What does a Whitesmith do?
Whitesmiths work with metal to create useful objects, just as blacksmiths do. But there’s no fiery forge and no red-hot piece of iron or steel to be hammered out on the anvil. Because unlike 
blacksmiths, the metal whitesmiths shape is cold. During Revolutionary times and up through the American Civil War, these metalworkers were just as plentiful as blacksmiths. Whitesmiths got their name because they worked with light colored metals, either tin or pewter. Society also called these craftsmen “tinsmiths.”
Tin is an expensive, soft metal, but it has one great virtue. Tin doesn’t rust. So very thin sheets of iron or steel would be coated in tin, then shipped to the tinsmiths as raw material. The alloy pewter is a mixture of tin, lead and copper. A master craftsman created these two unique Pewter goblets.
Historically a tinsmith’s shop would employ 3 men. The first snipped shapes from the thin, tin-coated metal sheets. The second bent the tin into shape and the third soldered the seams, added decorative touches and polished the finished items. Whitesmiths also sometimes did the finishing work for the community blacksmiths.
Whitesmiths often created common household items, such as;
- Pitchers and goblets.
- Small metal boxes.
- Pans and kettles.
- Cups, plates and canteens for soldiers.
- Keys and locks.
- Stirrups and belt buckles.
- Spice shakers.
- Candlesticks, lanterns and even chandeliers,
But people turned to the local blacksmith for hardened hammers, nails and axes.
The Local Blacksmith
Every village, city and town had a blacksmith’s shop. With some iron or steel and a little time, the village blacksmith could make anything, from nails, kettles and knives to shovels, horseshoes, plows, axes, chisels, hammers, tongs, and musket balls.
Placing the iron in the fire, he used bellows to increase the heat. When the metal glowed orange, he’d place it on his anvil and hammer or twist it into whatever shape the customer needed.
My Spiritual Point
Centuries ago, Christian preachers used the blacksmith’s glowing metal to illustrate the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
The iron is in the fire, but when the metal glows red-hot, the fire is also in the iron. Both the iron and the fire remain unique, yet each one dwells within the other.
Clearly, God is the fire and we are the iron. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. but our human nature and the divine Spirit of God don’t merge.
There is another reason why this analogy works. While undergoing some personal hardship Samuel Rutherford spoke these words.
Praise God for the hammer, the file, and the furnace. The hammer molds us, the file sharpens us, and the fire tempers us.
God does some of His greatest work in us during times of turmoil and deep emotional pain, especially when we keep walking with Him. But that’s not the only time the Holy Spirit works to transform us into the image of Jesus
He also uses the happy times. That’s when He polishes our outer nature and brings out beautiful Christ-like details for the world to see; just like the whitesmiths do.
All images came from Pixabay.com.
Resources:
For more information, read “Black Smithing vs. White Smithing” on the website, Working the Flame.
Rutherford wrote a short, powerful teaching entitled “The Hammer, the File and the Furnace” and Chuck Swindoll reprinted it on his daily devotional.
