Industrial Archaeology of the Best Kind!

[Jerseyman]

Folks:

My apology for my extended absence from these forums, but it is always work before pleasure for me. Nonetheless, I knew I had to share a video with all of you that someone shared with me yesterday. If you ever wanted to witness an eighteenth-century Pine Barrens forge in action, take a look at this one-minute video:

Here is seventeenth-century water-p0wered technology that still ably performs the task for which it was constructed. Can you imagine the sounds of these working hammers echoing through the Pines?
Notice the modern smith is wearing hearing protectors, but back during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the Pines, many a forge worker endured gradual deafness from the hammer's constant din.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[Don Catts]

Folks:

My apology for my extended absence from these forums, but it is always work before pleasure for me. Nonetheless, I knew I had to share a video with all of you that someone shared with me yesterday. If you ever wanted to witness an eighteenth-century Pine Barrens forge in action, take a look at this one-minute video:

Here is seventeenth-century water-p0wered technology that still ably performs the task for which it was constructed. Can you imagine the sounds of these working hammers echoing through the Pines?
Notice the modern smith is wearing hearing protectors, but back during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the Pines, many a forge worker endured gradual deafness from the hammer's constant din.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

Good one Jerseyman. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that pounding was around the clock. Had to be hard on the family life in the village also.

 

[pinelandpaddler]

You were missed, Jerseyman! Thanks for sharing this excellent video. I wonder if the townspeople were generally annoyed at the sound of that relentless hammer or if they just got used to it and didn't think too much of it.

 

[manumuskin]

Thats worse then where I work.already have significant hearing loss in my left ear after five years and I do wear my ear plugs every day.

 

[SuperChooch]

That is super cool. It is sometimes hard to visualize these places when you just look at the ruins. This really helps. Does anyone know if there was a water wheel to power the furnace bellows as well?

 

[Teegate]

Thats worse then where I work.already have significant hearing loss in my left ear after five years and I do wear my ear plugs every day.

Same here. The tinnitus is with me every waking moment from listening to headphones at work with the machines running. I had to stop using headphones 20 years ago and now use earplugs all day. I can't even hammer without them or do anything that creates a loud noise or my head starts screaming and it takes a day to return back to the level it normally is. It must have been terrible years ago with those machines.

 

[manumuskin]

I can't used headphones.Too damn hot in there. makes my ears sweat too bad but they say headphones are better then plugs.