A couple of trout bottle openers for some departing staff members at work. The bottle openers start off as the humble flat bar stock on the right. Whenever these folks pop a top on their favorite beer, hopefully they will remember Indiana with fond memories. If not, at least they will be drinking a beer.Now that the holidays are over, I can get back to making my old standby and something that everyone needs…yes, the leaf hook is back! But if you look closely, you will also see my latest addition to the forge, a touchmark made by the great folks at BuckeyeEngraving in Ohio. It is FBC for the Forge at BlacksmithCottage.Trout bottle opener. Another fine addition to the gourmet kitchen line from the Forge at BlacksmithCottage.A smaller version of the leaf j-hook made with left over bits of metal. And no…they are not Thanksgiving leftovers. Those would be spoiled by now.New size leaf hook for Christmas reefs…or the coat of a very large, very jolly man.Getting the forge ready for Christmas.I had a day off so I spent it making candy cane ornaments…I may have went a bit overboard🤔 I guess there will be a few more out in Nashville this weekend.A bit closer view of the candy canes ready for distribution…in a tree in Nashville for free…Joy to the World! Well, I guess that random person who finds it in Nashville will enjoy it…not really the whole world. Bringing a bit of happiness to the world one hook at a time.A candy cane Christmas ornament in the village of Nashville for someone to find.Only 120 more of these to go and we can decorate the Christmas tree! Hmmm….seems like a lot of work. Target has ornaments….yeah…maybe a trip to Target instead. Turns out, making the candy cane is the easy part…tying bows…that is a skill unto itself. 10 minutes to make the cane…20 minutes to tie a dang bow! I guess that is what happens after wearing cowboy boots for the past 40 years.The final product. A forged candy cane Christmas ornament with a bit of bronze frosting.Making a forged candy cane…looks good enough to eat…well, maybe after it cools off.A S-hook left at the 4 corners in the village of Nashville for someone to find.Rustic blacksmith or Viking knife ready for chopping, cutting, or battling Vikings…or the unruly blacksmith.Hat hook with a coat hook underneath.Making charcoal for the forge.Christmas ornament leaf.
A side view of the arbor leading into the garden. Sometimes it leads out of the garden. It just depends on which way you are walking.Replacement handle for the plastic handle that broke off of this spatula…let’s see someone break this one. New show idea…combine Forged in Fire with the Great British Baking Show. Contestants make their utensils before they bake their cakes. Your spatula will MIX! Hanging plant basket bracket. This was my first attempt at using a hot collar, which is a blacksmithing technique for connecting two pieces of metal without welding or mechanical connectors. I am going to need a bit more practice with this technique.Forging a leaf for the support bracket in a hanging basket plant hanger.More hooks with leaves. The goldy/brassy looking finish comes from rubbing the hot metal with a bronze brush at the end of the forging process. So I guess you could say it has a bronze finish. Yeah, that is a bit more succinct than goldy/brassy finish.A curled tip is a part of many blacksmithing projects.Hat hook for an office cubicle. Yes. I did have a cubicle for a short time. And I was the only person there who needed a hat hook for a proper hat.Leaf wrap secures crossmembers to arbor frame.The Whitlox Wood-fired Forge is also great for cooking! In blacksmithing, it is important that your tongs fit your work properly. I just need to get Glen at GS Tongs to make me a pair of his famous bent-knee tongs that will properly fit a bratwurst.A bit of bratwurst for lunch…mmmmmmm. Arbor leading into garden.J hook with leaf motif.Leaf on a flat J hook.12” S hook with a full twist.Hat hook with a coat hook below.A leaf. Just a leaf for the fun of it. No real purpose for this leaf. Maybe I can use it for….nope, just for fun. Making leaves just for fun.Heating a 12” S hook in charcoal before twisting.
New Christmas ornament leaf…and no, this one was not an accident.Another view of the same ornament. The tongs are there when I remembered the leaf was still hot…well, I didn’t actually remember it was still hot…Shaping a leaf for a decorative element for a plant hanger or hanging basket thingy using a stump to create the curved form.A bit of inspiration on my stump anvil. The leaf…not the tongs. I really should not leave those tongs out in the rain.12” S hook with a full twist.Heating iron in a Whitlox Wood-fired Forge. You can use either wood or charcoal but I tend to use charcoal because it is easier to manage the fire. I tend to use wood when I have been too lazy to make charcoal. I tend to go fishing when I have been too lazy to chop wood….all things in life are interconnected.Leaf without hook…yes…I burned off the hook by mistake which resulted in the creation of the leaf Christmas ornament 😀. What a happy happenstance…except now my hook has no leaf 😔3” S hook.More leaf hooks…yes, I like making leaf hooks.Another leaf hook experiment.Early leaf hook.Christmas ornament leaf.Electric fence standoff with a leaf motif.First blacksmith knife and a couple of J hook experiments.Hey look…another friggin J hook with a leaf…but this one is sitting on an anvil.Flat J hooks of varying widths and thickness. Just testing different styles before making a few of these.A cat made from angle iron using instructions from Torbjörn Åhman based on the art of Elizaveta Polikashina.
Blacksmith Cottage