The Stone City Blacksmith Shop
One of our current project is the Blacksmith Shop. Renovation began in
late summer, 2007. It resumed in the spring of 2008 with the
installation of two windows in the front. Painting of the windows is
complete, now, and they should be installed soon. We had a new roof
installed and removed the old gutters. It made a big improvement in the
appearance of the place. You can see pictures of the roof installation
under “Picture page."
Our next challenge was to figure out how to get power to the Shop
without crossing our neighbor’s property. The solution that we decided
on was to use of solar power. It works pretty well. It runs the lights,
the VCR and a TV. We use them to show informational videos.
The biggest change that we have made recently is a new floor.
The old wooden floor was rotten and infested with powder-post beetles,
as was many other wooden “things” in the shop. Even the stump that the
anvil was on was full of bugs. We tore out and burned the floor. Under
it we found concrete supports had been poured at some time. We
jack-hammered those out too. By this time we were down to bedrock.
We brought in sixteen tons of gravel and eight tons of ag-lime and
packed in down for the new floor. Now it is starting to look authentic.
There are several great pictures of the inside of the shop in “SC
Places”. We are getting very close to firing up the forges. The forges
need a little work, but they are repairable. That’s my next project.
There are a number of projects yet to be done. We have to divert rain
water away from the back of the building, because if we don’t, it tends
to find it’s way into the building. We are going to build a short stone
and railroad tie fence in front to keep patron’s of The Pub from making
U-turns on our lawn. We have to paint the walls and refinish the floor
upstairs. We have to clean the chimneys and make wood for the stove
before winter really gets here.
Hey! We’re enjoying every minute of it.
The Stone City Blacksmith Shop
continuing saga!
An update on the progress of the shop.
We had a Boy Scout Eagle Project at the
shop on Saturday, November 14th. It’ pretty amazing what
fifteen 13 year olds can accomplish.
The fifteen Boy Scouts, three adult
leaders and one Foundation member built 100 feet of limestone and
railroad tie fence in front of the shop and they replaced our temporary
drainage system with a stone retaining wall, gravel and perforated pipe
drainage system in the back of the building. (No pictures yet. Waiting
for better weather.) All in one day!
A couple of us went to the shop the other
day and checked out the chimneys. They are in great shape. There are
three chimneys coming up through one brick structure. One has a cap on
it, the other two do not. I am going to build a single cap that covers
all three openings. We think the cap is necessary not only to keep the
rain out, but also as a spark arrestor. We built a small fire in the
stove upstairs to see how well the chimney would draw. No problem!
I ‘ve gotten the big iron (railroad) forge
all torn apart. The old blower wouldn’t turn, the clinker breaker
wouldn’t move, the hood/chimney is gone and the belts were broken or
stretched to the point where they didn’t work. It is not as bad as it
sounds. One of the vanes inside the blower is missing. I made a new one
but, I haven’t installed it yet. The blower was also full of mouse nest:
that’s why it wouldn’t turn. I managed to get all of the old bolts out
of the forge and I am replacing them. I found some belt material but, I
have to find a “belt lacer” so I can make a new belt. The belt is the
last thing I need to put it all back together. I’m excited.
I believe this forge is about 100 years
old. The blower has the name “Canedy Otto Mfg. Co, Chicago Heights,
Ill., Western Chief” in raised letters on it. They were in business from
1890 through 1942.
The Foundation has decided to have our
Christmas at the shop. We going to decorate the place and maybe upgrade
the solar system so we run lots of Christmas lights.
It is going well!
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