What is a Blacksmith?
Like many professions, Blacksmithing has (3) tiers, or levels, of it's trade. The first tier is the Apprentice Blacksmith. The Apprentice is typically a younger person eager to learn a skilled trade. The Apprentice learns every aspect Blacksmithing. To complete his apprenticeship, he is sometimes required to make his own tools & tool chest (although today, many are store-bought). After completing welding certifications, safety training and hands-on blacksmithing work, the apprentice must satisfy the Blacksmith ShopMaster or Blacksmith Program Requirements to show that he has the skills to graduate to Journeyman Blacksmith. The ShopMaster or Blacksmith Program also requires the Apprentice to make a specific workpiece to demonstrate his skills. That workpiece is known as a "Masterpiece", hence the common term for great works of art today.
These items, along with a forge, hammer, vise and tongs are the elemental tools of the blacksmith. The anvil and the smaller pieces that fit into the hardy hole in the anvil allow the blacksmith to shape nearly any object. This very small set may have been used by cabinetmakers, jewelers or anyone focused on making smaller ferrous and non-ferrous objects. The anvil is 7" long and weighs about 20 pounds. A real blacksmith's anvil was likely to weigh 150-200 pounds. Three-hundred-pound anvils are not unusual and there are a few known behemoths at over one thousand pounds.
Upon passing this requirement, the Apprentice is released from the Apprenticeship and free to begin his career's journey with an existing shop (or even start another Blacksmith Shop on his own) - therefore, the reason the position is named "Journeyman". After creating many master pieces (often over the course of two decades or more) a select few Journeyman Blacksmiths are deemed Expert Blacksmiths or Master Blacksmiths. Unlike the certificate-yielding "Journeyman", the Expert Blacksmith or Master Blacksmith title is an honorary term decided upon by one's peers in the Blacksmithing community. These experts commonly use both traditional anvil methods and modern welding methods to create just a few pieces per year. It is estimated that there are fewer than 50 Expert Blacksmiths or Master Blacksmiths in the United States today.
