As craftspeople, we continually seek ways to educate ourselves in various areas of metalwork. Recently, our head blacksmith, and tool enthusiast, Tim had the opportunity to take a week long course at the Adirondack Folk School under the renowned, and former Master Blacksmith at Colonial Williamsburg; Peter Ross. The class focused on creating box joints, a shape commonly used in 18th century tools such as sugar nippers, round nose pliers, scrolling pliers and rush-lights. Creating such a shape requires challenging forging techniques and processes. Once forged, the piece was polished, and finished. This type of work was typically completed by a Whitesmith. Below are a few images of Tim’s finished products. These are replicas of 18th century English style box jaw pliers. Pliers such as these were highly used in Colonial America and exported throughout the world.
