{"id":1999,"date":"2020-05-06T16:30:10","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T16:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/?p=1999"},"modified":"2024-04-23T17:14:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T15:14:46","slug":"history-of-manual-craft-forging-how-was-metal-worked-in-3000-bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/new\/history-of-manual-craft-forging-how-was-metal-worked-in-3000-bc\/","title":{"rendered":"History of Manual Craft Forging: How was Metal Worked in 3000 BC?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Forging is one of the oldest trades in the world. There is plenty of evidence of jewelry and tools made with this technique and found in archaeological excavations. These elements are part of our artistic and cultural heritage, and they provide important information about the beliefs and customs of our ancestors.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But how did they work metal back then?\u00a0What\u00a0remains of those processes today? Here we will try to answer these questions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The origins of forging: Fire and the hammer as the main tools of manual forging\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Forging is a process of shaping by deformation<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0meaning that the material, usually iron or steel, is taken\u00a0beyond\u00a0its\u00a0former limit of\u00a0elasticity without breaking. This is accomplished by applying different compressive\u00a0forces. The result is a material with great strength and durability.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Today there are many\u00a0forging techniques,<\/strong>\u00a0but originally what we now know as manual forging was used. In this process, two main elements are used to shape the material: fire and the hammer.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In\u00a0manual forging,<\/strong>\u00a0the material is heated to a high temperature\u00a0and struck with a hammer until the desired shape is achieved. This is a process that requires a lot of strength and stamina, but also skill.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A\u00a0traditional forge is a brick or stone structure covered with a grid, where the fire is fanned by forcing a horizontal air current through a manual or mechanical bellows. In a workshop of this type, we also usually find an anvil, which serves as a surface to strike the red-hot iron on.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Iron forging, one of the first forging techniques<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Manual forging is one of the first methods by which iron was worked. It is not known exactly\u00a0when\u00a0itemerged,\u00a0although some experts place it around 3,000 BC in Mesopotamia. What we\u00a0do\u00a0know is that the ancient Egyptians were familiar with this technique and used it continuously, as\u00a0evidenced by the weapons and ornaments found in some tombs of the\u00a0time.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In the Iron Age\u00a0\u2014\u00a0which in the Iberian Peninsula\u00a0lasted from\u00a01000 B.C. until the Roman conquest in 218 B.C.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the forge\u00a0became\u00a0a key element for the improvement of the quality of life of the inhabitants of our planet. This period is characterized by the popularization of iron to the detriment of bronze, which had been most widely used in the\u00a0previous era. Although its resistance is lower, iron was and still is one of the most abundant metals in our planet. Thanks to forged iron, agricultural tools and utensils were able to be created, allowing people to better cultivate their land, as\u00a0was\u00a0jewelry, which encouraged exchange and trade with other civilizations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Forging\u00a0continued to be\u00a0used during the Roman Empire, but it was after its fall, in the Middle Ages, that the practice spread. At that time, many different types of businesses were created to manufacture everything from horseshoes or nails to jewelry or weapons. The forges multiplied and the blacksmiths\u2019\u00a0guilds were\u00a0born.<\/p>\r\n

From ancient forging to the discovery of new metals<\/a><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Manual Forging\u00a0Today\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Over the years, the metal industry has evolved on every level, with the incorporation of new processes and technological tools that have helped to lessen the\u00a0physical\u00a0strain on\u00a0workers. However, the artisan processes of manual forging still have a large following today. Proof of this is the success achieved by a well-known television program where several blacksmiths compete in the manufacture of historical weapons that are put to the test by a panel of judges.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Beyond the anecdotal case of television shows, hand forging is still used for complex and elaborate decorative designs \u2014 in parts of doors, grilles, lamps and other fixtures<\/a>, as well as in sculpture and jewelry. This is because the products resulting from natural forging carry the imprint and personal style of the blacksmith who designed them, something difficult to achieve with industrial processes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Industrial Forging\u00a0–\u00a0ULMA<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Forging experienced a great leap both in quality and quantity in the industrial era with the development of different types of presses. Currently, ULMA has different\u00a0technologies (hydraulic presses,\u00a0mechanical\u00a0presses,\u00a0hammers, rolling mill) and processes (closed die or open die) that are key to our ability to manufacture a very wide range of products\u00a0\u2014\u00a0in terms of shape, size and material\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and do so efficiently.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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We have very high quality human and productive resources and at ULMA we are always able to provide the right solution for our client\u2019s needs.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Ask us for further information without any commitment <\/a><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forging is one of the oldest trades in the world. There is plenty of evidence of jewelry and tools made with this technique and found in archaeological excavations. These elements are part of our artistic and cultural heritage, and they provide important information about the beliefs and customs of our…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new","category-noticia-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1999"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5683,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999\/revisions\/5683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulmaforge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}