BAM meeting January 2012

The Blacksmith Association of Missouri held their winter meeting at A & K Cooperage, Higbee, Mo. Dale Kirby and his crew make beautiful oak wine barrels. They are shipped all over the country. The majority of them end up in California.

Barrels waiting to be shipped.

Securing the top.

Here a barrel is being toasted.

At one point the barrel was wet down, and smoked and steamed some more.

The big machine takes over. Here is an excellant article on the Cooperage

Forging a hammer.

The trade item for this meeting was anything with a heart.  There was a great display, from towel holders, coat hooks, a necklace, letter openers, a heart punch, and even a couple of tomahawks with heart piercings.

The first barrel finished had the club logo burned on.  For a dollar chance someone would take it home with them.

And look who brought the barrel home!!!


P.S. We were just the transporter :(  

Teaching the grandsons

Last week Alex, the seven year old grandson wanted to forge. He made two J hooks. Brady the ten year old wasn't interested, until he saw his brother's finished products.

Today they both decided to go back to the shop to hammer.

Alex goes first.

Brady starts on his J hook.

This is what the finished product looked like.

The boy's Dad received this handmade oak back pack for Christmas. He was wanting some hooks to hang it on the wall.

This is the design the boys and the blacksmith came up with. Alex forged the left side, Brady the right. You can see they stamped their names respectively on top.

Two new candle holders

 Ribbon candle holder
$30

Double candle holder

$35

Two together

$70

BAM meeting November 2011

Look at all these letter openers!  They were the trade item for today meeting.

One of the coolest ones was the whale opener. His mouth was razor sharp! 

Good job Mike!

It was a large crowd of Smith's. The meeting was held in Excelsior Missouri at Martin's Auction Barn. The food was an extra treat, cream filled donuts, homemade pies, butter grilled ham and cheese sandwiches on homemade bread, and hot coffee on a cold day!  If you weren't there, you missed a great meeting!

Saltfork Craftsman Artist-Blacksmith Association Conference 2011

The meeting was held in Perry, Oklahoma at the fair grounds.

Mark Aspery was one of the demonstrators.

The next few pictures are of some of the works in the gallery area.

 Tailgaters!

Linn Centennial

Just a couple of pictures from the day.

Perhaps you didn't get your shopping done.

Just email us or call.

You can shop at home with us. 

Munichburg Show 2011

Great show.

Great weather.

Great customers.

Thank you to all those that  came out.

Catch us October 1st at the Linn Centennial.