Effective Noon 12/31/2009

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary retired is: To withdraw from one's position

or occupation: conclude one's working or professional career. In this case it is no more computer work!

So as of 12:01 PM Thursday December 31, 2009, the blacksmith shop will be open most all time!

Frank Turley workshop

The Missouri Blacksmith Association hosted a Frank Turley workshop at Lou Meuller's place this past weekend.

The class was made possible by a memorial in memory of Doug Hendrickson.

Here is Doug's wife, Bonnie as she introduces us to Frank Turley.

Frank on the left, and Lou make a striking team.

Or Frank is striking by himself. . . if only I could use some Turleyisms here.

Turley Forge is located in Santa Fe New Mexico.

Plasma cutter

Today we went back to Hope, Missouri to help out fellow blacksmith Joe.

Joe has a new toy. It's a Plasma cutter. He gave BT a few quick lessons and then it was his turn to try.






It sure makes quick work in preparing to make a gig.

Forging in Hope Missouri

Today we visited Joe's shop in Hope Missouri. Joe has been a little under the weather. He might tell you a lot, but he is doing much better.




Bernie uses Joe's trip hammer.





The reason for our visit was to help Joe forge 6 hinges for doors on a restored log cabin.








Now this is what you call a clinker!






The hinge will look something like this.



One of the two doors with the 6 hinges laying on the floor.

Free coal

Two blacksmith discuss some coal that was free for the taking in Arrow Rock, Missouri.

Blacksmith Coal

What does a ton of coal look like?

It looks like this plus 5 more sacks that were left in the front of the shop.

We took a trip Saturday to Scrub Oak Forge in DeSoto Missouri. It is one of the storage areas for the BAM coal supply.

The blacksmith lifted this coal 4 times. That's 4 tons times.

First he lifted it into place in the bed of the truck. Arriving home and accidentally locking the keys into the truck, he lifted it onto a trailer. From there he lifted it onto a 2 wheel dolly. He then wheeled it inside the shop
and lifted it into the storage area.

No wonder he slept good that night.




Sorry I forgot the camera on Saturday, I missed some beautiful picture opportunities.

SOFA tailgating

Southern Ohio Forge and Anvil held their quadstate round-up this past week. One of the main features of the conference is the tailgating.



You could see rows of vises.





Wet rows with plenty of rusty metal. Rusty especially since it rained Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

There were trailer loads of tools. This trailer even included some old traps for my son to drool over.

This trailer contained many rivets of all different sizes. They were sold by the pound and got cheaper on the last day of the conference.







Miniature anvils. The owner said he still had 1500 at home.











Here are a couple of the many hats of Jeff from Persimmon Tree Forge.

Oh wait! Here's a brief dry moment.

Have forge, will travel.

And last the "big" tongs.

SOFA 2009

SOFA 2009


Do blacksmiths eat fried bologna?

Blacksmith's have flat tires. That includes Bob, who had a trailer load of Tom Clark's products.

What a truck. Some blacksmiths are real serious. Even a personalized license plate!












Anvil resurfacing



Photos of items in the gallery.

Stay tuned for tailgating photos.

A Blacksmith shop and a Timberframe

One thing close to my heart is our timber frame home. This
majestic frame stood tall before the stress skin panels were added.

Every morning I love waking up and see the golden oak beams 18 feet above my head.






One thing close to my husband's heart is his blacksmith shop. He can spend hours in here. He hammers out some wonderful items.



This video will show you a timber frame blacksmith shop being built at John C. Campbell folk school. Trust me when I tell you, both of us would be happy living and working in this magnificent building! The craftsmanship going into it is awesome.

Hope you enjoy it.

BAM Meeting September 2009

BAM held it's September meeting at the shop of Matthew Burnett in Cameron, Missouri.

This picture shows some of the items Riley Rice used when demonstrating how to build a wooden wheel.







Here Riley, builds a fire around the completed rim using a bale of straw.








He added straw to it several times. The rim was then removed and quickly installed over the wooden wheel. He cooled the metal down with water as to not set the wheel on fire.








This shows the finished wheel.











Here President Ken Jansen starts the drawing for the iron in the hat session. This month items included, a shop swivel chair, garage door springs, 2 steel bars, back issues of Anvil Ring, gun magazines, a miniature Tom Clark anvil, a rake tooth and more.









One of the highlights of the day is the trade items. Here members are picking up the items they received in trade.










Here are the trade items before the drawing.










The oak leaf BT made. This was made from one piece of bar stock 1 1/2 inches wide by 5/16 inch thick by six inches long.







The leaf he won was made by Thomas Ratliff.


Thanks to Matthew and his Dad for hosting a great meeting. The chili and german chocolate cake was delicious.