angela

I haven't had the opportunity to do much smithing types of work/fun. I am looking forward to learning more and doing more next Spring and Summer when my husband and I are working on things (cars, etc.) I sort of was banned from the shop many years ago by my mother after I sat on a freshly welded piece of metal. received a bit of a different shaped cheek from that episode. LOL Then I was run over by a car and that put a halt to a few things for a while. Then Dad was afraid welding would ruin my eyes and refused to allow me to learn to weld. (Helmets weren't as good back then as now.) Now that I am a grandma (almost 50 years old) and many years later (after two bad marriages.. one of which ended with a psychopathic exhusband in prison, a tornado that destroyed my last home, various other problems, etc) I am married (for the third time) to a guy who has no qualms about allowing me to do things I love to do (like shooting coons, etc.) I am really loooking forward to learning how to use the triphammer, etc. In the meantime, I've been doing a lot of artwork over the years... the main reason Old Harry was very cautious about my eyes being *ruined*. I don't have any of my best paintings on the computer to attach to this, but found one painting from last year when the pelicans were in the area. It's been an intersting life and is going to be more so. So many things to learn to do and so much to try! Angela

Thanks for the info and the comments, guys. My father was a blacksmith for quite a few years. He died during 2003 from histoplasmosis that he'd had for more than 30 years. He did a lot of smithing when I was a child, and owned his own shop for a number of years next to the Illinois River. I don't know how much Mom has kept of his tools, etc., but will try to find out and get pics of what she still has. I have the triphammer because I asked for it as a keepsake just because I loved to listen to hte sounds it made when Dad used it. I loved to go to the shop to sit quietly to listen to the stories while Old Harry (Dad) worked. He made a lot of his own tools, etc. He also used to give demonstrations for a things called *Harvesting the River*, etc. I remember that if I was really quiet, I could hear all kinds of stories because the men would forget I was there. One of my favorites was the following Old Harry told fairly often: When I was a little kid, we lived close to an old woman we called "Wiggy" cause she was pert near bald-headed. Wiggy lived in a little house with two men. One was her husband and one was an extree. After supper every night, the men would sit by the cookstove and play cards while Wiggy washed dishes at the sink in front of the winnder. Well, one day when I was playin, I found me an old horse skull. I got me a piece a wire and I wired the jaws together on the horse skull so I could make 'em go "CLOMP"! Then I carried it to Wiggy's house and I waited for her to do the dishes. It was gittin dark and when she started to wash the dishes, I raised the horse skull outside a the winnder and I went "CLOMP" with the jaws of the skull. Wiggy said, "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" and fell over in a dead faint. Her fellers got up and ran to the door and started yellin that they was gonna beat my xxx. So I beat feet outta there. The fellers told my dad what I did and I got my xxx beat. Just goes to show a young feller can't win for nothin. The shop was a great place. Dad's hired hand was a man who'd been in WW1, was a bit shellshocked, had cauliflower ears from when he was a boxer, and who had to leave a few times throughout the day to go to the tavern for a "skuttle o' suds". I hope a lot of you have daughters who get to enjoy the shops with you! Thanks again! Angela

I have an old triphammer that belonged to my father when he was a blacksmith during the 50s and 60s. I've been trying to learn more about it, including value. The only thing I know about it is there is one like it in a museum (I've been told it is in the Henry Ford Museum). Has anyone seen one like it before? Does anyone know anything about the McGowan & Finnegan triphammers? The only other thing I know about it is that it makes a glorious sound when used and I loved watching it work when I was small. Thanks for any help/info anyone can give to me! Angela