In the 1800's, blacksmith shops were vital to farms and communities, and the smith was a skilled craftsman who made essential iron tools and implements for daily life, including door handles and hinges, nails, and horseshoes. The shop centered on the forge, a brick fire pit where coal was heated with the aid of an air duct to temperatures above 2,000 degrees, hot enough to bend wrought iron and steel, and on the anvil, a wrought iron block used to shape the heated metal. After heating the coal and metal in the forge, the smith used tongs to place the red-hot metal on the anvil and hammer the malleable material into useful and beautiful creations. On most large farms, blacksmiths sharpened plows, maintained tools, and shoed horses and mules, and they sometimes also pulled teeth for the family.