The whitesmith took the job of blacksmith to a higher level. Not necessarily in degree of skill but in attention to detail. Those 18th and early 19th century utensils made from what appears to be steel are the work of the whitesmith. He was very accomplished with a hammer and fine-toothed file and his final product has the look of stainless (think white) steel. I have heard and read two schools of thought regarding his metalurgy. Some say he worked with steel i.e., very high temperatures and carbon but others have challenged this saying most good blacksmiths could whitesmith if they wanted to take the time, pay for more efficient bellows and charcoal. Anyway, the whitesmith was so accomplished that some were gunsmiths. The gunsmith was probably the most technically competent person in colonial and frontier America. To make a long rifle or scattergun from scratch was way beyond the skill of most men.