"How did he do, child?"
"I seed him stick the iron into sand, and once I seed him poke the coal away, and fling the sand right into the fire."
The father now recollected that he had often seen the blacksmith put his iron into sand, but did not know what he did it for. He got some sand, and put the iron into it, then put it into the fire, found the iron did not burn, and he welded it without any more trouble.
He now got along bravely, being able to heat his iron so that it would draw easily. Even the harrow-tooth presented no obstacle; for, after bringing it to a white heat, he got his wife to hold it with the tongs, and using the old axe as a sledge, soon brought the tooth to a size that he could work with his nail-hammer, and finished his job. As to the bellows, they were a great success, afforded a strong blast, and he found the constant current of cold air passing through the cone kept it from becoming hot enough to burn the nose of the bellows.
"William," said his wife, "I'll never say you can't do anything again."
It may seem strange to our readers that Richardson should be able to heat iron sufficiently to be drawn and cut with an axe, and still should have so much difficulty in making it hot enough to weld. They may likewise wish to know what good the sand does.
Iron can be cut and hammered when red hot; but, in order to weld, it must be brought to a white heat—almost melted. When in this state, the two pieces of iron to be united are laid one upon the other, and made to unite by a few smart blows with a hammer. If the operation is rightly performed, the two pieces of iron will become perfectly united, and be as strong at the place where they are welded as elsewhere.
It is, however, quite a nice operation to weld thoroughly. Iron, when highly heated, inclines to oxidize rapidly. This forms a scale similar to that which you perceive on iron when it is rusty. If the two pieces of iron are put together in this condition, these scales that are loose on the iron will prevent the union of the parts. That is the way iron burns up. It oxidizes, and the iron flies off in sparks that are scales red hot. When the smith sees the iron begin to sparkle, he takes it out of the fire, and rolls it in sand, and then puts it in again, or opens the fire, and sprinkles sand upon it. The sand melts, combines with the oxide of iron, and forms silicate of iron, spreads over the surface of the iron, protects it, prevents the formation of scales, and when it is struck with the hammer, leaves the surface clean, and the iron unites perfectly, and forms a solid junction. The smith also leaves the surface of the two pieces to be welded highest in the middle, in order that they may touch there first, and then, when struck with the hammer, the melted sand or oxide will be squeezed out.
The possession of a pair of bellows, with which he was enabled to heat his iron thoroughly, and soften it to such a degree that he could work it with his nail-hammer, proved of the utmost service to our persistent smith, and he was enabled, by the aid of his wife and the children, to mend chains, staples of yokes, domestic utensils, and most of the articles his neighbors brought to him, and, as we have seen in the last chapter, was gaining knowledge even by his mistakes.
But there was a good deal of work that would be more profitable than any he had hitherto done that he was compelled to lose for the want of tools. There were oxen to be shod. Four of the neighbors now kept horses. These they worked before their oxen, and therefore wanted them shod all round, and were obliged to pay John Drew an exorbitant price to leave his shop, and come through the woods on snow-shoes to do it. It was quite as important that he should have iron as tools, in order to learn by practice, as he could not expect his neighbors to find iron for him to spoil in learning. To this end he laid by every cent he earned by his blacksmith work, in order with that, the cloth, butter, and linen yarn, to obtain both.