Stumbled into a old forge in rural Vermont that still had the original bellows

I was driving through a little town called Waitsfield last month and saw a sign for a historic blacksmith shop. Thought I'd pop in for five minutes but ended up staying an hour talking to the caretaker. The place was built in 1820 and they still had the original twin bellows setup, which I'd only ever seen in books before. The caretaker showed me how they used a water-powered trip hammer from the nearby stream, and it was wild to see all the old tooling still bolted to the floor. They let me try striking a hot rod on the anvil, and I could feel the history in every ding. The whole setup made me realize how much I take my electric blower and hydraulic press for granted. Has anyone else visited a historic forge like this, and did it change how you think about your own shop setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

david7015d ago

That broken washing machine rhythm line cracked me up lol. Those old timers made it look so easy with their steady hammering but I bet they spent years building up that muscle memory.

juliagonzalez6d ago

Oh man, that sounds incredible! I tried making a simple scroll on an 1800s anvil once and my hammer blows were so bad the caretaker said I had "the rhythm of a broken washing machine." It really makes you wonder how those folks cranked out wagon parts and hinges with basically a rock and some lung power, doesn't it?

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