Grandma's paring knife is done

Grandma called and wanted a new paring knife. The one she bought in the 60's finally wore out.  I made her one with black micarta scales and a 1095 blade.  It's a little less than an eighth inch thick.  I hope she likes it.  She will let me know either way, she's not shy with her opinions.

February 2018 goings on at the shop

The knife to be raffled off for the Ma and Pa Kettle days fundraiser.
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A mess of work to get through

Some of the first sharp shiny things for 2018

New apprentice getting his hands dirty on the big grinder.  There is a big grin behind the mask!

Some blades ready for final grinds and handles.

Goings on in the shop January 2018

We've been little beavers in the shop.  About 2 cords of wood have been felled, bucked and stacked in the last week or so.  There is still about half a cord of felled birch to get out of the swamp.  Hopefully that will be done this week.  Now I just have to split it  and get it ready for next winter.

A lot of splitting to be done.

A customer from the tractor show came through in a big way.  He had an unused coal forge collecting dust in his barn that he let us have.  He didn't want it going to the scrap man and he wanted it to go somewhere it would be used.  Thank you Travis!!  It needs a few things fixed and cleaned but that is no big deal.  It will operation buy the end of

A portable forge with a Champion brand blower.  Simple and reliable.

February.  I'll post more on it when we fire it up.

Trees and snow

Not Dead, just stuck in the swamp and getting fire wood. Pics in next post

I'm just about worn to the nubbins,  several trees were felled and now to get them where they will be of use.

The Holidays are over and it's time to get back to the grind in the shop

Tired and shagged out after a long while of doing very close to nothing.

Do nothing but making delicious food and living easy is over now.  The batteries of the soul are recharged and now it's time to get stock built and the after Christmas orders going.  The high today is supposed to hit 27F so it won't be absolutely miserable in the shop.   I have an able bodied friend coming over to help with the grunt work so there should be a mess of parts at the end of the day.  I hope y'all had a great time for the holidays!

Some new hardware for the hearth at TJ's

The pot hook and the adjustable stand both got used the day after this was put in.  They were roasting chestnuts over an open fire and they were delicious! I had to make all the equipment removable in case of thieves or they didn't want stuff in the way.

We also have key chains available.  The other big news is that we should have a proper website up and running in February.  You'll be able to order stock items and we'll have a menu selection for some of our custom stuff.  

Antler tine key chains