[TheForge] Historical type Forge

Fri Apr 25 23:30:00 2003

Way cool, Harry- I'm starting to get quite a collection ;-)

I suppose when I finally build my outfit, you guys are gonna want to see it
;-)

Phlip

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....

----- Original Message -----
From: "H and P Foster" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 11:44 PM
Subject: RE: [TheForge] Historical type Forge

> I found a couple of images that I had put up on the Historic Sailing page
> back in 98. These images are not very large as back in 1998, bandwidth was
a
> real issue, but you can get an idea of what the outfit looked like. In one
> you can see the arm to operate the bellows.  The air supply came in from
the
> back side rather than from below.  It is a great outfit that always gets a
> lot of attention.  Here are the links.
> http://historicsailing.tripod.com/98mal4.jpg
> http://historicsailing.tripod.com/98mal20.jpg
>
> Harry Foster
> Rusty Dog Forge
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of H and P Foster
> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 10:22 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: RE: [TheForge] Historical type Forge
>
>
> Al,   At Jones Falls on the Rideau River, Ontario _Parks Canada have
> restored the old Blacksmith shop and as part of it they have a travelling
> forge built on a design from the early 1800's that would have been pulled
by
> a horse.  They have used this a couple of times at our 1812 reenactments.
> Somewhere I have pictures of it and drawings too.  I thought I had them to
> hand on my computer, but can't find them. Over the weekend I will do a bit
> of a search and see what I can come up with.
>
> Harry Foster
> Rusty Dog Forge
> http://pages.infinit.net/rustydog/home.htm
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Reynolds
> Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2003 10:17 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: RE: [TheForge] Historical type Forge
>
>
>
> Good for you Al. You'll love doing this for kids. Be sure and create a
> barrier between you and them as they'll walk up and stick there hand in
the
> forge and ask if it is hot. They'll get in your tools --in general,
they'll
> pick up anything they can reach. Don't expect parents to oversee their
kids.
>
> First off, forges were generally not portable in the pre-1840 era. A
> blacksmith was stationary and business came to him, not vice versa.
> Remember, this was before there was any rolled steel in America, so sheet
> metal would not have been available. The forge you are trying to replicate
> was most often made of brick (or stone) and mortar. I've seen a friend
take
> faux brick and attach it to plywood sides to give the impression of old
but
> still to portable and light.
>
> Smiths were working almost solely in iron at this time and would only
steel
> an edge of an axe or knife or some other specific application.
>
> The forge then relied on forced air from a bi-fold bellows, often 6' from
> end to end and over 3' across. These are still available if you will look
at
> antique shows and on eBay. Put an add on the ABANA website. Using one
> requires more energy, but it lends a wonderful image to the forge.
>
> There is a high probabilty your anvil would have been a Mousehole,
> manufactured in England. Most probably it would be this London-pattern in
> styling. There is a smaller probability it could be an earlier colonial
> style still in use, made by numerous small foundrys in America. Mouseholes
> are much easier to find and cheaper than Colonial anvils. Also, Colonial
> anvils should be preserved not used-- I would think there is little reason
> to actually work on one today. Kids won't appreciate you using an
authentic
> anvil anyway. They just want to see the sparks and transformation metal
goes
> through.
>
> I demostrate 3 days a week at an 1880s Old West village. Believe me,
> authenticity is completely lost on 99 % of all spectators. I use period
> equipment (crank blower, Hay-Budden anvil, post vise) but almost no one
> knows new from old except if it has rust on it or not. The public just
> hasn't been exposed to blacksmithing enough to know how they use to do it.
> In short, you can get by with a later depiction of smithing and the
message
> will still get across.
>
> Contact Rob Lyons at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. He is their
> head blacksmith. OSV does an authentic depiction of Colonial era smithing
> down to their clothing. They are online. He might also have plans for a
> brick forge.
>
> Let me know if I can help. Also, attention span of kids is very short--
you
> are competing with computer games, remember? So you will only be able to
> forge simple items and hold their attention, like nails, wall hooks etc.,
Do
> tapers, bends, twists and other 5 minute projects. I do work on bigger
> projects but I have slightly more adults than kids.
>
> Best of fortune in your endeavor. Feel free to contact me off list at
> [email protected].
>
> Reynolds
>
>
>
>
>  --- On Thu 04/24, Al McClure < [email protected] > wrote:
> From: Al McClure [mailto: [email protected]]
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 08:20:55 -0400
> Subject: [TheForge] Historical type Forge
>
> <br>I am wanting to build a portable forge that would be very close to a
> correct<br>type used in pre-1840 time period.<br><br>Can anyone point me
in
> the right direction to find the plans for such a set<br>up?<br><br>What I
> will be using this for is for demonstrations for our boys
ministry<br>(Royal
> Rangers / FCF) to demonstrate how things were made by hand during<br>this
> time period.<br><br>All help is appreciated and wanted.<br><br>Alfred
> McClure<br>Griffin,
>
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