I was approached by a friend of a friend who owns http://www.currysantiques.com to do live blacksmithing demonstrations on her property (Sept. 21st and 22nd) which has 7 cabins and a TON of antiques from 1770-1830 New England at her 5 events a year since her former blacksmith was forced to retire. This really pushed me outside of my original idea of solely bladesmithing....and I love it.
Thanks to Sxott of Sxott Knives (a friend of Tom/POS Vette's) we are tackling this task together. We are working on making more than just blades using nothing but heat, a hammer, traditional blacksmithing tools, and an anvil. We're making j-hooks, leaf pendants/key chains, cross pendants, (and for other shows where we have more time to prep) door knockers, hinges, handles, etc. Anything a colonial blacksmith was responsible for making.
This week I had a flase alarm for the new baby that I left work a little early for then after that Sxott drove down to my little forge and we got to work.
I still want to make a lot of knives but I'll be damned if traditional blacksmithing in general isn't a blast and hasn't piqued my interest even more.