Darren Ainsworth • February 26, 2015
Up until one hundred and fifty years ago a large part of the blacksmiths work would have involved making hinges, the average residential home would have had at least half a dozen doors and also chests, cabinets, gates, outhouses and cupboards , all requiring a pair of hinges and pintles and a latch to keep them closed, the most simple of latches needs a bar, staple and keep, so per door we are looking at seven seperate pieces , thats forty two forgings per house.
A hinge and pintel takes at least a hour and half to make , the ironwork for a door including the latch could be four to five hours work depending on the size of iron available, nowadays hinges and latches are stamped out on machines hundreds at a time , which makes them very cheap and identical, but a century and half ago before the industrial revolution every hinge and latch was handmade by local blacksmiths.
