1. Definition/workshops
The term smithy denotes a disparate group of workshops in which pieces of steel and/or iron are forged either hot or cold with hammer and anvil used to reshape, join (weld), or refine them. (On non-ferrous and precious metals see Copper; Gold; Silver.) In the pre-industrial period, they were common in a wide variety of forms. In comparison to shaping processes that involved casting or methods that created waste (e.…