civilwarblacksmith

I tried adding my info to the blacksmith Location that Glenn posted and it would not let me.

If you notice the blower end is about the size of a garden hose. Not much use for a blacksmith.

I will try to get some pictures of it tommorow with description and dimensions. It uses 1/4 round at about 54" long.

I do alot of re-enactment as well as demonstrating in non-re-enactment event and also events with the blacksmith guild. The wife gets upset cause most of my weekends are book from May - October. But he is a list of items that work for me. From Horseshoes: Hearts Hoof picks Fish knife From Railroad spikes: Coat Hooks Knife Steak Turner From Horseshoe nails: ladels spoons the above as keychains also rings, made cold or hot bend the point into a loop and put on a key chain Misc: handmade nails hand made nail key chains leaf key chains steak turners dinner bells s-hooks letter openers small forks flint strikers stick in the ground beverage holders I have a jig for making corting candles in less that 15 mins cowboy hats they are fun to watch being made

I used it some to eat the crabs. Personally, Dungeness are easier for my arthritic carpel tunneled fingers to pick. The blue crab turns red when steamed and are steamed with Chesapeake Old Bay seasoning.

Actually CG, I used spray Pam and lightly wiped it off. I put it in the Oven a 425 degrees for about an hour and a half. It ended up being in there for over 2 hours because I went to the shop and got busy. We did the trade item at our meeting today (Sunday Sept 28) and the funny thing was the crab eating tool that I got was Longhunter's who I'm training at my forge in Union Mills. We made it Yesterday (Saturday Sept. 27) at Union Mills. He did a good job on it. But as his (Tor)mentor, I graciously told him it was ugly. He knew I was kidding. He's been doing really great.

This is a crab knife/mallet that I made for the trade item for Blacksmith Guild of Central Maryland. Our trade item this month is something to eat steamed blue crabs with, a crab cracker, crab knife or mallet. Railroad spikes can be a most versitile shape when making rather unique items. The seafood knife on one end and then bend the top of the spike over in order to make the mallet made for a very comfortable shape. Since seafood knive are not sharpened, that area isn't dangerous as part of the handle. It was then coated in vegetable oil and set in the oven at 425 for 2 hours. We had a trade Item on a bbq tool and someone had made a spatula that he had place in the oven and cooked with no type of oil, just the heat from the oven. He said it has been used many time and washed in the dishwasher and has never rusted. The metal was file finished mild steel. Anybody ever heard of cooking it in the oven and metal not eventually rusting?

I bought 900lb in May and still have a good bit.

I have heard that soaking the handle in linseed oil will hydrate the handles and make them swell. This isn't a permanent fix as with age they will shrink again and need to re-hydrated. Should last a good while though.

I have a wooden bin that will hold 700lbs of coal plus a box close to the forge that holds 200 lbs.