Axe Making in the 1960's

That looks like the shop where I work. Seriously.

Throw in a few lathes from the 1930's and a gear hob or two and I'd swear it was the same place.

The_Jed wrote: That looks like the shop where I work. Seriously. Throw in a few lathes from the 1930's and a gear hob or two and I'd swear it was the same place.

do you have any trip hammers made of rock maple.

None of those, but we do have an old blacksmith shop tucked away in a corner and the overall cleanliness and concern for worker safety is spot on.

I work in a time capsule.

This is my favorite thread of the week, and here's why:

My great-grandfather was a blacksmith. I never met him, as he died a few years before I came along, but I have some things that he made and I was in his shop when it still looked a lot like the one in that film. In fact, that's where his son, my dad's uncle, taught me to weld when I was about 13.

I sent this link along to my father, along with this note:

"When I see stuff like this, I wonder if this is what it was like in your grandfather's barn blacksmith shop in the day."

My father responded with, "Grandpa's place was something like this but much less automated. I remember lots of heating, then pounding on the anvil. Plus wide belts running off a high shaft, coke furnace heating metal and then dunking the hot part into a barrel of ??? Heat treating? Interesting video!

Dad"

My father is in his 80s, and is the oldest living member of the family. Not just the immediate family, but of everyone that I know who has our last name, and there's a ton of us. His grandfather was born in 1882.

To hear my father using the name "Grandpa" referring to anyone other than himself was really cool. I could tell that the conversation took him right back to when he was a little kid in the 30's. The scenes in that film were very real to him. He really enjoyed it, and that made both of us very happy.

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine:

Thanks for posting that link.

Here's a picture of my great-grandfather having breakfast in 1935:

This one is amazing. Not only do they make the axe, they then use the axe to fit the logs for a cabin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbCpDsxUHVc

Very cool.

And another cool one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2lvCcMlPQE

Pretty amazing stuff, in that the men that can do this are a dying breed. I hope all this knowledge isn't lost for good, but sadly it might be.

Woody wrote: Here's a picture of my great-grandfather having breakfast in 1935:

That picture is awesome. I have pictures of my great and great-great grandpa in similar poses, hunting or camping. My grand father and great grandfather were automotive body men back when that meant you were more a carpenter than a welder.

Great stuff man... Super cool.

You really do need to check this place out.

http://www.ctamachinery.com/

They have

http://www.ctamachinery.com/2014-spring-power-up.html <-- and it's fun.