1860cooper

I recently picked up a Champion 400 blower and forge, whole, and in pretty decent shape. I don't really want to use it until I know its checked and oiled properly, but I'm not sure how to do that, or what oil to use.

Is there a thread around here I haven't found yet that covers this?

Or can someone explain this?

I guess part of the reason I'm taking interest in cooperage is because there seem to be a good handful of wheelwrights in the area. But it is something I want to try. Wheels go for a lot of money as a deco item and some people still know its value as an actual usable wheel. And the sheer number of rich equestrians seem to be keeping the wainwright business pretty alive.

Still, I hope to learn wheelwright, maybe as soon as next year. In collecting tools for cooperage some of the staving tools are one and the same as the spoke tools, so that's a nice aside for me, if I want to hunker down and make the spokes the hard way.

Keep us posted on your journey.

@Thomas: I've thought about Williamsburg. They are very 18th century and about 100 years different then what I want to emulate, but it may yield clues.

Although I think I could get away with a blower just fine (two other blacksmiths there use them) I'd like to take it a bit farther and be more like a living historian and continually improve my authenticity. So I'll probably start with the blower and work towards the bellows.

@Doug: Interesting lead. I might try to get ahold of him. Yeah I'm afraid I'm going to have to make several of my own tools... they can be pretty specialized for cooperage. All the more reason to better myself at blacksmithing.

Hey Neil,

Actually I was just at Antique Powerland... I only live about 15 miles from there. I did run across an old blacksmithing friend (Robert) and met a local guy (what's his name... gray hair, lives near the prison) whom I hope to meet up with so he can show me some things.

Its a good looking shop there.

Does that mean you're local too?

Hello all. My name is Jonathan, I'm what most blacksmiths I know call "young" at the age of 27. I've been a Civil War Reenactor for 13 years, which is what perked my interest in smithing.

I did some self-teaching while doing a summer stint at Fort Sevens, years ago. It was... interesting... going at it not knowing hardly a thing. Now I'm going back into reenacting as a 19th century cooper but I'm getting boned up on blacksmithing as a sub-set of cooperage (the bands have to be made, sized, and punched somehow, and the rivets come from somewhere... that aint woodworking).

So needless to say my interest is in coal-forge, bellows or hand crank blower stuff. If anyone has any cooperage knowledge at all I would love to talk to you, but I know that isn't the focus here... its just VERY HARD TO RESEARCH!

I'm all about what makes for a good Civil War era blacksmith impression. I also might dabble in wheelwright after I get a grasp on cooperage.