Photo: Sebastian-Dumont
Let’s take just “Iron”. For thousands of years we have used iron for everything because of its durability, cost and strength and it serves the same purpose today and with modern technology we can make iron into all kinds of things. We can make it just the same or tougher than ever before. One should keep in mind that iron comes from the earth and rock just like it did thousands of years ago and it is a true blessing given to us by Mother Earth like our food, water, lumber, etc. Iron exists in everything including our bodies. For thousands of years we have run around on horseback and wagons and it was the blacksmith that shoed horses and built wagons, and they repaired them as well. Within the last 100 years or so the automobile came to be and early on it was the blacksmith that repaired that also. Now- a-days the blacksmith has evolved to include the Artisan Blacksmith. I often hear that blacksmithing is a “lost art”, and I can affirm that blacksmithing is alive and strong; however, the tools and dies we used to build and repair wagons of the times has gone by the wayside.
The Blacksmith is a Blacksmith by first name. The Smitty is the shop by name. All his or her tools that make the magic are so sacred that one would NEVER touch a blacksmith’s tools without asking.
My past experiences with blacksmithing are as such and I wrote this following history because I believe it is pertinent to what it is that I do now-a-days, it’s in my Ancestry and likely to be in my DNA. We are fortunate to have many family records and letters that date back to the middle 18th century on my Father’s side of the family.
Photo: Ebenezer’s Tomahawk
Photo: Joseph Rudd – Headstone Revolutionary War
Purchase and Increase went on to become blacksmiths. They were enlisted in a Company made up entirely of Blacksmiths and Apprentices, which wasn’t uncommon since blacksmiths were needed to care for horses, wagons, tools, weapons and numerous repairs. Imagine 150 or more blacksmiths working together to accomplish these tasks often overnight. They all survived the war except for one of the Murphy brothers and his wife who froze in a storm; the couple’s young daughter was adopted by the Rudd family.
After the revolution ended in 1783 many family members migrated south to find fertile farm ground and settled in Erie County New York. This included the Waldbridge and Rudd families, some of which became farmers and others blacksmiths including William and Alpheus the 1st. The family spread out quite a bit making it challenging to track all of them, but the ones I am most closely related too are from and lived in Tonawanda New York.
Photo: Elmer-Rudd
Next is the history of my Mother’s side of the family. Because my Grandfather Elmer knew my Grandfather Sebastian Dumont (b. 1893) on my Mother’s side my Father knew them as well. My Grandfather, Grandmother Tallulah (b. 1896) and Mother Beverly (b.1924) were Louisiana Cajun and lived and worked as tenant farmers. My Father met my Mother at a dance when my Father was in the Army stationed at Fort Polk during World War II. They apparently danced until closing time and I was born nine months later. My Father could not marry her because he was already married to Carol with one child, Dennis. According to the times I was “illegitimate’ which was frowned upon socially. My Mother was a “Rosy the Riveter” type welder at three different ship yards during the war and I was born in the shipyard infirmary, Garry Alpheus Rudd (b. 1944), named after my Fathers Surname. I stayed down South because my soon to be Step-Father Anatole Fuqua (b. 1924?) planned to adopt me and soon married my Mother. Anatole served in the U.S. Navy until was killed in 1945 in a battle with the with the Japanese in the Pacific. After the war my mother and I stayed on the farm until a boating accident the resulted in an infection that claimed her life in 1954. My Father had little interest in me because of Carol’s attitude toward me as the bastard child. Fortunately, my Grandparents Sebastian and Tallulah and large Nuclear family wanted me there in Louisiana and I of course stayed.
Photo: Alpheus Rudd
I remembered the sayings that my Grand Parents came up with and wrote many of them down. Here are a few I have hanging around in the shop • “Be careful how you treat people, you never know who they’re going to be someday” • “Nothing worthwhile knowing is easily learned” • “Blacksmithing is 50% Physical and 50% Mental and the remaining 50% is also Physical”.
Things changed when I was hit by a car resulting in a bunch of broken bones. Although I healed 100% my father encouraged me to leave Louisiana and move to Upstate New York and live with them. It was an exciting thought to live in a much different place and see new things but I was not as welcome as I thought. I really believed the reason I was asked to move there was because the insurance money I was awarded for my injuries was something they could benefit from which they surely did. When that money was used up things changed. Although my Step-Mother was pretty wicked I stayed in New York instead of returning to Louisiana because my Father, Step-Brother, and Sister were not so bad to be around. More importantly my Grand Father Elmer, Grand Mother Harriet and Great Grand Mother Elizabeth became very close to me. My Grand Father taught me mathematics, how to read a slide ruler, die making and many other things. My Grand Mother taught me different ways of cooking and we often made ice cream together. My Great Grand Mother Elizabeth (b. 1872) was very inspirational and told me many intriguing stories. Elizabeth gave me the tomahawk, showed me old letters, and told me the many stories. I was very intrigued by all of this. I figured this is a good reason to stay where I was and my folks in Louisiana understood and supported me 100%. Another reason was among many other conveniences we had electricity in the house, telephone and television which pretty much overwhelmed me. I overcame the cultural differences and I really wanted to experience these new things around me and even excelled in school. My Step-Mother continued to be problematic so I temporally moved to Charlottesville Virginia for a while until things blew over to live with an Uncle which was a great experience. School was great too (my Uncle Tome worked there) and we seemingly spent every free minute fishing, hunting or going to the movies.
After I returned to New York I was able to find a job welding in a place called Regional Trucking, and I found that my two new bosses were rather amusing to be around. Their names were Heime and Joseph Sarafran; they were twin brothers who had been held captive in a German Concentration Camp during World War II; each of them with a tattoo number on their forearms. They came to America after the War and worked in an automobile plant in New Jersey, pooled their money and built their trucking repair company in upstate New York. As a shop worker I served as a runner for parts, beer, lunch etc. Although they were inseparable I can’t say that I ever saw two people physically fight among themselves more than these two brothers. They would throw tools at one another, wrenches, pliers, hammers, even a crowbar once, rolling around on the floor beating away at each other. And then they would help bandage each other up. They both always had big bumps, bruises and bandages all over them; it’s a wonder they didn’t kill each other. They didn’t bother me much, except for cursing, I got the hell out there as soon as they started on each other and I never argued with either of them especially when they had a monkey wrench in their hands. I was actually amused more than I was afraid.
Photo: Wm Darkwood Co.
Among the many things my Grand Father said was every hammer tone (mark) is like a signature, and the heartbeat of the blacksmith. When I am gone my legacy will be my heartbeat signature. We all have a life’s story and this one is. I have always been a blacksmith and plan on preforming this Ancient and Modern Art the rest of my life.
Photo: Alpheus Rudd 2016
When I don’t know the answer to a question I can find out because the worst thing one can do is to when teaching is to pass on inaccurate information because the student is supposed to remember it, and nothing is more important than getting it right. It ruins the trades for years to come until the inaccuracies are corrected and who is going to correct them if everybody is wrong? I know my limitations, and when it is called for I send it out when it is something beyond my expertise. I don’t guess so I won’t make mistakes, if it is 18th century than it follows 18th century technique.
In a nut shell, the difference between the 18th and 19th century blacksmithing is that things that were mostly made one at a time by hand in the 18th century and were mass produced in factories during the “Industrial Revolution Period” of the 19th. Century. Hinges, farm tools, and even nails were made by hand as an example before the 19th century. I can easily identify a piece and tell whether it was made by hand or factory made, and with some research can tell approximately what century it was made even as far back as the 10th century. When I make a piece I make it as though I am making it for myself. I sign my work and the customer always gets something worthy of heirloom quality. I do not get in a hurry otherwise I fear a piece can come out cheesy or cheap looking because I was taught to concentrate, be efficient and to protect my reputation.
Photo: Alf’s Blacksmith, Smitty Storefront
I always think things out so that I can best apply the proper hardware to a specific item. As an example a customer with a home that is of the Arts and Crafts period design should have hardware that matches his or her home. Another example is a large timber used as a fire place mantle was designed to have massive exposed timber spikes to support it. It was a better match to the mantle than simple scroll brackets. These things will exist for a very long time and it’s important to get it right. When coupled together it’s the perfect match. I have made many gates that fit the décor or personality of the property. But of all the things I try to avoid the typical plasma and laser work one often sees because it seems to me that when you have seen one you’ve seen them all. That cookie cutter look is not for me and I can’t imagine signing work like that but for the customer needs I can send it out and deliver it without ever getting my hands dirty. These methods are not blacksmithing; this is fabrication and assembly in a sense, much like a plastic or wood model. One can order hundreds of them because they are on file. Yet in some cases on a rather big job I find it necessary to have 100 or more like parts roughly cut out this way and then forge each piece to fit and match with the customer’s approval. When I need to make more than one piece like the other although they look alike there are subtle differences between them. This always demonstrates handmade work especially when it comes to scrolls. Handmade pieces are unique and should always be “Signed” by the artist.
Photo: The Smitty Interior
Photo: The Smitty Summer Storefront
Photo: Sprocket The Shop Cat – Curious
Happy Hammering, Alf (use a cursive like font for Alf)