I was wondering what products if any are still made on a regular basis by blacksmithing. I know it is a common way to make historical replicas, but is that the only thing? Are horseshoes still done this way?
ETA: I’m asking about commercial scale, not things made by hobbyists.
Sure. Forging is an industrial practice used to produce a lot of metal parts - from flanges, tools, car parts to household knives. Forging is what traditionally blacksmiths did.
Horseshoes these days usually start as mass-produced blanks, with any necessary final fitting/adjustment done on-site with a portable forge. (mmmm… the smell of singed hooves in the morning… bleargh).
Some fencing and iron railings. On American Chopper, I saw some sissy bars and other components made by a blacksmith also.
was going to say this.
Does an industrial press tender count as a blacksmith?
There are plenty of present day blacksmiths who make custom architectural wrought iron. Custom gates, big wrought iron hinges and fireplace furniture; it’s not all “hobby” stuff being done in small shops.
Blacksmiths are alive and well in parts of the developing world, where a local blacksmith will make and repair various tools and household implements.
I am an engineer in my profession and a backyard hobby blacksmith (forging knives and stuff ).
Blacksmithing is like bread making. Just like dough needs to be well kneaded to make good bread - similarly metals (or more accurately alloys) need to be forged (compare it to kneading) to give them the properties needed. So just like baking is alive but is done at industrial scale (although there are small bakeries) - similarly blacksmithing is alive at an industrial scale and a small hobby scale.
OP has excluded hobbyist-type stuff from this discussion – yet I can’t resist mentioning, just because it looks so cool! – that there are several custom wrought-iron Volkswagens around. I assume they are all done by hobbyists.
Article about them with pictures of several.
ETA: Just quickly skimming that article, it looks like at least some of them were commissioned to be done professionally.
Well modern rolling and heat treating can be far more important, and impossible for the blacksmith to replicate… I think the OP referred to taking some fresh iron out of the furnace and bashing it into shape…
For example, spanners are labelled “drop forged” to say “we smashed this into shape really really firmly, to give it appropriate properties”. A blacksmiths spanner wouldn’t make bolts that could be used on a coffins lid to stop the corpose climbing out.
I have some friends who smith as a hobby. I have joined then a few times and loved it. The reason I asked this, and excluded hobbyists is because they always say “It’s a dying art” and “Professional smiths only do it for historical reenactment/ making replicas”