Blacksmithing

Rearrange the blacksmith tools for sale everywhere

Quality products

The midday sun shines down on the sultry countryside, the voices of blacksmiths selling blacksmithing products are getting more and more hoarse. This profession travels all over the country, sometimes tired, they stop somewhere under the shade of a tree by the roadside to rest. One weekend, I met them gathered under the shade of a tree, chatting animatedly about their profession. In the past, the blacksmithing products of Phu My (Phu Tan district) were closely associated with the rice agriculture of the Mekong Delta. The blacksmiths here were diligent, skillful, created quality products, and sold them everywhere. Nowadays, with the inevitable development trend, traditional blacksmithing products of Phu My face competition from many industrial products, more or less affected. To approach the tastes and needs of the market, the villagers boldly changed their designs to be more beautiful and of high quality.

Whenever mentioning Phu My forged products, the villagers always give priority to choose. Since then, the forging profession has been burning brightly until now. Sitting on the roadside enjoying the cool breeze, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Son (54 years old) happily talked to us. He is very proud of the profession of selling Phu My forged products passed down by his ancestors. Nowadays, the products are forged from very sturdy pieces of steel, with superior quality. To date, he is the third generation to keep the passion for the profession alive. The products are bought by many farmers as farming tools.

Every day, on his old motorbike, Mr. Hoang Son slowly rides around selling knives, scissors, saws, planks, pickaxes, hoes, spears, hammers, machetes, cuoc, fruit picking cages... hanging all over his motorbike. Farmer Nguyen Van Chat is bending over to dig ditches in the rice fields. When he sees Mr. Hoang Son stop his motorbike to rest on the side of the road, Mr. Chat immediately buys a pickaxe for 120,000 VND. Mr. Chat says that farmers often use this type of pickaxe, which is made by the Phu My blacksmiths with very good quality.

Usually, people who sell blacksmithing tools follow the farmers' seasons. Hoes, scythes, and planks are the best sellers. In the past, when the rice harvest season came, the scythes from Phu My blacksmith shop were bought by farmers. When the rice harvest season came, every family with agricultural land bought dozens of scythes. Every family that worked as a rice harvester also equipped each member. "Back then, I had hundreds of scythes for sale all over the countryside. Just by parking my car, people would rush to buy them, and there weren't enough to sell. The blacksmiths in Phu My had to keep the fire going all the time to meet the market demand," Mr. Hoang Son recalled.

Continue to maintain the profession of our ancestors

With many years of experience in the blacksmithing business, Mr. Pham Ngoc Son (57 years old) said that Phu My blacksmiths boldly invested in equipment and machinery, such as motors, grinding stones, cutting machines, steel stamping machines, etc. From there, the products are of good quality and beautiful designs that suit consumer tastes. Rearranging the items on the cart to continue his journey to make a living, Mr. Ngoc Son said that for modern industrial forged products, people can easily get them bent and damaged after using them for a short time. The reason is that the steel is "young", and the forging fire has not reached high technology. Currently, Phu My forged products are very durable, meeting the needs of the countryside.

To make a sharp forged product, the craftsman must be very meticulous. The steel is selected from car springs, put into a furnace to heat it red, then used a thin press machine. The final step is to put the product on a grinding stone to sharpen it. “This job is very hard, requiring hard work under high heat. Therefore, anyone who wants to enter the profession must sit and observe very carefully, it is impossible to hold hands and show them how to do it. Some people learn about 1 day and then know how to do it right away. Many people study forever but are not successful,” Mr. Son smiled.

Every harvest season, on his motorbike, Mr. Ngoc Son takes his products to "travel" throughout the countryside in and out of the province. When the rice is golden brown, he goes to Giang Thanh, Hon Dat (Kien Giang province) to sell hoes and hoes to farmers preparing to sow the next crop of rice. After the harvest, he goes to Dong Thap , then to Vinh Long to sell pruning shears to gardeners. Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, he has been doing this traditional blacksmithing job for 30 years. Thanks to that, his family has "money coming in and out", a stable income, and he has raised his children. As long as people still use Phu My blacksmithing products, he will continue to sell them everywhere.

After confiding in us, he got on the car and continued his journey around the country roads. The blacksmith business is hard, but they are very happy when the products they make with their own hands are bought and used by farmers.

Phu My blacksmith village still has about 30 households maintaining stability. Forged products are supplied everywhere, people have a fairly stable income. A forge has 4 workers. Every day, it produces about 50 products and sells them throughout the Mekong Delta and Central provinces.

LUU MY

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/ban-dao-do-ren-a420845.html