4137 x 4486 px | 35 x 38 cm | 13,8 x 15 inches | 300dpi
Lieu:
Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA, United States, America
Informations supplémentaires:
A blacksmith fires up his forge and makes ready to hammer out horseshoes, at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, "Cowboy Days" in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Blacksmiths work with iron, the 'black' metal, and recently steel, its derivative. The black color comes from fire scale, a layer of oxides that forms on the surface of the metal during heating. The term 'smith' originates from the word 'smite', which means 'to hit'. Thus, a blacksmith is a person who smites black metal. Blacksmiths work by heating pieces of wrought iron or steel until the metal becomes soft enough to be shaped with hand tools, such as a hammer, anvil and chisel. Heating is accomplished by the use of a forge fueled by propane, natural gas, coal, charcoal, or coke.
