Personal home repairs have kept me away for a few days but I wish to return to a previous topic........the blacksmith. My wife and I visited the John Deere home in Grand Detour, IL and the images on the left are of the final blacksmith product. The "leaf" was originally a 3/8" x 3/8" piece of steel. Questions about the product:
- What is the best working temperature of the coal used by a blacksmith?
- Repeat question, What is coke?
- Why don't blacksmiths use charcoal?
- How long did it take to produce the leaf? (answer, less than 15 minutes)
- What produced the gold hue in the finish?
- At what temperature was that golden hue applied?
- The leaf is considered "sealed" for outdoor use, what does that mean?
- What product sealed the leaf?
- Is this helping you think of a blacksmith in totally different terms than you previously did?
- There were no drawings, does this mean it's art?
- The leaf is three dimensional, what does that mean?
- How do you think the blacksmith views the process in his/her mind?
- Why might this type of skill be valuable in the 21st century?
- Why might other 19th century skills be valuable today?
- How do the bellows that a blacksmith uses to stoke the fire work?
- What is the danger of the bellows?
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