smoke and metal.Īs Reid works, he adds water to the edges of a coal mound in the forge with a ladle to control fire and keep it from getting too big. This is because the work of a blacksmith straddles the boundary between science and art. While books and videos exist to record blacksmith work today, in-person learning is still the best way to learn, Mankowski said. What little Colonial writings exists are usually accounts by observers, and knowledge of the work is pieced together through these comments, unearthed artifacts and reverse engineering. The same can be said for blacksmith work itself, which relies on the mentor-mentee relationship to pass on knowledge of the craft, as colonial designs often went unrecorded and require modern-day detective work to uncover their secrets and a guiding hand to learn them. The piece is a combination of old knowledge and modern design, Mankowski said. While the blacksmith's production often winds up being used in the museum, other trades contribute to the shelves of Colonial Williamsburg's Prentis Store, which sells items created by tradesmen, or they create items sold on private commission, Schwarz said. It will be used to make evening horse-drawn carriage rides possible, because the piece stabilizes the candle in a specially made lantern to keep the light steady as the carriage bumps along Duke of Gloucester Street. The piece is one small but key part of a new program at Colonial Williamsburg. The piece will be collected with similar creations and have its finishing touches added with a file later. The finished product is split from the rod and lands on the brick floor, still glowing hot.
Using another rod, Reid creates a T-shaped piece about the size of a person's hand. Reid gazes at his work his explanations of his vocation trail off at times as he watches and listens to the fire and metal he works. The metal is removed once it takes on a yellow-glow, and Reid strikes the tip with precision against a nearby anvil, sending sparks and metal flakes flying. At around 2,600 degrees, the metal turns yellow and is almost clay-like and easily formed, while metal glowing a darker orange or red is cooler and more resistant to hammer blows. Color corresponds to malleability, Reid said. Reid stabs a rod of wrought iron into the burning coals and waits, observing the color of the metal as it heats up. The two men pore over plans and draw out shapes with chalk on one of the soot-covered work tables.
Reid confers with Mankowski, about what will be created that day: a vital piece of a new lantern type for Colonial Williamsburg. Once the fire is settled in, or burning properly, the day's work can begin.
0 kommentar(er)
