Blacksmith

I've been blacksmithing for a few years now. I have my own small shop set up but I am also a demonstrator at a local historic mill. This summer, 2002, I got a job as an architectural blacksmith at Cardine Studios.

Cardine Studios work

Pierce-work Gate with inset vines:

This is a gate I made at Cardine Studios. All of the bars pierced with holes and pass through each other. They are joined by tennons peened over at the ends. The vines are woven through. The finished gate was powder coated and the leaves were gilded gold.

Railing:

Rail Center Balcony

Here is a railing we made at Cardine studios. The long sections are the rails for a double stairway. The shorter sections fill in angled sections on the stairs and smaller stairways around the house. There are 2 centerpieces where the pattern overlaps from each side which go on the walkway at the top of the stairs. The curved sections (waiting for leaves in photo) are for a couple of balconies inside the house. The rails are waxed and buffed steel with polished brass leaves and rosettes. The pictures show it in the shop before installation.

Chandelier:

White Black

This chandelier was one of the first projects I did this summer. The hollow base was shaped before I got there, but I did most of the work after that. The final height is 3' so I hope it now lives in a large room. It was originally waxed white, which everyone in the shop thought was hideous for ironwork. When it was delivered, the customer agreed, hence the black picture.

Personal work

This is a reproduction of a 16th century candlestand. The original is shown in Constructing Medieval Furniture by Daniel Diehl. The book describes assembling this massive candle stand using a welder. Instead, I forged tenons onto each end of the main shaft and riveted everything. It's a bit shaky, but it's fairly safe in the corner. The ironwork stands about six and a half feet tall. The candles were also hand-made They are 16-18 inches tall and the center candle stands on a shelf so that the bottom 6 or so inches does not disappear.

Steel Rose:

Picture 1 Picture 2

Yes, that's right, a steel rose. For people who are tired of buying flowers that die quickly and fall apart, this is the solution. Made from a single 1/4" bar, one end was rolled into a flower while the other end was made into a leaf. The pictures probably don't show it, but there is a light brass coating on the leaf and rose for a little shine. Overall, it's not bad for my first leaf and flower to end up on the same stock. Watering is not recommended.

Ground quiver:

Quiver standing Quiver folded

A lot of medieval illustrations show archers with their arrows in the ground. Since we practice on a hardwood floor indoors, I created a portable ground quiver. Due to properly huge engineering tolerances, this quiver stands by itself after it's smacked around a little. To fold it up, smack all the supports to one side.

Tools

Forge tools Tongs Nail header Blacksmith hardies Armourer stakes Swages

One of the first things I ever forged was a set of my own forge tools: Fire poker, rake, and a shovel. The blade for the shovel was made from a scavenged post-hole digger. My blacksmith hardies include a box, some bending forks, a rivet setter, and a cutoff hardie. For armouring I've made a number of ball and mushroom stakes as well as some swages, a dishing form, and a few others. I've also made a set of tongs, a nail header and some other things here and there. I'll post more pictures as I take them.

Stake plate:

Empty With assorted stakes

I cut a stake plate out of a railroad piece. I'm not sure what the original plate is called but it had some ~3/4" square holes to start with. I added 1", 1 1/4", and 1 1/2" square holes to the center. Some of the original holes will eventually be filed out to 7/8". Steel sleeves were added to a couple of the holes already. The entire thing was welded to a pipe and attached to my leg vise stand.

Adjustable stand:

Picture

This is a stand made from scrap metal. Various things can be held by it, but so far I've only made the upturned attachment shown and a flat one. It sure beats spending $20+ on a new one.

Portable fences and holes:

The Ship of Fools:

Posts

This is my new boat. It is a somewhat portable field to be used for boat scenarios in rapier combat. It is the property of the Ship of Fools, the fourth ship of the Atlantian Trading Company. There are 7 standard posts and 2 more which are a little more ornate for a gateway. Two ropes run through each one. The boat is currently 20' wide and 50' long, because that's all the rope I have.

Colvin Run fence:

Picture 1 Picture 2

This is the same style as the posts for the Ship of Fools. There is a single rope through this to keep people out of the flowers. These 12 posts and the ship were made at the same time (it was a long Thanksgiving).

Portable holes:

Set of 30

The always useful portable hole. I've made a number of these in a couple different styles. The first set had a straight stake, and the second set came out at a right angle to give a better pounding surface. Both work fine. They can be made to fit any size pole or flag. I just finished a matching set of 30 for an equestrian group. They were made to fit a 2" pole. I have not yet figured out how to make the cartoon variety. If anyone has plans for one, let me know.