Blacksmithing for Farmers and Their Sons

Since the automobile has taken the place of the horse and buggy, and the tractor has almost supplanted the farm team, there is so little work left for the horseshoer and wagon maker that these tradesmen are fast disappearing from the scene. The village or crossroads blacksmith, once an important factor in the working force of the rural neighborhood, if he has not already retired, is beginning to see the end of any profit in his business; and as no young men are learning his trade, his race bids fair to soon reach the vanishing point.

In the future, whatever blacksmithing is necessary to be done in connection with farm tools and machinery, and the farm teams, must be done by the farmer or his sons.

It is this condition of affairs that has brought about a demand for a book on the subject of farm blacksmithing. Originally published in the 1940s, this book has been written in the attempt to supply that demand. The author, who, during a long term of years, had the pleasure of teaching the elements of forge work to several thousand Minnesota farm boys, hopes that this book may be of help to those farmers and farmers' sons who wish to, or through force of circumstances are obliged to, do the work which formerly fell to the lot of the village blacksmith.

Contents Covered:

• Preface
• Iron and Steel
• The Farm Shop
  • Location and Plan; Equipment and Tools: The Forge; The Anvil; The Vise; The Work Bench; The Tool Table; Water Tank; Rack for Iron and Steel; Necessary Tools; Other Tools; Two Useful Anvil Tools
• The Forge Fire
  • Smithing Coal; Managing the Fire
• Forging Iron and Steel
  • Drawing; Upsetting; Bending; Scarfing; Welding; Punching; Riveting
• Simple Exercises in Blacksmithing
  • A Fire Poker; Staple Puller; Hook and Staple; Chain Links; Cold Shut Links; Chain Hook; Swivel; Ring; Clevis; Pin or Bolt for Clevis; Heading Tool for Bolts; Bolts and Nuts; Welding Separate Irons; Welding Iron and Steel
• Forging and Tempering Steel Tools
  • Making a Cold Chisel; Forging and Tempering Drills; Stone Drills; Knife Blades; Tempering a Hammer; Blacksmith's Tongs; Files
• Plow Work
  • Sharpening Plowshares; New Points; Handy Tools
• Wagon Work
  • Setting Tires; Making New Tires; Whiffletree Irons
• Horseshoeing
• Soldering And Brazing
• Appendix
  • Decimal Equivalents; Rules Relative to the Circle; Circumferences of Circles; Weight of Round Mild Steel; Weight of Square Mild Steel; Weight of Flat Mild Steel; Sizes of Wire
• Index