What is Blacksmithing?
Blacksmithing is the art of shaping heated iron and steel with hand tools such as hammers or with forging machines.
A Blacksmith is the person who does this work either by hand or machine. "Black" comes from the color of the metal after being heated and cooled. "Smith" comes from the word, "smite" or "to strike". Therefore the blacksmith is one who strikes black metal.
Blacksmithing dates from the earliest Iron Age, which started about 1500 BC or earlier in Central Asia . Many of the tools and techniques date from earlier times. The metal worked by the blacksmith is either wrought iron or modern steel. Wrought iron is the product of early iron furnaces called bloomeries. It has no carbon and cannot be hardened.
Steel is iron with a small amount of carbon that makes it hardenable. Early steel was an expensive product made in small quantities. Modern low carbon steel has largely replaced Wrought Iron. Modern steel has been available in bulk since the 1860's.
Cast iron is iron with 2 to 3 percent carbon or more. It is brittle and can only be shaped by casting in a mould or by machining. It is not forged. Cast iron has many uses because it is inexpensive to produce items from it. Cast iron is also better for things like the body of machine tools or engine blocks because it is stiff and is vibration dampening.