In almost every woodworking class I teach in Covington, Ky., there’s at least one student who has driven through Ohio to get there who has stopped at Colonial Homestead in Millersburg. Every one of them tells me it’s among the most awe-inspiring stores for vintage tools they’ve ever seen (along with Hulls Cove Tool Barn …
The Blacksmith Interest Group (BIG) of EAIA held a regional meeting at the reconstructed Moses Wilder Blacksmith shop in Bolton, Massachusetts on July 28th. The purpose of the meeting was to provide hands-on demonstrations and give participants an opportunity to try basic blacksmithing using coal forges. There were 30 participants which was the number that …
In my professional travels in developing countries, I’ve been amazed how analogous work methods are to those used in America in the early period of our trade history. Several years ago we had the opportunity to join our son in Kenya where he was finishing his junior year at UMass. As Peace Corps volunteers in …
Welcome back. I’d like to begin this second installment in this series of blog posts on tinsmithing with Bill McMillen with a bit of information about the tin canister and the tinplate and patterns from which it is made. Almost all tinplate in early to mid 19th century America was imported from the United Kingdom, …
Folks who attend EAIA meetings are certainly familiar with the work of master tinsmith Bill McMillen. Bill has given numerous talks and demonstrations at our meetings about his work and about his studies of the tinsmith trade. His summary of the subject, “The Tinsmith in America – The Trade, Materials, Tradesmen, Tools and Products,” was …
Article Submitted by Alice Paterra Branch Manager, Worcester County Library, Berlin, MD Back among the trees of the Pocomoke Forest stands a tall structure made of brick. The structure is what remains of an iron furnace; the furnace stack has been dormant since 1850, but between the years of 1831 and 1850 it was …