Blacksmith: Ordinary Hero. Backgrounds For a New Way to Play

The term “Blacksmith” comes from either:

• The black grime of coal soot that came with working a forge
• The color of the metal after the heating and cooling process¹

The metallic gray of iron/steel only comes out in finishing work, like polishing tarnish off of silver. I am partial to the first explanation, because it includes non-iron metal-working. For Example, Bronze casting is still a dirty, grimy job, but the metal is not black.

In the age of industrialization, most blacksmiths moved into more specialized roles, becoming Farriers (horse shoes), Lorimers (buckles, spurs, etc.), and Locksmiths.

Due to the lack of coal and or black color of the metal, these specialists are known as Whitesmiths.

Blacksmith: Dependent Industries

• Construction
• Defense
• Fabrication
• Manufacturing

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Simple Info: Sourcing Metals
(Continued Research Encouraged)

• Tin (Cassiterite) from Igneous rocks
  • After breaking away from granite, Cassiterite accumulates in river gravel/silt beds, aka alluvial deposits.
• Electrum is a natural alloy of Gold & Silver
  • Also known as Whitegold. The lighter the color and weight, the more silver
  • Gold can be found in Igneous, Metamorphic, or Sedimentary rocks. Rivers carry gold from mountains and, as the heavier gold is caught in alluvial deposits
• Copper from Sedimentary rocks
  • Like copper slate in Germany, or sandstone in Israel
• Iron from Oxidized minerals
  • Deposits like laterite, an iron rich soil, black sand, or ancient, compressed soil, aka sedimentary rock, such as banded iron
  • Oxidized minerals in igneous rocks, such as granite
  • Like gold, iron is brought down from mountains in rivers, getting caught in alluvial deposits. This is how people source iron in areas with little sedimentary rock formations.²

Simple Info: Iron’s Metallurgy

Most of the Iron collected by humans is from oxidized minerals, such as laterite.

Then, these minerals are melted into either, Pig iron or Wrought iron.

• Pig Iron:
  • Process: Puddling, Lower Heat, 1^st step in longer process.
• Wrought Iron:
  • Process: Bloomery & Blast Furnace, Higher Heat, One & Done.

Pig iron is a brittle, crude iron, polluted with other minerals. It is the first step in being workable iron. The next step is to heat it up again to gather it into a near liquid mass.

Furnaces powered by bellows could pump oxygen into the fires, producing higher temperatures. The artificial airflow pushes the carbon molecules of the fuel (best is charcoal = pure carbon) into the mass of melting iron, creating Wrought Iron.

Or, in forges that could melt the iron completely, you could simply skim the impurities which float to the top, or allow them to oxidize and disperse in the air. This method yielded Wrought Iron that had far less carbon, and would need it added back in.

Wrought Iron is a proto-steel / purified iron. This is generic, medieval iron, used by blacksmiths from the Iron age to the industrial revolution.

The little impurities left behind were heated and hammered out of the iron. Either coming off as slag, or incorporating into the metal during the forging process.

Another Example Of Medieval Steel: Wootz/Seric or Damascus.

Wrought iron mixed, but not completely melted together with crude iron, creates Crucible steel. This metal has distinct layers of both irons.

Another way you end up with similar looking layers, is from folding during the forging process. This puts the outside layer (oxidized) on the inside. Enough folding, and you get similar patterns to Wootz or Seric steel.

A Good example of the forging process can be found in this YouTube video by Veritasium on making Japanese swords from sand.
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