ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — “When the first blacksmith began hammering on a hot piece of iron, little did he know how he was shaping the future. He forged the tools that made the machines that produce everything mankind has today. The blacksmith was the pioneer of the technology that carried mankind from the iron age to the space age. It can truly be said that the first rocket to the moon was virtually launched from the face of the anvil.”

Those words by Bill Miller, a blacksmith turned author, put in a nutshell the progression of blacksmithing throughout the ages. Beginning with the Bronze Age more than 5,000 years ago, the tools used — a hammer, anvil and forge (hot furnace) — and the technique of twisting and bending hot iron and steel into various forms, has been a mainstay of Egyptian, Asian, European and American blacksmiths down through history.

However, blacksmithing is more than striking metal with a hammer. The blacksmith has to have a knowledge of the properties of the metal, whether it be wrought iron (containing no carbon and not able to be hardened) or steel (containing .1 to 1.5 percent carbon and able to be hardened) and a pretty good grasp of chemistry and physics as well.

And although wrought iron has been largely replaced by low-carbon steel by the modern blacksmiths, there are still those who prefer working with wrought iron as the early blacksmiths did.

One organization trying to revive the lost art of blacksmithing is Bay Forge Group, who have been meeting for about two years on the third Sunday of each month at the Iron and Canvas Shop in Fairhope, owned by blacksmith Joe Strange.

A member of the Alabama Forge Council, a nonprofit organization comprised of 12 different groups in Alabama, and consisting of 400 professional, amateur and beginning blacksmiths, Bay Forge conducts workshops, educational seminars, training programs and forge demonstrations to expose the public to the art and craft of blacksmithing in its many forms.

Charlie Head, Bay Forge president, said he was asked to take back over the dormant group in 2009, and at the present time has 12 active members from all over the county.

“We are affiliated and do demonstrations with the South Alabama Antique Tractor and Engine Club all over the county, and also do our own demonstrations by special request and sometimes individual forge members will do one, too,” Head said.

Picking up blacksmithing as a hobby about five years ago, Head said his brother got him involved when he (brother) was participating in the Montgomery Forge Group, and is now president of the AFC.

Another member of BFG and owner of B & S Forge in Loxley, Bill Williamson, said there is no cost to join the forge group, but there is a $25 fee to join the AFC.

Active in BFG for two years, Williamson said a person doesn’t have to be a member of the AFC to participate in BFG and their goal is to provide a safe, clean, secure working environment for anyone interested in the art of blacksmithing.

“We have members as young as 12 and as old as 70, and we like to do demonstrations for boys and girls as well as their parents. We do caution that safe shoes and full-length clothing should be worn if children are going to be participating in the demonstrations since we are working with hot steel and extremely hot temperatures,” Williamson said.

All materials used in the forging demonstrations are donated by members and Williamson said anyone is welcome to come to their meetings or demonstrations.

“We recently met with the Baldwin County Commissioners to try and get a blacksmith forge built in Bicentennial Park (Stockton) so we can have a place for schools and the public to come and see our demonstrations and participate in different programs we could offer,” Williamson explained. “There would also be a village and farm located in the park, too. It would be an asset to the upper part of the county and an enjoyable experience for anyone participating in this venture. They seemed very receptive to the idea, and we also have been talking to the Baldwin County Heritage Museum in Elberta because they already have a blacksmith shop set up there.”

In danger of becoming a lost practice, Williamson said they want to continue teaching others the traditional art of blacksmithing.

“Otherwise, it will go the way of so many other parts of our past,” he pointed out.

According to the National Blacksmiths and Weldors Association Inc., “All the weapons of war-armor, swords, maces, battle axes, tools, machines, engines and horseless carriages originated in the blacksmith shop, and many great men of history practiced the smithing trade.”

The early forges, called “bloomeries,” were made of conical stone and burned charcoal or peat to a heat of 2,800 degrees, the temperature at which iron is malleable to be shaped into items like spears, chariots, plow blades and axes. The modern forges burn coal or coke, because of their ability to burn hotter and longer, and are made of cast iron and steel. Forges also burn natural gas, propane or fuel oil as well.

The forge has a passageway (tuyeer) for airflow to keep the fire going and a source of air like a bellows, fan or blower and “can be as simple as a hole in the Earth or a box lined with clay. The air supply can be provided by hand or power from machines made of wood, leather or metal,” according to www.blacksmithforge.com.

The anvil, to the untrained eye, may look like a hunk of steel, but in fact there are many different styles, kinds and sizes.

“The best anvils are made of selectively hardened tool steel with a well-balanced attractive shape and various useful working surfaces,” states www.anvilfire.com

Five different types are used in modern blacksmithing: forging, shoeing (farrier’s), sheet metal, bench and jewelers, and can vary in size from 500 pounds (forging) to .3 pounds ( jewelers). The size of the anvil should be proportional to the work, and the hammer used to perform that work, like a 4-pound hammer and a 200-pound anvil are a good match, according to that website.

Common features of the anvil include flat face, round horn, large square hardie hole, small round pinching or pritchell hole. Differing features include square or rectangular heel, a step between face and gorn, upsetting block, side shelf and multiple punching holes. Forged anvils and tools have been regarded as the most durable for centuries, and are still considered the best and are the most expensive (Rigid Tool Co. Peddinghaus is the only one available in North America).

“A forge anvil usually costs about $250 and a good one will make a noise. Forges usually go for $300. I use about 10 pounds of coal, and green coal is the best because it turns white in about five minutes. And pure beeswax keeps metal from rusting. We love teaching these things to anyone who wants to come,” Williamson said.

Famous blacksmiths include the automobile maker Henry Studebaker, who opened a shop in South Bend, Ind. in 1852 and made Conestoga wagons, and John Deere, who developed the steel plow in 1838 and is now famous for his farming equipment, according to www.ehow.com.

“The United States military phased out blacksmiths as of 1910, about the same time factories stopped using them. By the 1970s, however, a revival of the craft was in full swing, inspired partially by the work of Francis Whitaker. The Artists Blacksmith Association of North America boasts a membership of more than 5,000 blacksmiths. Its resurgence has been advanced by a market for decorative ironwork and by the classes offered by masters who have kept the craft alive,” states www.ehow.com (History of Blacksmithing) website.

Any contributions to BFG, supplies or monetary donations, would be greatly appreciated, Williamson said.

For more information, contact Head at 251-931-3234, Williamson at 251-964-5100, or Strange at 251-379-3855.