VOL. XLVH. NO. 2000. NEW YORK. MAY 26, 1888, 
^Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1888, by the Rural New-Yorker In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washlnvton .1 
PRICE FIVE CENTS. 
$2.00 PER Y EAR . 
BLACKSMITHING ON THE FARM. 
JAS. M. DREW. 
A saving of time and money ; equipments of 
a shop ; the forge ; the anvil ; hammers, etc .; 
cost of outfit", how to weld\ making chain 
tongs. 
In this age of machinery every farmer 
should be a blacksmith; and if he could be a 
machiuist he would often fiud use for his 
knowledge. It is quite evident that every far¬ 
mer cannot fiud time to learn the complete 
trade of the blacksmith; but by having the 
6 
necessary tools at hand any farmer with only 
ordinary skill could save much every year by 
doing many little jobs that would otherwise 
have to be taken to the shop, often a distance 
of several miles. The blacksmith’s bill alone 
which would be saved is but a small item com¬ 
pared with the time lost in going and coming 
aud in waiting for the job to be done and of¬ 
ten for other jobs which happen to be ahead. 
Nowadays a shop can be furnished very 
cheaply with all the tools necessary 
tor ordinary work. The first thing to 
he considered is the forge. A number of dif- 
erent kinds are offered for sale by firms sell¬ 
ing blacksmiths’ tools. If the forge is to be 
moved about from one place to another, one 
of the many kinds of iron portable forges is 
what is wanted; but if it is to be stationary it 
will be much cheaper and better to buy a pair 
of bellows and tuyfere iron aud make your 
own forge. I made mine of old fence boards 
—simply a box with legs to it, and I packed it 
full of clay. It is just as good for ordinary 
work as anybody’s forge. My advice is, if you 
get a forge don’t get one that is too small, or 
you will be sorry for it. If you get a pair of 
bellows, get one not less than 30 inches long. 
Such a one will cost about $7.50. The tuyfere 
iron will cost 50 cents. You cannot get a 
serviceable portable forge for less than $12. 
The little bench forges that work with a crank 
are all right for very small work or where a 
person has an abundance of time on his hands. 
A farmer wants something that will do the 
work in the shortest time. 
The next most important thing is the anvil. 
Don’t get a cast-iron one even if it has a vise 
and drill attachment thrown in. You want 
an anvil that you can pound on without fear 
of breakiug. The same is true of the vise. 
An 80-pound wrought-iron anvil with steel 
face will cost about $10. A good blacksmith’s 
vise costs from $4.50 to $6, according to 
weight. A machinist’s hammer, such as is 
shown in Fig. 11, in 147, and a blacksmith’s 
hammer, Fig. 12, weighing pound, cost 
75 cents each. To start out you will need one 
pair of plain tongs, Fig. 1, and a pair of bolt 
of one to white heat, and, holding it upright 
on the anvil, strike on the other end' so as to 
drive the hot end into the shape shown at Fig. 
3. This is called “upsetting.” Now heat 
again, and, holding it on the anvil at a pretty 
steep angle, strike at such an angle as will 
make it take the shape shown at Fig. 4. Then 
turn and finish it so that it will assume the 
form shown at Figs. 5 and 6. This is called 
scarfing.” Serve the other piece in the same 
way. You are now ready to weld; the pieces 
are to go together as shown in Fig. 7. In 
heating for welding, the faces which are to go 
together should be held down in the fire. 
In order to get them on the anvil in the pro¬ 
per position, take hold of the right-hand iron 
so as to bring the iron face side up when you 
place it on the anvil in the position shown in 
Fig. 8. Practice this once or twice before 
heating. By steadying the left-hand iron on 
the edge of the anvil you can bring it down 
upon the other just as you want it without 
any uncertainty. Irons when at welding 
heat are sticky, aud if they touch each other 
when in a wrong position they will cause 
trouble. 
Now heat to welding heat; do not let one 
iron heat faster than the other; if one tends 
to do this draw it out a little. It will take a 
little practice to be able to tell just when to 
draw the irons from the fire, and just how 
best to manage the fire. Do not be discour¬ 
aged if you burn one or two irons, and do not 
tongs, Fig. 2. A bardie, Fig. 13, is a necessity; 
and a cold chisel, Fig. 14, will be found a 
great convenience in some kinds of work when 
you have some one to strike for you. Hoof 
nippers, Fig. 25, are indispensable. Let us 
now see what our necessary tools have cost 
and then see if we can afford to buy anything 
in the way of extra conveniences; Bellows, 
*7.50; tuyfere iron, 50 cents; anvil, $10; vise, 
$4.50; two hammers, $1.50; tongs (common), 
35 cents; tongs (bolt), 50 cents; hoof nippers, 
35 cents; hardie, 30cents; cold chisel, 50 cents. 
Total, $28.40. 
A di ill is almost a necessity, and there is a 
very convenient upright bench drill now made 
that will do any ordinary work, and which 
costs only $4.50. A set of stocks and dies that 
[ will cut threads on bolts from one-quarter to 
three-quarter-inch iron cost about $3.25. 
Blacksmiths’ coal costs here about $7 per ton. 
It is my purpose in these articles to give, as 
well as may be on paper, the course in black- 
smithing which I am taking here at Cornell, 
for the benefit of those who are contemplating 
furnishing a farm shop or who may be in the 
situation in which I found myself last sum¬ 
mer—viz: with a shop and tools, but with no 
knowledge of how they should be used. 
As a first lesson, let us try to weld two 
pieces of iron together. Take two pieces of 
three-quarter-inch round iron; heat the end 
let this frighten you from getting them hot 
enough. 
When iron is at welding heat it looks very 
much like a solid, wet snow-ball; it is almost 
white, and the surface iron Is melted and just 
ready to burn. When the two pieces of iron 
are in this condition, draw them out, remem¬ 
bering to take hold with the right hand so as 
to bring the iron face side up. Place the left 
one upon it by guiding it from the edge of the 
anvil, then let go with the right hand and 
pick up the hammer (which should belying 
on the right-hand end of the anvil), and strike 
hard and quickly once or twice, then turn 
over as quickly as possible and strike on the 
other side. Then go around the weld, pound¬ 
ing it down. If it is not a perfect weld, heat 
again and finish it off, pounding it down to 
the original size of the iron. Practice this 
several times, then try it with smaller-sized 
iron. The ability to weld perfectly and quick¬ 
ly will stand you in good stead in many re¬ 
pairing jobs. 
The next job which they give us here at 
Cornell is to make chain, but as we are not 
supposed to have a pair of chain tongs, we 
must make them. They can be made from a 
pair of common tongs, by shaping the jaws as 
shown in Figs. 9 and 10, To make a pair of 
either chain or common tongs,,take a piece of 
three-quarter-inch square iron and forge one 
end into the shape shown in Fig. 15; then turn 
and place on the anvil, as shown in Fig. 16, and 
pound it down so that it will resemble Fig. 17 
Fig. 18 is another view of the same Now 
place it on the anvil, as in Fig. 19, and bring 
it into the shape shown at 20 and 21. 
In punching the hole, place the iron flat on 
the anvil (not over a hole) and drive the 
punch (Fig. 24) till it seems to be solid against 
the face of the anvil, then turn the iron over 
and punch from the other side; this makes a 
smooth hole, whereas, if you attempt to punch 
through from one side the edges are always 
left ragged. 
/5 
After getting the end shaped up and the 
hole punched, cut the iron off about four 
inches from the hole and scarf it for welding 
on the handles. Both jaws of the tongs are 
made exactly alike. The handles can be made 
of five-sixteenth or three-eighth-inch iron, ac¬ 
cording to the size of the jaws. If intended 
for chain tongs, cut the corners off, as shown 
by dotted lines in Fig. 20. In doing this hold 
the outside of the jaws on the hardie; this 
will give the right bevel. 
Now make a rivet by drawing out the end 
of a piece of one-half or five-eighth-inch iron, 
as shown in Fig. 22, leaving a shoulder, and 
then cutting so nearly pff on the hardie that 
