Elemental Metal Creations Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I went to a campout at fort Du Bouis in Wood River Ill. last weekend. it is a recreation of Lewis and Clark's camp during the winter of 1906-07. There is a blacksmith shop there with a 200lb anvil, coal forge, hand crank blower, tongs and other tools. i have been invited to demo at a homesdeading themed campout in 3 weeks and I can use all this equipment instead of having to haul all my gear! I just have to provide my coal and stock.I am going to make some shelf hangers for them and see if there is anything else they need made. I will also be able to make anything else I want and set up a sales booth. I am thinking Nails, hooks, horseshoe hearts, cooking forks.Does anyone have suggestions for other items? There will be pictures after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Home steading theamed? Hinges, froes, draw knives, axes...sorry, thinking homesteading tool kit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elemental Metal Creations Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Home steading theamed? Hinges, froes, draw knives, axes...sorry, thinking homesteading tool kit... Hinges are a good idea, all the log cabins have store bought hinges. I have not made any yet, will have to practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Hinges, latches, fire place tools, cooking irons, flint strikers, candle holders, cruise lights/lamps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 J hooks for pounding into logs; fireplace hardware: pokers, cranes, s hooks, trivets/spiders, kindling hatchets, kettle tilters, toasting forks, etc. Norfolk latches, door knockers---BOOT SCRAPERS! This would be a good time to thumb through some of the collections of antique ironwork that are out there in books and see what was considered helpful or prideful back in log cabin days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacob Nothstine Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Pot holder, easy and quick to make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 well another few minutes wasted on a forbidden reply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Andirons and fire tools, pioneer days would mean cooking on the hearth. Gardening tools would be important too.Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elemental Metal Creations Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Jacob, I like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Lewis and Clark's camp during the winter of 1906-07.Wow, ... they must have been getting pretty old by then .....But seriously, ... Homesteaders knew what they were setting out to do, ... and surely brought fundamental tools and equipment with them, on their undertaking.I suspect Smiths on the frontier, were engaged primarily in repairs and maintenance of existing gear.Cutting Tools of ALL kinds would have been in constant use, ... and therefore subject to a lot of wear.Upsetting an axe, ... repairing a shovel, ... or chain, ... or sharpening a plowshare, ... or a saw ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Recycling was a big part of the trade, warn tires (the wooden part is the wheel, the iron band around it is the tire, just like the black rubery thing is the tire and the shiny metal thing is the wheel today) turned in to nailes and cabinet hinges ext. if one wants to get down to the nitty grity. smothbore is right, but is may not make as good theater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manolito Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 When I make hoof picks out of old shoes they seem to go pretty quickly and fast enough I can give one or two to kids making the smile my payment.This is done at my ranch I have never done a public demonstration I am not at that level of competence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 For demoes stick to somthing you have down to automatic. For me that's forging a shoe. I can do that in my sleep. So I can talk and answer questions while I work. I can adjust a shoe, even if I end up making it look like a pretzel by inatention. Demo what you have down to reflex. Your sale table isnt nesisaraly for peices you demo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 (edited) Yes; don't expect to Talk with the crowd, do production smithing and sell stuff off your table. Demos are simple items you have made dozens of if you will be talking. One of our best set ups had two forges, a production forge in back and a demo forge in front and we had a trained person handling the questions and another sitting the table---of course this was a group demo... If you have time to practice; a bottle opener is about the upper end for a do it and sell it demo in my opinion---and might go well in that crowd...Remember on the frontier folks generally did without---wooden or leather hinges were more common than iron until the RR came through. Frank Turley has mentioned that iron was replaced with wood a lot in Santa Fe in the early days when iron had to be imported from Spain through the port in Veracruze Mexico and carried up to Santa Fe by Oxcart on the Camino Real Edited September 23, 2015 by ThomasPowers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elemental Metal Creations Posted September 24, 2015 Author Share Posted September 24, 2015 Wow, ... they must have been getting pretty old by then .....OK, I may have been off by a year or two, or a hundred,I will have some help from my wife on the talking and sales, there might be another guy there that has some smithing experiance to help also.What really amazes me is the fact that when the lady that is in charge of the campout asked if I could use the shop the owner said yes and he had never even talked to me. I hope he will be asle to come by that weekend so I can talk to him.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Could not respond to the other thread so here is what I typed..Demonstrating to the public What you make depends on the situation and the needs of the facility and the audience. If you are there to repair things at the fort, do that. If you are demonstrating for other smiths, focus on showing techniques they can use, such as how to use different areas of the anvil. If you are demonstrating for the public, then stick with small quick projects that can be completed in about 10 minutes. Ideally, I suggest having one person who works at the forge while the second person talks to the public.But most important is to understand the safety issues when demonstrating to the general public. The safety of spectators is your number one concern, and your highest priority. Children's faces are at anvil level, therefor:All cutting on the hardie is to nick the spot, then break the two pieces apart using tongs. Absolutely, do not let a hot piece of metal fly across into someone's face or body, or across the room.No forge welding if there is any spectators present, ever!Have a fence of some sort to keep the public, and especially kids at a safe distance.Aim your blows and position the project so that scale does not fly in the direction of the public.Do not heat the metal to the point that sparks can fly into your audience.If your demonstration can not be done safely, then don't light the forge. It is better to have a cold forge and talk to the public, than to risk the audience.If possible have someone experienced at demonstrations there for your first demo, so that he/she can coach you on any safety issues.Check to see if the event or museum's liability insurance covers your demonstration.This is not a complete list. If possible acquire a copy of the blacksmith shop demonstrator's guide from a historic blacksmith shop, such as the Blacksmith Guild of Central Maryland [BGCM]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GottMitUns Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 As far as the sell table goes in the couple of shows I have done, things with cutting edges and points go good. Horse shoes turned into meat forks and steak turners, I add a bottle opener to the end of them for grins. Hatchet heads made from RR spikes, while not the best material, sell well. Fredrick's crosses go well as a demo if you do the saw wore a day before. Russell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Sharp stuff has to have a dedicated table watcher though. When I'm on my own it gets put "out of reach" so if someone wants to handle it they have to go through me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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