A metalsmith or simply smith is a

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

sperson fashioning useful items (for example, tools,

kitchenware :'' For a record label, see Kitchenware Records'' Kitchenware refers to the tools, utensils, appliances, dishes, and cookware used in food preparation and the serving of food. Kitchenware can also be used to hold or store food before or aft ...

tableware Tableware items are the dishware and utensils used for setting a table, serving food, and dining. The term includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes, serving utensils, and other items used for practical as well as decorative purposes. The ...

jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

, armor and

weapons A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...

) out of various

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

s. Smithing is one of the oldest

metalworking occupations Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on e ...

. Shaping metal with a

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...

(

forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compression (physics), compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die (manufacturing), die. Forging is often classif ...

) is the archetypical component of smithing. Often the hammering is done while the metal is hot, having been

heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...

ed in a

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the ...

. Smithing can also involve the other aspects of

metalworking Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on e ...

, such as refining metals from their ores (traditionally done by

smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

it into shapes ( founding), and filing to shape and size. The prevalence of metalworking in the culture of recent centuries has led '' Smith'' and its equivalents in various languages to be a common

occupational surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

(German Schmidt or Schmied, Portuguese Ferreiro, Ferreira, French

Lefèvre Lefebvre (; commonly in English-speaking countries, as well as or ) is a common northern French surname. Alternative forms include ''Lefebvre'', ''le Febvre'', ''Le Febvre'', ''Lefèbvre'', ''le Fèbvre'', ''Le Fèbvre'', as well as the common var ...

, Spanish

Herrero Herrero is a Spanish-language occupational surname literally meaning "blacksmith". The feminine form is Herrera. People with this surname include: * Abel Herrero (born 1971), Cuban artist * Abel Herrero (born 1969), Texas politician * Álvaro Peñ ...

, Italian Fabbri,

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

, Ferrero, Ukrainian Koval etc.). As a

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

, ''-smith'' connotes the meaning of a specialized craftsperson—for example, ''wordsmith'', meaning one who "smiths words", ie. a writer.

History

In pre-industrialized times, smiths held high or special social standing since they supplied the metal tools needed for farming (especially the

plough A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden ...

) and

warfare War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

. More details on the history can be found in the article

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

Types of smiths

A metalsmith is one who works with or has the knowledge and the capacity of working with "all" metals. Wessel smedbager02

Types of smiths include: * A

works with iron and steel (this is what is usually meant when referring just to "smith"). A

farrier A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adju ...

is a type of blacksmith who specializes in making and fitting

horseshoe A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...

s. * A bladesmith forges knives, swords, and other

blade A blade is the Sharpness (cutting), sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they a ...

s. * A brownsmith works with

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

. * A coinsmith works strictly with

coins A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

and currency. * A coppersmith works with copper. * A

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

works with gold. * A

gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very ...

builds and repairs

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s. * An

armourer Historically, an armourer is a person who makes personal armour, especially plate armour. Historically armourers were often men, but women could also undertake the occupation: for example Alice la Haubergere worked as an armourer in Cheapside i ...

working in an armoury maintaining and repairing small weapons traditionally had some duties of a gunsmith. * A

locksmith Locksmithing is the work of creating and bypassing locks. Locksmithing is a traditional trade and in many countries requires completion of an apprenticeship. The level of formal education legally required varies by country, ranging from no formal ...

works with locks. * A silversmith, or brightsmith, works with silver. * A swordsmith is a bladesmith who forges only

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

s. * An arrowsmith is a blacksmith who specialises in forging

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling. ...

s. * A

tinsmith A tinsmith is a historical term for a skilled craftsperson who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession was also known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profe ...

, tinner, or tinker works with light metal (such as tinware) and can refer to someone who deals in tinware. * A weaponsmith is a generalized bladesmith who forges weapons like

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

s, flails, and other weapons. * A whitesmith works with white metal ( tin and pewter) and can refer to someone who polishes or finishes the metal rather than forging it. * A

tinker Tinker or tinkerer is an archaic term for an wikt:itinerant, itinerant tinsmith who mends household utensils. Description ''Tinker'' for metal-worker is attested from the thirteenth century as ''tyckner'' or ''tinkler''. Some travelling grou ...

archaic term for an itinerant tinsmith.

Artisans and craftspeople

The ancient traditional tool of the smith is a

or ''smithy'', which is a furnace designed to allow compressed air (through a

bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...

) to superheat the inside, allowing for efficient melting,

soldering Soldering (; ) is a process of joining two metal surfaces together using a filler metal called solder. The soldering process involves heating the surfaces to be joined and melting the solder, which is then allowed to cool and solidify, creatin ...

and annealing of metals. Today, this tool is still widely used by blacksmiths as it was traditionally. The term, ''metalsmith'', often refers to artisans and craftpersons who practice their craft in many different metals, including gold, copper and silver. Jewelers often refer to their craft as ''metalsmithing'', and many universities offer degree programs in metalsmithing, jewelry, enameling and blacksmithing under the auspices of their fine arts programs.

Machinists

Machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...

s are metalsmiths who produce high-precision parts and tools. The most advanced of these tools, CNC machines, are computer controlled and largely automated.

References

External links