by Joe Gentile 

         TBG was requested to look at a fire place located in the Ferry Plantation House at the request of Belinda Nash.  Upon arrival Tom Herendeen and I surveyed the site about making a fireplace crane for a recently restored brick fireplace.  Right away Belinda welcomed us and was very enthusiastic about our visit. Tom and I did some measuring of the fireplace and brainstormed about how best to fit a hearth crane.  The bricklayer used pentacles with a 5/8 post instead of a hole type pentacle.  They are located high in the fireplace so we will have to costom make the crane in order to fit. We showed Belinda the Sorber Collection Book of Colonial Hardware and she looked at it as a catalog of neat stuff she wants to get.  We agreed we would start off by making the fireplace crane and a trammel.  She also would like a set of colonial style andirons and a trivet. 

         I started to work on the fireplace crane once Tom gave me all the correct measurements.  First I made a sketch based on the fireplace crane at John Campbell Folk School.

        After the sketch I calculated what size material and how much I would need.

         Once the design was completed I drew a template on the metal table located in the tool room.  This will allow me to check my progress and make sure I'm sticking with the design.  I then needed to make some practice peices to figure out how to forge the crane and in what order. 

           I started with a 90 deree bend.  Then pre drilled a pilot hole to make sure I was  centered then drifted a 5/8 hole closest to the bend.  I drilled and drifted the second hole to 5/8 and cut off the excess.  In order to punch the holes with the 90 degree bend you had to start the punch on the side of the anvil.  This takes two people to do and remember to hold the long part up so that you can drive the biscuit thru the pritchel hole.  After everything was punched and drifted I cut and rounded the end.

          The next step wasto taper the support arm and put a small snub end scroll with an inside curl.  Measuring where to punch the hole in the supporting arm was next, this was accomplished by using a string to measure along the center.  After punching the hole I heated up the support arm and bent it to fit on the layout table.

          I was able to complete the punching of the last hole on the top bar.  Thanks to Jim Cox and Tim peaks for helping.  the crane assemblies fit well together and is tight.  The next step is to soak the pieces in apple cider vinegar to remove rust and scale then remove the rest with a wire wheel.  After that I blackened the crane with gun bluing solution then clear coated.

            I took the unassembled crane to the Ferry Plantation House for a test fit.  The hearth crane fit the pintacles perfectly.  Tim Edney helped with the final assembly.  Tim held the tourch as I pounded the rivets on the bottom "L" bracket first, then riveted the top section.  The middle rivet was the last to be assembled.  We used the small anvil for support.

             It looked as if Saturday was going to be a wash out because of the rain we had Friday night, but by 10:00 everything cleared up and it turned out to be a beautiful day.  I arrived at Ferry Plantation House and showed the finished hearth crane to Belinda Nash.  She was very pleased with how it turned out.  The hearth crane was modeled after a crane at john Campbell Folk School.  It had to be a custom fit because of the way the pintacles were attached to the brick (11 inches apart and 21 inches from the floor).  

         Before I installed the crane the silver pintacles needed to be painted black.  The crane has a good swing arch and is capable of holding three cooking pots at the same time.  The twist on the extension arm and the scroll on the supporting arm allow for additional  "S" hooks to hold pots.  The trammel alows for the adjustment in height of a pot hanging from the end of the crane.

          I covered the yellow brick floor with coke and ash.  It gives  the fireplace a more used look.  I then painted the forward two legs of the space heater located in the middle of the fireplace.  I also added a few "S" hooks so Belinda will be able to hang more than one pot at a time.  After everything was completed the fireplace took on the feel and apperance of a well used hearth from the 1800s.

I set up camp under the trees in the middle of the Plantations yard.

           The guest started arriving, mostly elderly ladies from the red hat tea society and other re-enactors for the 1800s started arriving at 1:00.

           The main attraction was Queen Elizabeth I and her Royal Court.  She was in full costume with flower girls laying rose petals atb her feet.  I bowed as she past by and she acknowledged me and told me to carry on.  I was working on a double sided swivel hook for the crane and some "S" hooks.

         They also had Celtic dancing and dancing around the May Pole.

           At the end of the day I took the left over ash and coal into the house to place around the fireplace. Belinda requested that so  the fireplace would look more authentic.

            There was one more piece of Iron work that I needed to complete, the heart trivet.  I saw an example of this trivet at JCFS and it didn't look that difficult to make  I started with the ring made out of 1x1/4x14.  Then cut three legs the same size and then split them about an inch at one end.

           The other leg I gave a gentle taper with a slightly scrolled foot  After the taper was complete Ibent the split end 90 degrees and tapered eech end out to 3 inches.  Getting all the hearts t the same size turned out to be a challenge, but after some tweeking I got them as close as I could.  Some filing was necessary to even up the V on the heart.  The next step was drilling the holes and attaching the legs with rivets.  I positioned the leggs and cold hammered the rivets in place. 

            After marking the proper bend point I used a torch to heat up each leg after placing  in a vice.  I bent the legs 90 degrees and made some small adjustments to the feet so the trivet would sit level. After everything was completed I soaked the trivet upside down in apple cider vinegar then removed the remaining scale with a wire wheel.

            I used gun bluing solution to blacken the metal then sprayed it with satin clear.  Hear is the picture of the finished trivet.

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