The metal may soften and bend beneath the great heat of hell, but it will not drip way in tiny rivulets. It re-forms and hardens once more.

With the piece steadied in a cradle, Howard creases the back of the bar with the peen of his hammer, in effect distorting the metal so that it’s not so rectilinear This is one of the design’s few aesthetic flourishes.

Though they have been refined through the ages, significant differences exist between the two methods used to make metal parts.

Sherbrooke Village Museum -Joe McLanes Blacksmith Shop

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