Finishing Unfinished Business
What's that saying - "Necessity is the mother of invention?" More often than not, that's how things work around here. Case in point is the unfinished portion of our house. When we moved here, seven years ago, there was a wall in the house with a propane fireplace and a large entertainment center. Because we had no use for either of these items, we removed them along with the wall across the corner. We gained nearly 50 square feet in our living room! The area behind the fake wall was left unfinished. We carefully installed a new triple walled stove pipe through the ceiling and a used wood stove before our second winter. A large amount of firewood is stacked along the unfinished wall. This unfinished space has remained in this condition because we have spent our spare time constructing new outbuildings, restarting our dairy and blacksmith shop businesses, and raising babies.
The kids have taken to throwing their wet coats, boots, and such on the woodpile and around the stove to dry out. When you have nine family members, that is a lot of chaos to look at every day and pick up. It worked, but . . . I dreaded every winter. There must be at least three times the amount of clothing accumulated on the woodpile as in the summer. It is pawed through at least twice a day for chores, not to mention the other numerous times throughout the day someone is in need of a coat, boots or snowsuit. Invariably the entire pile is disassembled because the required item is at the bottom. I am forever telling everyone to pick up their coats or stack the boots.
After a particularly trying day of having to repeat this at least 50 times, my patience was on its last thread. I had a talk with Kit, we put a plan in place, and acted on it immediately.
We restacked the wood, and cleaned the area where the sub floor remained. Then we laid new flooring from a leftover box, and completed the new "wood box" area by the end of the day. The horseshoe hanger, made for us many years ago by my Great Uncle Jack, fits well with our western theme.
Kit forged the Suffolk style handle in our blacksmith shop out of three-quarter-inch square stock. It is totally old fashioned, real looking, and substantial.
By the end of the next day the mantel was in place along with a bench below. The boots are stored beneath the bench which is sturdy enough to sit on whilst pulling on boots.
And by the end of the week, Kit forged railroad spikes into eight different coat hook styles. The children each have two hooks to hang their outdoor clothing on.
Nearing the end of the second week we had installed leftover, lightly planed, cedar boards from my in-laws’ old yard fence and taped, primed and painted one wall. Once started you might as well see it through to the end, right?
I am so excited about this project I decided to offer you the same opportunity to either organize your chaos or decorate your home with some awesome coat hooks, and/or mantel.
These gorgeous hooks are hand-forged from a 7-inch steel railroad spike. The longer hooks are forged from a similar 11-inch type of railroad spike.
Kit can forge a multitude of shapes and designs.
They are about six to eight inches tall, drilled and countersunk to accept a T-30 sized screw.
Kit forged and stamped a prototype of the historical confederate battle flag pattern coat hook. Idaho and Montana have a rich history of immigration by many confederate veterans who were among the first to mine, ranch, and settle this country. Kit has fond memories of participating in living history reenactments and competition shooting in the NSSA with his grandfather to help inspire and educate others in heritage preservation.
Another coat hook Kit designed is a Staghorn pattern with a leaf forged from the tapered tip of the railroad spike. A friend gave us a book called "Professional Smithing, Traditional Techniques for Decorative Ironwork, Whitesmithing, Hardware, Toolmaking, and Locksmithing." This is an excellent book covering Donald Streeter’s fine ironwork and details the staghorn pattern as well as other historical examples of ironwork from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Here’s a closer look at the forged leaf pattern on the hook ends.
We are adding these coat hooks along with other blacksmith items to our Blacksmithing and For Sale pages.
Hand-Forged Coat Hooks
Pair of Coat Hooks or Rifle Rack Hangers
3 Silver Dollars or Silver Eagles and Receive Free Shipping or
$75.00 Plus Shipping
Trades - we are always open to trading for items that we need. We are currently looking for anvils, pack saddles, wool, leather, and tallow.
Pair of Historical Staghorn or Confederate Flag Pattern Coat Hooks, or Rifle Hangers
7 Silver Dollars and Free Shipping or
$170 Plus Shipping
Trades - We are currently looking for anvils, pack saddles, wool, leather, and tallow.
Rasp Angle Brackets
Our hands are familiar with horse rasps and the many fine cuts a new rasp leaves on the palm and fingers after struggling to trim a young colt or nailing shoes on a bronc. The horse rasp is the farrier’s finish tool. When they become dull, we use them for "hot rasps" to file metal in our blacksmith shop. The dull rasps are repurposed into hardened steel punches, cutting tools, or in this case decorative, right-angle brackets to mount on the wall. This rasp bracket stands 10 inches tall and accommodates a board eight inches wide. The brackets are annealed, drilled and countersunk to accept a T-30 or similar style of screw.
Pair of Horse Rasp Shelf Brackets
3 Silver Dollars or Silver Eagles and Receive Free Shipping or
$75.00 Plus Shipping or
Trades - We are currently looking for anvils, pack saddles, wool, leather, and tallow.
Hand Forged Suffolk Handle
This handle is 11 inches tall but can be custom built to other lengths. Handle is supplied with hand forged square nails. The ends of the nails protruded and were historically clinched on the inside of the door.
Hand-Forged Handles
4 Silver Dollars or Silver Eagles and Free Shipping or
$95 Plus Shipping or
Trades - We are currently looking for anvils, pack saddles, wool, leather, and tallow.
Mantels
If you would like to purchase the whole top part of the mantel complete with coat hooks, we have Douglas fir or white oak available which can be finished with stain and customized for length.
Starting at:
$500.00 – 4-Foot Douglas fir mantel with six forged coat hooks.
$900.00 – 7-Foot Douglas fir mantel with 15 forged coat hooks (pictured above)