
Smithery is one of the most peculiar and deeply rooted crafts in Lithuania. At first smithery often included searching for iron ore and smelting.
Various craft and tillage tools, chest bindings, hinges and locks were usually made at iron extraction and processing workshops, referred to as rudnia or rūda and established near bog iron deposits. Various iron wares were made of palm-wide and inch-thick pieces of iron, called stoba or štoba. Second half of the 19th c. introduced imported iron. Imported 6-8 metre iron bars were cheaper and better quality, thus quickly replaced local iron.
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Later smitheries used to be built closer to the road for a more convenient access. They also used to be built further from villages to prevent any fire hazards. Walls were usually made of planks with the door in the back and such buildings usually didn’t have ceiling — only a plank or a shingle roof. The forge with leather bellows was also built at the back of the building. The heavy iron anvil, which sometimes weighted as much as 100 kg, used to be put on a very thick oak block, established not far from the forge. The weight and size of the anvil positively influenced the pride of the blacksmith owning it. Around the anvil there were several hammers and pliers, as well as a slack tub for hardening the metal. Near one of the side walls there was a working bench and a drill attached to the door. One of the main jobs of a blacksmith was horse shoeing, so he used to carry all of the tools needed for the job in a wooden case with a handle.
The majority of blacksmiths living off their craft used to come from families of the same craft, or peasants with little or no land. Therefore, someone, who had just learned his craft, could not simply build his own smithery. A smithery — and especially its equipment — was very expensive. Young blacksmiths used to work at other blacksmiths or smitheries that belonged to manors or wealthier farmers. Sometimes they bought used bellows, used anvils and other used tools.
Aside from binding wheels and shoeing horses, better-skilled blacksmiths also could fix farming equipment.