Williamsburg Update #7
Josh Rachita, Historical Interpreter
*Josh is interning for the summer at Colonial Williamsburg.*
July 5, 2021
Hello
all,
First, I’d like to say Happy
Independence Day! It was really neat to get to celebrate our nation’s founding
in an area that is so significant to that period in history. I was working on
the fourth, and we certainly had a large number of visitors come through the
shop. It’s been great to see things return to normal so places, like Colonial
Williamsburg, can share their story again!
On Saturday, I attended a concert of
the Air Force Heritage Band of America that was hosted by Colonial
Williamsburg. I really enjoyed hearing both the classic patriotic songs and
some modern, well known ones. On the fourth, in addition to working at the
blacksmith shop, I was able to catch the Fife and Drum Corps practicing before
a performance at the Palace. I capped the evening off by watching the fireworks
with some coworkers away from the large crowds.
This week I started some new
projects. One was a nail header, which is a tool used to help form the head of
the nail in the final stage of production. It is made from two pieces; the body
being wrought iron with tool steel being jump welded on. This project is
particularly challenging because it requires an extremely small hole to be
punched through a very large, hot bar. If made correctly, a good nail header
should be able to make tens of thousands of nails or more in its life.
I also
started working on a fireplace shovel. I practiced how to make the handle shape
first. With that test piece, I made a spatula by welding a blade to the other
end. I have been getting some great practices with forge welding, and they have
been going really great recently. I
started these new projects because I messed up the last trivet I was working
on. I decided to move on for the sake of time and hopefully return to it later.
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The photos this week are me filing up a trivet, the finished nail header, the shovel and spatula while in progress, and the Fife and Drum Corps practicing.
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