I’ve recently watched a video of Tom Scott on his second channel where he made (with the help of a blacksmith) make a bottle opener.
The guy first made Tom to blacksmith a punch or whatever then he mentioned that “Blacksmiths had to make their own tools” or something among the lines anyways.
So it struck me. How did people make their first tools? Are there any records? Or were people just banging rocks to the metal, made a primitive sledgehammer then used that further on?
How did they even came up with the idea that if you put metal in fire you can *remodel* it?
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1. The first metals that were made into tools were metals that have lower melting temps — copper, tin, etc. They were likely just found as ores, and normally used as stone tools (knapping). People probably didn’t realize these rocks were very different at first.
2. There are numberous ways to have discovered that these metal ores can be smelted — maybe the toolmaker’s hut burned down, and they found pools of metal in the ruins. Or maybe they used old stone tools to build fire pits, and somebody noticed some weird stuff going on with the ores. At any rate, it was discovered.
3. People share knowledge. Tool makers experiment, eventually figure out that not only can you melt this stuff, you can *shape it*. MINDS BLOWN. Suddenly all kinds of tools are being made, and settlements are prioritizing finding ores. Early tools would be very simple shapes, like a rod or a sharpened triangle/dagger shape.
4. Later, people figure out that even stronger materials can be made when you mix metals in certain amounts. We get bronze and other alloys. People learn how to make hotter fires (kilns, furnaces, etc) as well, to heat these metals. Shaping the tools becomes more and more complex — they use tools to make tools.
5. Eventually… you have blacksmiths who specialize in iron and then steel.
This all occurs over thousands of years of accident, experiment, trial and error.
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