Traditional village blacksmiths keep home fires burning

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Banyumas, Central Java

Smithery is a rare profession nowadays, when most things made out of metal are produced in a factory.

Among the few remaining blacksmiths is Mukartaji, 62, who makes tools like hoes, sickles and machetes in the traditional way.

The old man, a resident of Banteran village in Sumbang, Banyumas, said he learned his skills from his father and his grandfather, and that he is the fifth generation of his family to carry on the business.

The process to make such tools, called gaman, or weapon in Javanese, is quite simple, but takes a lot of energy. One must be strong enough to bear the heat during the forging process.

The basic stock is steel bars, or in Mukartaji's case, they are usually used brake shafts that he buys from scavengers or auto repair shops for between Rp 3,000 (36 U.S. cents) and Rp 4,000 per kilogram.

From one brake shaft, Mukartaji can make four machetes measuring 20 centimeters each, or two sickles. Assisted by his two brothers, the blacksmith can make an average of 10 sickles daily, which he sells at Rp 25,000 each, or five hoes that carries a price tag of Rp 50,000 each.

The process of metal tool-making starts with heating the steel rod in a furnace until it reaches the temperature at which the rod can be cut to the length of the object to be made.

It takes about three minutes to heat a piece of steel to the proper temperature, and two people to cut the steel rod: One holds the heated rod with tongs in his left hand and a wedge cutter in his right, while the second man repeatedly hits the wedge cutter with a hammer.

Sometimes this process must be repeated three to five times if the steel is quite thick. After the desired length has been cut, the steel is again heated in the fire and is then forged into the tool.

Heating the steel is no easy job. Scars adorn the bodies of Mukartaji's two strong brothers, who forge the metal tools. They got the scars from the sparks that burned them during the heating and forging process.

"It's very hot, but we are already used to it, so we don't feel it anymore," said Harjono, 54, whose job is to hammer the steel and to stoke the fire by pumping air onto the burning coal.

After the forging process comes the finishing process, during which Mukartaji relies on modern tools -- a filler and a grinder.

The blacksmiths' work is captivating and hypnotic. During the Japanese occupation, the Japanese soldiers apparently liked to idle in a forge just to watch the process.

"We remember when we were kids, we often saw the Japanese soldiers in the workshop watching our grandfather working," Mukartaji told The Jakarta Post.

Although the job of a blacksmith is quite tough, he believes the skill should be passed from one generation to the next.

"It's tiring, but this is the only skill we have. And we should continue this family tradition. And thank God, we can feed our families," said Mukartaji, who pays his two brothers Rp 25,000 daily.

All of the tools in his workshop are made to order. "I don't have time to produce items to be sold at market," said Mukartaji, who also repairs old tools.

However, he turned down an order for some clurit, a kind of sickle that is the traditional weapon of the Madurese, because such a weapon is usually used in a fighting, or even in a robbery.

"To make one, we also need to obtain permission from the police," he said. "People usually use clurit to fight. We don't want to suffer the consequences."