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The Green Family Forge opened in 1991 as a Museum. It was discovered at that time that the chimneys had been rebuilt incorrectly and that in order for the forge to become operational again they would have to be taken apart and rebuilt again.

With funding from the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador this project was completed.

One of the objectives of the Historical Society when they were given the building by Mrs. Nemec was to have it become operational again. With funding from Human Resources Development Canada the Society hired a blacksmith to come to Trinity to offer a six week course to two people in basic blacksmiting.

This storyline will tell you about this project, what has happened since 1999 and the types of products that we currently make at our forge for sale.

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Green Family Forge
12 August 2003
Trinity, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

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During the basic blacksmithing course the two individuals learned the following:

Basics of Blacksmithing
- history of blacksmithing
- identification of tools and their use
- introduction to the furnace and its maintenance
- shop safety issues

Manufacture of Items
- relationship between colour and temperature
- hole punching and chisel cutting
- maufacture of simple shop tools (hammer, tongs etc..)
- begin manufacturing of hardware (door handles, latches, nails)

Completion and Installation of Hardware
- completion of hardware manufacture
- install hardware and make any adjustments
- reveiw furnace maintenance, tools etc.

Each of the above took one week each and during the last three weeks various projects were assigned to be completed using the skills and techniques that were learned.

After the completion of the program Mr. Gilbert Hiscock, who had been an interpretive guide at the forge since it opened in 1991 became the blacksmith and began to do daily demonstrations. In 1999, Mr. Hiscock gave up the position of blacksmith but before doing so the Society again accessed funding from Human Resources Development Canada to train people in blacksmithing. This not only helped the Society to get a person to become the next blacksmith but also gave four other people new skills. After the program was over the Society hired Mr. Wade Ivany as the blacksmith.

Wade has been the blacksmith now for four years and has an amazing talent for working with iron. Some of the items that he makes at the forge appear later in this exhibit.

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Anvil
1890
Green Family Forge,Trinity, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

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Anvil
1890
Green Family Forge,Trinity, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

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The anvil is made from wrought iron with a steel face for a working surface. At one end is a square hole, called a hardie hole which is used to hold the shank of a bottom tool. Close to this is a round hole over which small holes can be punched, for example making nail holes in horseshoes. The pointed end of the anvil is called the beak or horn and the under part being called the throat. The anvil is lodged on top of a large piece of wood at a height which suits the individual worker and usually slopes away from him so that any hot debris falls out of the way.

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The exact location of the anvil was an important matter, for every piece of iron had to be heated at least once or twice and sometimes even four or five times. Iron cools quickly to the point where it can no longer be worked, hence the anvil having to be close to the fire. No less critical was the height of the anvil, a matter determined by the size of the man who was to use it. If the anvil was too high, even the mightiest smith could never strike the surface squarely. Ideally, the bottom of the blacksmith's hammer stroke should match the height of the anvil. The general rule is that the anvil is placed so that the blacksmith standing in front of the forge need only make a quarter-turn away from it to put himself within hammer distance of the anvil. Again to save time, and to prevent too much cooling of the iron, the horn of the anvil was pointed toward the forge to the blacksmith's left.

The anvil is mounted on the top end of a post that is buried four or five feet in the ground. The anvil is very heavy and has four legs and is secured to the post by quarter inch iron rods driven into the post and bent down over the legs. Each anvil is different but most are five inches across, twenty inches long and have a sixteen inch horn. There are two holes on the heel of the anvil, one called the hardy hole, square and used to fit the square shank of many of the blacksmiths tools, the other the pritchel hole, measuring three-eighths of an inch round and used for punching jobs.

Source: The Blacksmith: Ironworker and Farrier by Aldren A. Watson

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Coal and coal box
1900
Green Family Forge,Trinity, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

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Water bucket or slack tub.
1950
Green Family Forge,Trinity, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

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Coal box and the slack tub are essential tools for the blacksmith as well.

The coal box, located usually in the front of the hearth/forge contained enough coal that could last the blacksmith for a week or more. The coal that was received in Trinity came from Nova Scotia by boat twice a year. The coal was usually in large clumps and would have to be broken up into small pieces before being placed in the fire. This was a job for a young boy who could be hanging around the forge after school or the apprentice.

The slack tub was also located close to the hearth/forge usually next to the anvil. The tub would contain cold water for dipping the hot metal into for cooling, as well as for pouring on the fire to get the coals to cool down to a specific temperature.

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Bellows
1880
Green Family Forge,Trinity, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

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The bellows is mounted behind the chimney with an air pipe leading from the bellows nozzle through the chimney, under the hearth and into the fire. Built on a wooden framework of flat paddles, it has a stationary middle paddle, that is held up at the nozzle end and secured at the back end to a wooden post in the floor. The top and bottom paddles are moveable. Leather is attached to the outside of the framework creating an airtight chamber. A small valve in the middle paddle opened only on the upstroke of the lower paddle, which is moved by a chain that is attached to a lever pole. A large weight is placed on the top of the bellows to keep a constant pressure on the air in the upper chamber. Thus when the bellows is pumped the air is trapped in the upper chamber and has no where to go expect out through the nozzle into the fire.

Most blacksmiths had a young person to pump the bellows for him even though at most times he was capable of doing it himself.

Source: The Blacksmith: Ironworker and Farrier by Aldren A. Watson

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Mandrel
1900
Green Family Forge,Trinity, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

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Cart wheel
6 December 2004
Green Family Forge,Trinity, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada