EL MAZO (THE MALLET)
Heir to the ancient tradition of Roman engineering, this hydraulic device is the last vestige of a time when there were four large hammers in Besullo like the one we can visit, and more than twenty private forges.
ā
āBesullo was the land of blacksmiths, artisans and artists of iron and fire, cultured and educated people, who established in this village one of the first blacksmiths' guilds, the Industrial Society of Besullo.
Los elementos principales de esta antigua fragua son:
ā
-
āLa presa. The dam. It captures water from the Pomar River and transfers it to the reservoir.ā
-
The banzao. This is the tank where the water that will later move the water wheels is stored.
-
-
Pértigas and mazas. A system of levers by which, from inside the mallet, the plugs are pulled, allowing the water to fall and move the wheels.
-
ā
-
Water wheels. Powered by water, they generate rotary motion on the axles, which is then transformed into the different jobs required.
-
ā
-
Barquineras. These are the large bellows that fan the embers that burn in the forge.
-
ā
-
El Mazo. The Mallet. Large iron hammer, weighing between 200 and 300 kilos, which rhythmically strikes the xuncla, an anvil buried in the ground.
IN 1954, THE LINGUIST LORENZO RODRÍGUEZ-CASTELLANO, BORN IN BESULLO IN 1905, WHO WAS THE FOUNDER OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF OVIEDO AND DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES OF ASTURIAS, WROTE A VERY DOCUMENTED ARTICLE ABOUT THIS HAMMER, AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE OLD POPULAR IRON INDUSTRY, PLACING SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON THE STUDY OF THE NOMENCLATURE OF EACH ONE OF ITS PIECES. YOU HAVE THE LINK TO THIS STUDY BELOW.