July Market Fair

We spent a lovely weekend at the Market Fair at Claude Moore Colonial Farm, where we were privileged to demonstrate with Kelly Smyth again.  We've missed Kelly and it was great to spend some time with her. 

Jeff was ever so grateful to get Kelly's insights into how to make certain colonial items, but he had to compete with the boys for Kelly's time, which wasn't easy!  My boys were particularly thrilled to get their first chance to forge some hooks, thanks to Kelly's wonderful instruction. 

July 2011 Colonial Market Fair

Please join my family and myself at the next Market Fair at Claude Moore Colonial Farm on July 16 and 17.

This is a great event for adults and kids alike because there are many experienced (and often juried as well) Colonial craftspeople of all types, marvelous entertainers and period vendors as well, all in Colonial costumes.  Every one of them has a heart for education and it is an outstanding opportunity to immerse yourself in some good wholesome historical entertainment and to learn a few things at the same time!

I will be demonstrating at this event and will have a colleague there with me named Kelly Smyth who is a renowned expert in maritime blacksmithing.  Together we will be educating people on the many interesting aspects of Colonial blacksmithing.  More details and a 50% off coupon can be found on the Claude Moore Colonial Farm website.

If you happen to miss us at this Market Fair, please join us at the next one October 15th and 16th or come visit me at the Blacksmith Shop at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens (times vary from week to week).

Look forward to seeing you at one of these events soon!

Scroll Candlesticks In Use

I made some scroll candlesticks for a friend from Claude Moore recently and he sent me a shot of them on his dining room table next to a trencher they got from the Mount Vernon Craft Fair, so I was pleased to see them in use in such nice company!

Jeff Joins Mount Vernon's Blacksmithing Team

I recently got an unexpected phone call from Mount Vernon to discuss "blacksmithing".

Anyone who knows me know that I am always more than ready to chat about smithing, so I returned the call lickety split.  Lo and behold, Mount Vernon's blacksmithing shop needed some extra help and wondered if I  would be willing to work as needed, on a part-time basis.

How cool is THAT?!?!

Please look for me in the shop the next time you are there!

Manassas Civil War Demonstration

It was an exhausting, but good, demonstration this weekend in Manassas.

30,000 people were expected and although we don't know the final numbers, we definitely talked to thousands of people over the 3 days of the event.  We educated people about blacksmithing and the value of doing something, anything, with your hands, whatever it is that you feel called to do.  This notion seems to resonate well with people at events like this, which is always great to see.



This was our first Civil War event and it was great to dig into the blacksmithing history of that time period and to compare it to the Colonial period we are more familiar with.  Although blacksmithing did not change all that much in the 100 or so years between these wars, the country itself changed immensely and that had a huge impact on the blacksmiths of the time.

During the Colonial period, most finished metal goods and much of the iron both came from England in ships. After the Stamp Act in 1763, however, Americans became much more reluctant to buy British goods and so the blacksmiths of the time slowly began moving from a repair-based workload to one of many more things made from scratch from iron made here in this country.  At the same time, people were moving westward and blacksmiths were among them.  Some smiths that apprenticed in the cities of the Eastern seaboard no doubt would move westward after they became Journeymen and would serve the local community they were in around their homestead.  Amidst all this change, the apprenticeship model remained firmly in place right up to the Civil War and beyond.

Shortly after the Civil War, things changed dramatically for smiths, with the advent of the railroads only 20 years after the end of the War and then mass production roughly 30 years after that.  So, despite their being not much change to the basic aspects of the blacksmithing trade for the almost 250 years before the Civil War, there was massive change in the 50 years after, leading shortly to the almost virtual extinction of them in the mid 20th century.  Thankfully, however, smithing is seeing a great revival in the last 50 years and I am glad to be a part of it!

We had a great time at the event and look forward to sharing blacksmithing history and practice in future events as well.  Hope to see you there the next time!

Gearing Up for Manassas

I usually demonstrate with a wonderful, but borrowed, set-up at the Claude Moore Market Fairs.  I took quite a bit of time early on to help build that forge, vise, and other equipment.  Unfortunately, I can't be carting those things all over for other events, so lately I have had to build, buy, or otherwise make a new set of gear for the event that starts on Friday.   At times, it's felt like we were a bit in over our head, but I remain optimistic even though it seems like there is so much yet to do!

We all have our new Civil War outfits, although the clothing has been the easiest part of the equation to pull together.  Honestly, the equipment has been the challenge.  We're getting there, though, with a day before the event.

I bought a new smaller leg vise and built a stand for it.

And, after more searching than you can imagine, I finally located a stump of the right height and width; a friend chain-sawed it into a workable form.   It only needs its "supports" for the anvil (so the anvil doesn't bounce around once I start hammering on it) and it should be ready to go.

After testing it out a couple weeks ago at Claude Moore, I am confident the new anvil will work well.  The forge is freshly painted and the coal was delivered today.  I think the blower is working and will attach to the forge, although that hasn't been really tested yet.   All the pieces are falling into place, with the sole exception of a way to get all this gear out to Manassas.  We're still working on that.  Somewhere, there's a trailer or a truck just waiting to be connected to our effort.  Certainly, everyone in our circle knows we are looking for one!

The only other glitch is that the boys have school on the first day of demonstrating, and they don't want to miss a minute of class time.  While that complicates the schedule a bit, none of us can be upset about that development.   My family might just have to show up a day late....and actually I might just need that period of quiet to put the final touches on all the new equipment and iron out the new wrinkles that have developed. 

It's never dull around here, that's for sure!

Lots of Hooks

I was greeted a Market Fair this year by a few familiar faces, who came with photos and measurements for items they wanted me to make for them.  I love that sort of thing and was happy to make their custom items.  I made a bunch of things during the Fair and have since made a custom hook for a tent for another demonstrator, a series of S-hooks, and drapery hooks (to hold back drapes)...

Here are some shots of these hooks:



Market Fair Wrap-Up

We had a wonderful weekend at Market Fair -- I did a lot of fun blacksmithing and my wife interpreted right alongside me.   We were so pleased to be able to share the craft with so many people, especially children.  

While we talked to the visitors, the boys had their own version of a wonderful weekend as they had a never-ending playdate with my mom and all their friends who came to the Fair.  Just as some friends left, another group entered -- the boys hadn't had that much fun in ages.   

  

The only glitch was that the colonial bake oven got so hot after days of cooking that it burned through its base (2 layers of brick and wood underneath).  At the end of the fair, someone from the bake staff came up and said that they were dousing the fire and they were discussing whether it could be moved onto a new base or whether the whole oven would have to be rebuilt.   At least it was the end of the fair and, before then, the oven worked perfectly!

We want to say a huge "thank you" to everyone who came out to support us -- it was incredible to see so many friends!   We'll be back at Claude Moore for the next Market Fair on July 16-17th.

In the meantime, we need to get ready for our first ever Civil War demonstration June 4-5 in Manassas -- we're looking forward to it and will have details to share soon.  

The Rooker

Even as we were loading the cars with all sorts of tools, colonial-style clothing, and everything else needed for tomorrow's Market Fair, I was finishing up the "rooker" (sort of a fire poker) for the new colonial bake oven we made at Claude Moore.

We'll test all these tools this weekend, so I will likely have revisions to make for July's Market Fair. No one we know has ever actually used tools exactly like this, so we are all expecting to learn some things as we try them out.  But, for now, we've run out of time in the forge, so these will have to do for this weekend.

Tools for the Colonial Bake Oven

With a covering of mud, clay, sand, lime and dung over the bricks (and plans to put another layer of the same materials, plus some straw, on top of the 1st layer), the oven is pretty much finished....just in time for this weekend's Market Fair where it will be put to work baking bread.  It looks pretty amazing.

Final details still remain, though, and I have been hustling to forge some tools for the baking process using colonial-era drawings and photos.  I made a "scuffle" (which I keep calling a "kerfluffle" for some strange reason), which seems to be basically a colonial-style mop - a rag will go through the iron hole and a wooden handle will go on the other end.  We have some doubts about how well it will work.

I've also made a sort of a hoe to rake ashes out of the oven:

And, now I am headed into the forge to make a "rooker", which is similar to a fire poker.  Other folks are fashioning the wooden handles, building a peal, and various other implements.  In the meantime, a fire has been lit in the oven and the mud covering is drying out. 

There are still two days before Market Fair....plenty of time!

A Campfire Tripod

About Us

Jeff Dunkelberger started blacksmithing after catching the bug in early 2008.  The idea of having his own forge came in time and now Black Forest Iron Works is a home-based forge that operates on small projects for sale at several outlets carrying his work.

Jeff has studied under notable blacksmiths Elmer Roush, Doug Merkel, Mark Aspery, Gerald Boggs, Mike Tanner, George Anderton and Albin “Albie” Drzewianowski and continues studying and practicing his craft.

Jeff actively participates in several local blacksmith guilds, but the area of his trade that currently gives him the most satisfaction is working as a living-history re-enactor.  He was chosen in 2009 as the primary blacksmith for the Claude Moore Colonial Farm’s Market Fair events, held three times per year in McLean, Virginia.  During these events, Jeff demonstrates the craft to several thousand people in a typical weekend while dressed appropriately in 1771 attire and using Colonial tools and methods.  In this regard, blacksmithing is a creative outlet Jeff can share with his family since Jeff’s wife and 2 young sons also attend the fairs in period attire.

Jeff was recently asked to join the staff of the Blacksmith Shop at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens as a part-time smith demonstrating to many of the 40,000 people per week that visit the historic estate.  In August 2011, Jeff was elected to serve on the board of ABANA, the Artist Blacksmith's Association of North America, where he hopes to make a positive impact for the benefit of the wider blacksmithing community.

Jeff and his wife also recently built a log cabin in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, working weekends and vacations for nearly three years.  They now rent Chestnut Oak Lodge so others may enjoy it also.  When not blacksmithing or building, Jeff is a Services Account Executive with Dell.  He lives with his wife, their two sons and two cats in Alexandria, VA.

As anyone who knows Jeff will attest, he has a strong desire to see the growth of the trade as together all current smiths "rediscover" what the blacksmiths of old faced each day and, in the process, serve the common good by educating people about the important role blacksmiths played in the development of our country and our shared culture.  

Jeff can be reached at 703-765-3000 or at inquiries@blackforestironworks.com.

A New, "Portable" Anvil

Perhaps, we should bake some cookies for the delivery person since this package couldn't have been easy or pleasant to bring to our front door!

We now have a "portable" anvil (in blacksmithing, portability is definitely relative!) for my upcoming demos.  We're looking forward to seeing some of you this coming weekend at the Market Fair!

Back Scratchers & Candlestick Mast

I have been busily working on items for the quickly approaching May Market Fair.  I finally completed a new candlestick mast for a great customer that wanted another one and I also took the opportunity to make a couple of backscratchers for a bit of warmup.

I did something new with these two - I hammered a flat spot on the handle to make room for my touchmark.  I really like this idea and I think it adds a special charm to the piece.

Building a New Forge at Claude Moore

Jeff has been working to build a new forge at Claude Moore Colonial Farm, where he blacksmiths during their Market Fairs three times a year.  The folks at Colonial Williamsburg and Mt. Vernon have been extremely helpful, and we headed out to the farm this weekend to take some measurements and get ready to place an order for bricks. 

First, though, the guys had to build a door to the tobacco-drying shed. 

And, when we opened the door to the the building where the forge will be located, we discovered that it was being used for storage. 

While Jeff and his friend Tim struggled to manuever through the various piles of stuff, the kids decided to take full advantage of the abscence of any other kids at the games' area.  

In the end, Jeff and his friend Tim managed to get their measurements and the brick order will be placed any day now.  Who knows?  Maybe Jeff will be smithing in a new forge by the next Market Fair in May?