John C Campbell

Once again I have complete another week of blacksmithing instruction at John C Campbell Folk School. This class was the most taxing of the classes I have taken, and it took my utmost exertion to keep up and complete the projects. The projects themselves were not large projects, but they each contained several parts and many new techniques.

This class was all about 18th Century Hearth Equipment.

For the most part we used traditional methods and did not use a lot of modern tooling. Some people would argue that using a drill press or power hammer is not traditional but that just shows their historical ignorance on blacksmithing. Drill presses have been around in a variety of forms since Roman times and so have power hammers. The driving force behind these tools is the only thing that has changed, and their purpose and principle of function remains the same. (Hole punching was always more prominent than drilling because punches lasted longer than drills. Punching is a fundamental blacksmithing skill.)

Havng cleared up that fog, let us continue!

We travelled the day before Independence Day, and since our route lays across the tourest area of the Occoee River, traffic was bad. However, we arrived safely and without incident.

We were camping this time, so after we registered, we went to stake our claim in the campground, pitch the tent, awning, and set up the loads of comfies I brought along!

After supper, Mom went shopping and I went to meet the instructor and the class-mates I would share the week with. (CLARIFICATION: Mom and I were the ones who made this trip. Mom was a guest of the folk school.)

This class was so fast paced that I was not able to take time to get pictures. Mom visited the shop once with the camera and got a few shots but that is about all. I do have a couple of interesting photos of the scenery and some other stuff though.

First, before the trip we noticed the back left tire of the truck was sagging. We filled it up and made the trip without any problems. However, by day number two on the campus, it WAS sagging big time! Mom drove the truck to the blacksith shop, and my friend Chase and I played pit crew for a few minutes. As a matter of course, we had to pop the hood to change the tire.

I popped the lug nut cap, and jacked the truck up while Chase dropped the spare. 

How many teenage boys does it take to change a tire?

People at John C. Campbell have the right idea about coffee. In fact there is a whole room of the main Campus house that is called the Coffee Room. They serve coffee there from 6 A.M. to 10 P.M. I take full advantage of such a wonderful thing!

Here is some of the scenery found everywhere around the campus.

Here are a few shop photos.

One: Tending the fire!

Two: This is one of two or three seconds total that I had for leisure time! :D

Three: Back to work!

I got a lot of pictures from show and tell where all the classes show-case the work that they have completed throughout the week. Here are a couple. 

First: wood carving. The entire wood carving class including the teacher had left, save for one man and this AMAZING piece he completed. 

This is the young lady that braved the campground with us along with her project in mixed media.

This is one of my class-mates standing beside the blacksmith show table.

The blacksmith table.

The instructor and one of my classmates.

This was completed in the wood-turning class. The whole class turned out some of the most beautiful wood-turned pieces I have ever seen.

Ok so that is all from the school. Since it is difficult to see the pieces when they are sitting on the table at show and tell, I did a photo run of my pieces here in my shop.

First project completed on Monday the fourth: 18th Century Kettle Tilter and hook.

The kettle tilter holds a water kettle to always keep water warm. When the water is hot, the long handle is rotated downward. A thumb holds the kettle in place as it is tilted and the water poured out.

Here is the thumb that holds the pot down. See how it is attached back to the long handle at the pivot point. 

Second project done on Tuesday the fifth: 18th Century Four-Bar Grill.

Third projected completed on Wednesday the sixth: The 18th Century Lark Spit.

Actually no one finished the lark spit on the Wednesday. We had to finish it Thursay.

Fourth project completed on Thrusday the seventh: 18th Century Side Crane.
The brackets on the left are what the crane swings on. These brackets are installed into the concrete on either side of the fireplace.

These brackets are called pintels.

And that is all folks!