For my next trick I will be performing a feat of magic so big, so bold, so covered in soot, that all will be in awe! That's right, I'm cleaning, cataloging, and marking all the tools in the Blacksmith Shop! We have two collections in the shop, an education collection that we use to reproduce 18th century blacksmithing techniques and a permanent collection that show our visitors what the forge would have looked like three hundred years ago. Over the next few months, I will be going through the shop and sorting out what belongs in each collection, cleaning the tools, and marking them with their ID numbers so we don't have to do this all over again in a few years. It's going to be a tough and dirty job, but when it's completed, the shop will have a whole new dynamic to it. 'Twill be well worth the effort!
The hardest part about the project is that, as you may have noticed, the days are getting shorter and colder. Our blacksmith demonstrators are still working in the shop for another month or so, but they have a nice roaring fire to work next to. Right now, we're trying to figure out a way to keep me warm and the tools accessible without dragging everything to the Visitor Center that has limited working space. We'll see how it goes!
The hardest part about the project is that, as you may have noticed, the days are getting shorter and colder. Our blacksmith demonstrators are still working in the shop for another month or so, but they have a nice roaring fire to work next to. Right now, we're trying to figure out a way to keep me warm and the tools accessible without dragging everything to the Visitor Center that has limited working space. We'll see how it goes!