Traditional American blacksmiths are forging a comeback
Iron, the most important metal in building civilizations, is often taken for granted by modern man, but never by blacksmiths.
Iron is found in ores that are abundant and widely distributed in the earth’s crust, but rarely in a pure state. Iron ore must be refined for commercial use by smelting. The most versatile product from the smelting process was wrought iron, the blacksmith’s raw material.
Heated in a forge and produced in small batches, wrought iron has a low carbon content and can be worked by the blacksmith using basic tools, primarily a hammer and anvil. By heating wrought iron to just the right temperature the blacksmith could fuse two pieces into one, the ancient form of welding. Hot iron could also be bent back upon itself without breaking.
Iron was vital to the growth of colonial America. Ironworks sprang up in the early 1700s wherever ore deposits were found close to the earth’s surface. Small blast furnaces produced wrought iron from which blacksmiths fashioned all sorts of tools and household items, many of which have become obsolete in modern times.
Wrought iron in the traditional sense has also become obsolete, replaced in the second half of the 20th century by steel alloys that can be produced more efficiently and with precise control.
The most notable wrought-iron household item that has not faded into obscurity is fittingly known as the andiron. Used in pairs, andirons serve as the platform upon which the firewood is placed in a hearth so that a draft may be drawn beneath the logs, making the fire burn brighter. The vertical front portion of the andiron prevents burning logs from rolling out of the fireplace.
Tom Moore of Glen Rock, York County, Pa., is a close equivalent of the old-time blacksmith that served communities across the nation until the early 1900s. Having been a full-time blacksmith for more than 30 years, Moore can duplicate anything made of wrought iron in the 18th or 19th century. He has become widely known for making traditional wrought-iron andirons and fireplace equipment.
“I’m interested in antique iron, the styles and how it applies to my business,” said Moore, “anything the old blacksmiths made that has to do with households, the construction of a house, from the hinges and latches on a door to fireplace equipment and hardware for cabinetmakers.”
Early American Wrought Iron by Albert H. Sonn, first published in 1928, is Moore’s favorite reference. “It’s probably the most definitive one when it comes to style,” he said. “In architectural hardware like hinges and latches there are definite regional styles that developed here in the Colonies. A Connecticut and Hudson Valley hinge is different than a Pennsylvania hinge.”
Moore said he is not a serious collector of antique iron items, but is able to identify and acquire it. “I rarely put much money toward it. I do work for antique dealers and collectors so I know what people collect and what some dealers have. I find that iron by and large gets as short shrift by antique dealers. They feel, apparently, it doesn’t have broad enough interest to have it in their inventory,” said Moore.
Antique dealers may avoid handling antique iron because it is difficult to identify correctly. “I know there was enough interest over the years that a lot of stuff was imported from England during the 20th century and passed off as American. Often because our heritage here was largely English, you couldn’t tell the difference between an antique English piece and an antique American piece. There’s a lot of unsigned stuff out there and it’s hard to tell the country of origin in many cases,” said Moore.
Wrought iron produced in America contained silica slag, which, after it was formed into bars at the ironworks, gave it a characteristic grain pattern. Blacksmiths hammered the heated iron to remove much of the nonmetallic impurities, but the linear grain pattern remained, only flattened. “Looking at it under a microscope, you might think it was like wood (grain),” said Moore.
Seeing the linear grain pattern with the naked eye is difficult. “Often corrosion will clarify and make prominent the linear grain in the old wrought material. That’s not always the case. If the piece is well finished and you don’t happen to see these flaws in the material, it may look like modern steel.
While wrought-iron andirons were made to withstand wood fires, they are not indestructible. “The back legs, on which you build your fire, eventually will deteriorate and will need to be replaced. Ashes, particularly if a little moisture gets in, are rather corrosive,” said Moore, adding that the continual heating and cooling from the fires eventually weakens the iron. “Every time you heat an iron bar it gets a certain amount of scale, or oxide, on it and flakes off.”
For these reasons Moore does not recommend using antique andirons and other fireplace equipment for anything other than decorative items. “If I had antique iron, well-executed exemplary pieces, it wouldn’t get used in the fire,” he said.
Moore considers exemplary pieces to be those that are visually pleasing, exhibit superior workmanship and retain a degree of historical origin, particularly colonial America. “It’s not just the fact that something’s old gives it great value,” he said.
A key to identifying fine workmanship is the joinery – how pieces are put together. “Are the joints clean and precise, or sloppy,” said Moore. “Iron is often fitted together with mortise and tenon joints, just like timber framing and woodwork. Do the tenons have nice square shoulders or not.”
Moore said differentiating wrought-iron antiques from handcrafted reproductions can often prove to be difficult. “If I were intent on creating a fake, it would not be that hard to do,” he said, mentioning ways to induce rust with the use of chemicals. On occasion Moore is asked to craft something out of old wrought iron. “I will sign and date something if I think there is any question as to how it would be received,” said Moore, who takes a pragmatic opinion on reproductions. “When it’s solid and pretty and does what you want it to do, don’t get hung up on the fact it may or may not be an antique, or how old it really is,” said Moore. “Then I say don’t pay more for it than you want to.”
York County Heritage Trust in York, Pa., and the 1719 Hans Herr House in Lancaster, Pa., are among the historical museums that have commissioned Moore to re-create fireplace equipment because they choose to preserve their antique wrought iron. Items include hearth cranes, which hold cooking pots over a fire. “The advantage of the crane is it swivels. You can pull it out away from the fire so you can tend your pot without singeing your eyebrows,” said Moore. Other items include trammels, trivets, broilers, roasters and toasters.
Moore said he remains partial to fireplaces. “I have four in my house, but I’m like the shoemaker whose kids go barefoot. I only just finished making a pair of andirons for one of my fireplaces last week,” he said.
Moore recently completed a pair of andirons for a York County industrialist who wanted them for a hunting camp in West Virginia. “It was a Colonial style with a faceted knob at the top,” said Morgan, who charges $450 and up for a pair of andirons. Nice antique andirons can be found for around the same amount. Moore noted that the price he must pay for mild steel, the modern alternative to wrought iron, has tripled over the past two years.
“The Chinese are booming industrially and they are buying all the steel they can get their hands on, so the world supply and demand has driven the price up,” said Moore, who enjoys the life of a blacksmith. Unlike the plein-air village blacksmith described in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem, Moore’s shop is located in an outbuilding on his 32-acre spread in the country.
“Every village had a blacksmith up through the 19th and early 20th centuries. They were practically on every corner,” said Moore, adding, “They’re making a comeback.”
