Introduction to Engraving Steel - Classes coming in August and October 2011!

We teach a wide variety of classes in traditional craft at The Farmers' Museum.  I am particularly proud to offer a new class on engraving steel using traditional hand tools.  The instructor is Paul Spaulding, Master Blacksmith and the engraver of our Scottish Pistol Project.  He will guide students through the theory and methods of engraving steel.  Each class will have a maximum of 6 students.  All will have a full set of tools provided to practice engraving.

The Introduction to Engraving Steel with Hand Tools is a two day class.  The cost is $150 for a two day class with group and individual tutorials.  It is offered August 6th and 7th, as well as October 8th and 9th.  The August class has openings.  For more information or to enroll call The Farmers' Museum at 607-547-1461. 

Students will learn tips on how to design and lay out projects, and the basic methods of using a hand engraver and hammer to engrave steel.  Attention will also be spent on how to choose the type of engraving chisel for the work as well as how to sharpen, hold, and use the engravers. 

You are not likely to have mastered engraving by the end of the course but will have a firm foundation to begin practicing on your own.  If you have an urge to try your hand at engraving steel using simple traditional tools this may be the place to start!

Making Tools for the Anvil: Bottom Swage

One of the pleasures of blacksmithing is the ability to make new tools as needed. We needed some bottom swages for use in the anvil to complete a current project. We made them as needed. This is just one way to make them, as it suited the tools available in our traditional shop.

Start with a piece of steel with enough mass for the tools.  In this case we used a piece of steel cut from a hammer head.  Square it to the desired size and start the job.

Any tool used in the anvil needs a square stem to hold it in place in the square Hardy hole of the anvil.  We achieved this by fullering the piece down to the desired size using a handled fuller, a striker with a sledge hammer, and the anvil.

Fullering the hardy stem:

Here you can see we have the hardy stem well formed:

Once the hardy stem is done, it is time to shape the working end.  The face of the tool is taken to a forging heat, placed in the hardy hole, and the appropriate sized groove sunk into the face by driving a tool into the hot steel.

Sinking the die impression:

We cleaned up the forged die with a rasp (file) while it was still hot.:

Then we examined the die for problems or areas that need more work:



Here is the finished die and one of the collar pieces it was created to shape:

Some projects require making more tools than others.  Our ongoing weathervane project has led to the making of custom tongs and two sizes of bottom swage tools for the anvil.  Now that we have these tools, it expands the options of tools that can be used for future projects.

Old Anvils

The 1827 Peleg Field Blacksmith Shop is lucky to be so well-equipped with anvils.  They are the fundamental, cornerstone tool of the shop.  

Our oldest anvil is probably much like one that Mr. Peleg Field would have seen and used during his apprenticeship in the 1780’s.  It is an English pattern “5^th foot” anvil.  That nickname comes from that fact that it has 5 feet, not 4!  Chunky and squat, this style of anvil was made by teams of trained smiths working to forge the anvil from up to 11 pieces of wrought iron and then forge welding a steel plate onto the face.  While often only around 120lbs, this would have been a blacksmith shop primary anvil in the 19^th century.  This style with the 5^th foot harkens back to features found on anvils in the 17^th and even 16^th centuries.

This Vulcan Works anvil from Sheffield is a transitional anvil (below).  Probably made in the late 18^th or  first third of the 19^th century, it bridges the gap between the small and squat older style and the larger and longer London or American Pattern.  This anvil still has the small horn of the earlier style but also has the thinner heel of the London Pattern.

The Peter Wright anvil below was made in London, England in the mid-19^th century.  It is the shape that most people recognize in the United States as a modern anvil.  It is around 155lbs.  The larger horn and long thin heel of the anvil face makes this a versatile tool.  This is the anvil we use at the front forge in the Field Blacksmith shop.

At the back forge is a larger anvil made in the same style as the Peter Wright at the front forge.   Larger than the previous anvil, it is around 180lbs.  You can feel the benefit of that extra mass when using it.  It provides a very solid surface for larger work like hinges and wagon parts.

Anvils were such common tools in daily life and last such a long time, that there is a surprising amount of diversity among old anvils.  Unlike other items that are 150 to 300 years old, anvils are generally considered tools rather than antiques.  With good care, these anvils will be in use as we work and demonstrate to the public for decades to come.  

The Weathervane Project, Part II: Forging diamonds.

Our Weathervane Project has several different shapes as part of the design.   C-scrolls, tulips, and diamonds are repeated themes.  Let’s look at how the diamond forms are created at the forge.

They are formed from low-carbon steel bar that is ¼” by 2” by about 5” long.   The first 3" will be used to form the diamond shape and the rest formed into the tail approximately 5/8" thick and 2.5" long.

The diamond shape is forged out of the bar over the edge of the anvil.  This takes several heats and goes faster with assistance from a striker with a sledge hammer.  This one is half done:

The finished diamond then is forge-welded to the crossbar.  That is done by two smiths working together to hold and weld the pieces together into a finished bar.

The welded bar is quenched in water and cleaned up.

The diamond is then framed by two scrolls to create a form of a Fleur De Lise.  This one doesn't have the final collar yet but is still quite striking in silhouette.

Happy Holidays 2010

As we head through December toward the New Year snow has been falling and the days are getting shorter and darker.  The wood stove in the Blacksmith shop makes a cheerful smoke plume in the morning.

Each day we light the wood stove and also the coal forge.  Here the coal fire is just starting to burn well. 

Happy Holidays and best wishes for a safe, happy, and prosperous New Year! 

Weathervane Project: Part I

The Peleg Field Blacksmith Shop at The Farmers’ Museum is building a Weathervane. This isn’t our first weathervane project, but it will be the largest and most detailed.  A Weathervane made in the Field shop sits atop our own roof! The weathervane features a running horse of copper held by a forged steel armature. With a flowing mane and tail held high, it is a good mascot for our shop. This weathervane is not an artifact from the past.  It was made in the last decade by a highly skilled Blacksmith and volunteer at our shop.

An ongoing project has been to make a Weathervane based upon the original on the New York State Historical Association Research Library. The NYSHA weathervane was made in the late 1960’s. Its signature element is the beautiful copper quill that is the vane.  The quill is all made of worked brass and copper.  It shows a masterful touch with detail.

At the Peleg Field shop we have been working on a reproduction of the NYSHA weathervane. It is a formidable task due to the detail and size of the project. As the project continues we will have more installments on the Weathervane Project!

Weathervanes were a specialized item made by skilled craftspeople.  If you appreciate the artistry and whimsy present in weathervanes then check out the blog from our sister institution, the Fenimore Art Museum.  There are some amazing weathervanes shown in discussions on American Folk Art.

“T’was the Night before Christmas” –Making Christmas in the 19th Century.

The Farmers' Museum reopens to the public on Saturday, December 11th for Candlelight Evening.  Since we are preparing to celebrate the season in 19th century style, I thought it would be appropriate to revisit the poem that helped to define Christmas as an American secular holiday.

Clemet Clark Moore was a scholar, a published author of literary translation, and a poet. He seems to have been a serious and scholarly man of wealth, privilege, and influence. It is intriguing that this man of gravitas and serious mein is attributed the poem that helped solidify and define the American Christmas tradition of the 19th century.

A Visit from St. Nicholas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar plums danc'd in their heads,

And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap —
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow,

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below;

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them by name:

"Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer and Vixen,
"On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Donder and Blitzen;
"To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
"Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys — and St. Nicholas too:

And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound:

He was dress'd all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnish'd with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys was flung on his back,

And he look'd like a peddler just opening his pack:

His eyes — how they twinkled! His dimples: how merry,

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face, and a little round belly
That shook when he laugh'd, like a bowl full of jelly:

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laugh'd when I saw him in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And fill'd all the stockings; then turn'd with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

He sprung to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle:

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

—Clement Clark Moore

The poem was first published in 1823 in The Sentinel newspaper of Troy, NY, and was immensely popular by 1845. There was even debate over whether Moore was really the author. That stems in part from the initial publishing being done anonymously. Moore included the poem in an anthology of his work published in 1844.

The light and cheerful poem is quite different from his more scholarly and serious writing. He noted that it was written for his children, and only published at their insistence. Not only does this poem provide a glimpse into the development of American conceptions of Christmas as a secular holiday, but also an unexpected glimpse into the home life of a scholarly and private 19th century gentleman.

Warm holiday wishes from all of us at The Farmers' Museum.