vbl. sb. [f. SMITH v.] The action of the verb SMITH; the art or process of fashioning or forging metals; forging.
1435. Coventry Leet Bk., 181. He … may … do myche harme … in the smethyng, yif he be necligent & mysrule his Iron, that he wirkithe. Ibid., 184.
1483. Cath. Angl., 346/1. A Smethynge, fabricatura.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Pref. I intend to begin with Smithing, which comprehends not only the Black-Smiths Trade, but takes in all Trades which use either Forge or File.
1831. J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, I. 89. In the forging of the blades just named, there is a final hammer process called smithing.
1843. Holtzapffel, Turning, I. 227, note. Wheels for railways display many curious examples of smithing.
attrib. 1714. J. Wyett, Suppl. to Ellwood’s Life (1765), 400. Not to use his own smithing Metaphors of clinching and rivetting.
1889. E. Matheson, Aid Book Engin. (ed. 2), 722. Hydraulic smithing-machines.
