12-18-2011, 11:07 PM
First of all, let me say how much I love this site! I have been on for almost a year now as I have developed a persona for presentation, and I cannot believe how many knowledgeable, helpful, and generous people there are on this site. This is truly what the Internet is about, but I digress.
I am about to start writing a young adult book that will involve a blacksmith, probably from northern Italy/southern Gaul. This thread has been quite helpful regarding materials and practice, but does anyone know more about the actual blacksmithing operations? By that I mean did a blacksmith tend to work in a small shop with some slaves and/or apprentices? Do we have evidence of larger production facilities? Do we know how much a smaller, one-man-and-slaves shop would have produced?
From reading on this thread, I understand, and agree with, the idea that there was no one way to do something and that multiple scenarios were likely in simultaneous use. I am just curious, though, if we know something more about the size of production facilities.
I am about to start writing a young adult book that will involve a blacksmith, probably from northern Italy/southern Gaul. This thread has been quite helpful regarding materials and practice, but does anyone know more about the actual blacksmithing operations? By that I mean did a blacksmith tend to work in a small shop with some slaves and/or apprentices? Do we have evidence of larger production facilities? Do we know how much a smaller, one-man-and-slaves shop would have produced?
From reading on this thread, I understand, and agree with, the idea that there was no one way to do something and that multiple scenarios were likely in simultaneous use. I am just curious, though, if we know something more about the size of production facilities.
