The Foxfire 45th Anniversary Book

by Inc. The Foxfire Fund

  Place the seedpods in a container—the Justices use an open cup for this step—sprinkle with insecticide, and then place the cup in a sunny windowsill, where the seedpods will dry for approximately two months. Mr. Justice describes his initial experiences with trying to sprout azalea seeds before he added the use of an insecticide to this step: “They wouldn’t [sprout] because if you don’t put some sort of insecticide on the seedpod, the weevils gets in it, and by the time you get ’em hulled out, they done got it eat up. They don’t look like it ’cause you can’t see where the weevils has eat ’em, but if you put Sevin on ’em—I use Sevin dust and just shake it up, you know, and let ’em dry. Then hull ’em out, and then they’ll come out [germinate].”

  In November, hull the seedpods by pinching the brown pod with a pair of pliers, then rolling the pod between your fingers over a container such as a plate or pie pan until the seeds fall out.

  PLATE 170 Mr. Justice holding azalea seeds and chaff

  After shelling the seeds, rub them over a fine screen to separate the seeds from the chaff. The seeds will fall through the screen while the chaff remains on top. Then place the seeds in a container and store them in the freezer until you are ready to plant. “I gather the seed and freeze it. I have planted [them after I] had them five years in the freezer, and they still come up. If you gather the seed like this year, they’ll come up this year, but one year is all they’ll [usually] come up.” Mr. Justice told us that he always plants during the December after he’s gathered the seeds, though he believes that the seeds will germinate in the correct conditions up to a year later when stored in the freezer.

  Germination

  During the month of December, prepare the seed trays for planting. Mr. Justice told us that while he uses nursery seed boxes for his planting today, in the past, with great success, he has used plastic shoe boxes into which he had drilled drainage holes. To prepare for planting the seeds, screen peat through a wire screen. Place the peat remaining on top of the screen into the planting box first. Then mix part of the screened peat with warm water until it is wet. Squeeze the wet peat almost dry and place a 1- or 2-inch layer on top of the material already in the seed box. Then sprinkle the seeds on top. Finally, sprinkle a very small amount of the dry, screened peat—Mr. Justice said, “Pour barely enough to cover the seed; maybe not even one-sixteenth of an inch on top of the seeds and pat down gently.” Mist the planted seeds with warm water—preferably the same warm water used to moisten the peat—and cover with plastic sheeting to keep the seedbed from drying out. Mr. Justice places his seedbed on a heating cable that maintains a temperature of approximately seventy degrees Fahrenheit at this point in the process to keep the azalea seeds warm enough to germinate. However, he said that before he had a heating cable, he would place the seedbed in a sunny windowsill in his home. Keep the seedbed slightly moist with occasional mistings but not overly damp—allowing the environment to be too damp will be counterproductive—as Mr. Justice says, “Too much dampness will kill them. Some of ’em will sprout a little bit later, but most of them will sprout in about four weeks.”

  After the seeds have sprouted, place them under a grow light or in a location that is warm and sunny. A window with eastern or western exposure should provide good light, though Mr. Justice says that one with eastern exposure is ideal. When the seedlings have sprouted, continue to maintain a slightly damp but not overly wet environment. When the seedlings have a pair of leaves, Mr. Justice makes a very weak solution of fertilizer with which he mists the seedlings approximately once per week. He says, “Keep the cover on ’em and mist about one time per week with a very weak solution. I only put about one-fourth teaspoon of Miracle-Gro per spray bottle.”

  Potting

  When the seedlings are approximately 1½ to 2 inches tall, place into individual 2-inch seed cups. Patience is key, as Mr. Justice warned us that it takes a while for the seedlings to grow to this point. Mr. Justice uses 2-inch breakaway plastic seed cups, though he says that any cup that holds approximately the same amount of soil mixture and has drainage holes will do. A container that is too small will allow the soil to dry too quickly, jeopardizing the health of the plant. In years gone by, Mrs. Justice and three other ladies would perform the task of moving the seedlings from seed tray to cups by using a toothpick to lift the seedlings from the seed trays without harming their roots. The seed cups should be filled with a mixture of perlite and peat that has been soaked in warm water and then wrung almost dry. Once the seedlings are in the cups, keep them inside in a sunny windowsill or protected outside in a cold frame or a greenhouse. Mr. Justice told us that he had grown “hundreds of ’em in a windowsill” until he obtained a cold frame. Keep the soil “moist but not too wet.”

  PLATE 171 Seedlings in seed cups

  PLATE 172 “I been takin’ [azalea seedlings] out as they grow and puttin’ them in individual cups. I leave them over winter, and then next year, I put ’em in gallons [to sell]. At three years, they’ll bloom for seeds.” At three years old, Coyl’s plants are typically knee-high.

  Maturation

  Allow the seedlings to grow in the seed cups through the rest of the year until early the next spring, almost a year in total, at which point they will be large enough to move to gallon pots. When Mr. Justice transplants his azalea seedlings to gallon pots, he plants them in “pure pine bark” that he mixes with slow-release fertilizer. If not using slow-release fertilizer, he recommends watering with Miracle-Gro regularly.

  After moving the azaleas into the gallon pots in early spring, clip them back to encourage branching out; otherwise, they will grow straight up. Move the plants outside, but keep them protected. Mr. Justice told us that if they are planted outside while still too young, “the rabbits and deer will eat them.” The plants will be ready to transplant into the ground when they are approximately 12 inches tall.

  Forging a Traditional Drawknife

  ~Barry Stiles~

  If you read the article on how to build a shaving horse, then you already know that a drawknife is an all-too-necessary tool. Therefore, if you plan on using your shaving horse, one of two things must be done. You can either go to your local hardware store and purchase a drawknife, or you can read this article and learn how to hand forge one of your very own. Although just hopping into your car and heading to the store might sound like the more rewarding option, I believe the final product of the second option, a hand-forged drawknife, is by far more pride-worthy and will be an altogether better tool. If you put forth the effort to create your own tool, you will have one that can be used to create products of extremely superior quality and can be passed down through generations, each family member knowing that his or her own ancestor forged that tool with the sweat of his or her own brow.

  What is a drawknife? A drawknife is composed of three main features: wooden handles on the left and right side, a blade stretching between them, and the tangs. Inside the wooden handles are sections of metal that have been hammered down to thin, long points and hammered again to an angle. These sections of metal on the side are the tangs, and they are only visible while the knife is being made. The tangs, although simple, are where most of the work on your drawknife will be focused. Also, along with sharpening, honing, and tempering your blade, they require the most skill to forge. In this article we will make sure to describe everything down to the smallest detail to ensure that you, the reader, will have no trouble.

  —Ben McClain

  PLATE 173 Inside the blacksmith’s shop at The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center

  To make the drawknife, we used the blacksmith’s shop at The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center. The blacksmith and his shop were crucial to every community years ago. He made and repaired tools; some even made wagons for hauling. Although our drawknife project is not necessary for our community’s survival, the tools and techniques used are identical to those of early blacksmiths who helped shape this country. Our blacksmith’s shop is pretty typical of any blacksmith’s shop from o
ne hundred years ago. We have a forge, which is just a fire about 9 inches square and 5 inches or so deep. This is the place where we heat the metal. We burn soft coal as our fuel in the forge, and to get the fire really hot, we have an old hand-crank blower that blows air into the bottom of the fire. The fire in the forge can exceed three thousand degrees Fahrenheit, which is hot enough to melt steel. When we are heating metal in the forge, we are constantly looking at the color to know when it’s hot enough. The color is our thermometer, and to really see the true color, you need to be in a shaded area. Another tool we rely on in the shop is the anvil, which is basically a large chunk of metal that you hammer heated metal against. I’ve heard the anvil described as the most perfect tool ever made by man; perhaps it is. It has evolved from over two thousand years of use, making it something pretty special. There was a time when blacksmiths were thought to have mystical powers. Hopefully, in the article ahead we will demystify some of the blacksmith’s craft.

  —Barry Stiles

  Selecting a Metal

  When selecting a metal to use, try to find a piece of steel with a high carbon content. For steel to be hardened and tempered, which makes for the most durable blade, there must be over 0.2 percent carbon present, and that steel would not harden very much. Ideally try to use steel with a high carbon content, such as spring steel or tool steel. For our drawknife we selected an old leaf spring from a vehicle. The size of the metal is also important. Depending on how large you want your drawknife to be, you may have to cut your material to match that size, leaving excess metal on the ends for forging your tangs. We decided to make a smaller drawknife; the measurements of our piece of steel are as follows: 3⁄16 inch thick, 15 inches long, and 1¼ inches wide.

  Cutting Your Metal to Length

  PLATE 174

  We used a hot-cut hardie to cut our metal to length. The hot-cut hardie is basically a blade that is inserted in a square hole in the anvil’s face known as the hardie hole. Heated metal is cut by hammering it down against the hardie’s blade. Assuming that the fire in the forge you are using is already going, you will need to use it to heat your metal. Measure the metal for length and mark it with a piece of soapstone. Soapstone markers are available at hardware stores and are commonly used by welders to mark metal because the mark will not burn off. Place the area of the metal around your length mark in the fire and cover it with coals. Keep turning the blower of the forge slowly to ensure the fire stays hot. Leave the metal in the fire long enough for the metal to turn orange, and then remove it from the fire. Place the heated section on top of the hot-cut-hardie blade and hammer directly above the blade against the heated section and your length mark to cut the metal. If the metal cools off before you have completed cutting it, simply place it in the fire again and repeat the process. After cutting your metal to length, it may need to be flattened back out. This can be done by simply heating the entire material in the fire and laying it on the anvil with any curve or bow in the metal facing downward like an upside-down U and hammering down the high spots. Most leaf springs will have an arch to them that should be flattened out in this manner.

  PLATE 175 The end of the leaf spring being cut off on the hot-cut hardie

  Cutting Your Metal to Width [Note: This step requires two people.]

  To cut the metal, you will need a hot chisel. A hot-cut chisel is not, in fact, a heated chisel but a chisel that is meant to be used with heated metal. Vice versa, a cold chisel can be used with nonheated metal. Placing the chisel against the heated section of metal, you will need to hit it very sharply on the back with a large hammer; this causes the metal to split. To cut your metal to width, you will have to heat it in sections in the forge. Three-inch sections should be wide enough. After the metal is heated, one person must hold the metal flat against the shelf of the anvil. This is the small stepped-down portion of the anvil between the horn and the face. You should never cut metal on the face of the anvil; doing so could damage the anvil. It is very important that the metal be completely flat against the shelf of the anvil; if it is raised, the hammer strikes on the other end can cause a painful jolt to the hands. As you near the middle of the metal, the holder may need to use tongs because of the close proximity to the heated section of metal. One person will be holding the metal while the other person is using the hot-cut chisel to create the slit in the metal. The slit is begun on one end of the metal and slowly worked across the entire piece by moving the chisel and striking it until the other end is reached.

  PLATE 176 Ben holds the hot metal with tongs as Barry strikes the hot-cut chisel with the hammer

  PLATE 177 The piece of leaf spring being cut lengthwise using the hot-cut chisel

  Creating the Tangs

  To create the tangs you will need to heat the metal on one end to a bright orange. After doing so you will place the end of the metal against the face of the anvil. Only about 1½ to 2 inches are actually on the anvil; the rest of the piece is off the anvil. You will then proceed to hammer the top of the metal in order to elongate the tang and create the shoulder. Your hammer strikes should land with half of the face of the hammer landing over the face of the anvil and the other half of the face of the hammer landing off the anvil. This drives down the metal and begins to form the shoulder of the tang. Continue hammering the metal on the face of the anvil to create a long, slender section of metal. If you need to lengthen the metal rapidly, turn the hammer over and hammer the metal with the peen of the hammer. A straight-peen hammer works best for this. The peen on this type of hammer is wedge shaped, with the wedge parallel to the handle. When the metal is struck with the straight peen, it becomes longer without becoming wider. The straight peen creates little valleys in the heated metal, which are simply hammered flat with the flat face of the hammer. It is necessary to rotate the metal 90 degrees and hammer as well to create a tapered tang; otherwise, you would just flatten out the metal. The finished tang should be about 4 inches long by 3⁄8 inch wide by 3⁄16 inch thick at the shoulder. It should have square corners, not round, and taper gently to a point at the end, much like a hand-forged nail. Once you have one tang made, repeat the process on the other end of the metal to create the other tang.

  PLATE 178 A shoulder and tang being formed by hammering down with the hammer face half over the anvil and half off it

  Creating the Cutting Edge

  To create the cutting edge, I find it easiest to use an angle grinder with a sanding disc installed, although a bench grinder or even a file could be used. It is also much easier to grind down the cutting edge before the tangs are bent, because after they are bent they can interfere with the grinder, making it hard to achieve a smooth, angled edge. Start by clamping one of the tangs of the drawknife in a vise. The drawknife will be held up in a vertical position. Hold the angle grinder on a 30-degree angle to the knife and start grinding down the length of the blade until the cutting edge and bevel are created. Make sure you grind the proper side of the knife or your drawknife will be reversed. You also may need to lightly grind the back of the blade to create a smooth, flat surface on the back side. It is almost always necessary to finish the drawknife with a whetstone, and the final sharpening should be left until after the blade has been tempered.

  PLATE 179 The cutting edge of the drawknife being ground with an angle grinder. The back of the blade is being lightly touched up after heavier grinding on the front.

  Bending the Tangs

  To bend the tangs, heat one of the tangs in the forge until it is orange in color. The tang should be heated to at least the shoulder of the drawknife. After it has reached the proper color, bring it over to the horn of the anvil, place the shoulder of the knife tightly against the tip of the horn, and hammer down the tang until it has reached the proper angle. Shorter drawknives tend to have tangs bent at around 60 degrees to the blade, while longer drawknives tend to have the tangs bent at 90 degrees to the blade. Once you have done one end, repeat the procedure for the other end. If either tang goes out of alignment or is twist
ed with the blade, simply heat the tang and shoulder of the knife and hammer it flat on the face of the anvil.

  PLATE 180 A tang is hammered down while being held against the point of the anvil horn.

  Tempering the Blade

  A tempered blade is more durable than steel that has not been tempered. There are a lot of misconceptions about tempering steel. Most people think that tempering steel actually hardens it, when in fact tempering actually softens it from a hardened state. To temper our knife, first we must harden it. To do this we heat up the blade in the forge until it is just barely a visible red color in subdued light. Then it is quickly cooled off by plunging the whole knife into a tub of water; this is referred to as quenching the metal. It is important to move the blade around in the tub while it is cooling off; this helps the metal cool more evenly. The tool is now hardened, but when a tool is hardened it is also very brittle. It’s actually too brittle at this point to be very useful, so we will take some of the hardness out of the blade by tempering it. The first step in tempering the knife is to polish the surface of the knife, removing the black on the metal that was formed in the forge and exposing the bare metal surface. Then we will reheat the knife in a low fire on the forge. The back of the knife should be sitting on the fire, and the knife should be sticking up vertically with the tangs standing straight up. As the metal heats up, oxidation colors will appear on the surface of the metal and move from the back of the blade to the front of the blade; this is sometimes referred to as running the colors. A little rainbow of colors forms and moves across the blade as it heats up. You must watch the metal very closely to see these colors form and move across the blade. A pale straw yellow will form, followed by bronze, followed by violet. When the violet color reaches the cutting edge, quickly quench the entire tool again. Now the tool has been hardened and tempered. Care must be taken not to overheat the tool once it has been tempered. Heating the tool beyond the tempering colors will undo the hardening, and it would have to be hardened and tempered again.