Blacksmith
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Le Forgeron | The Blacksmith
A forgeron, or blacksmith, was primarily a craftsman of wrought iron on the anvil. Protecting himself with a thick leather apron, he used a bellows (first made of leather, then wood and finally metal) to push the air that fuelled the coal fire of the forge, a type of cast iron table where the iron was reddened. Colour is crucial to know the temperature and workability of the iron. As it heats to higher temperatures, it first turns red, then orange, yellow, and finally white. The ideal colour for most forging is the bright yellow-orange that indicates forging heat. Using pliers of various sizes to hold the hot iron, the blacksmith would then give it a specific shape with the help of different hammers. The blacksmith made farm instruments, vehicle accessories and even schooners, cemetery crosses, steel bandages, hooks for hay bales, etc.
The blacksmith was one of 7 main occupations in New France relating to metalwork, the others being the locksmith, the coppersmith, the tinsmith, the gunsmith, the edge-tool maker, and the arquebusier.
Derived from this occupation, the surname Forgeron still survives in Canada today.
The forge ("La fragua", circa1815 oil painting by Francisco Goya, Wikimedia Commons).
The blacksmith ("Forgeron", 1946 engraving by Paul Cloutier, BAnQ numérique).
Meet Montreal artisan blacksmith Mathieu Collette
Sources:
Claude Lemay, "Fonctions et métiers délaissés", l'Ancêtre, number 281, volume 34, winter 2008, and number 280, volume 34, winter 2007; electronic edition, Société généalogique de Québec (www.sgq.qc.ca/images/_SGQ/R_LAncetre_plus_libre/ENT-FONCTIONS-METIERS-DELAISSES.pdf).
"Be Your Own Blacksmith" , Popular Science, January 1949, Google Books (https://books.google.ca/books?id=YyQDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA206&dq=1949%20Popular%20Science%20%22Popular%20Science%22%20first%20flat%20top%20ever%20designed&pg=PA206#v=onepage&q&f=true).