Month: March 2024

If you haven’t been in the blacksmithing shop at 19th Century Curran Village you might be surprised to see this newly installed coal forge seen here. This forge came up from the former Willowbrook Museum (in Newfield, ME) in recent years and has been sitting unused in the relocated Tom Flagg Smithy, the small 1935 smithy that Tom Flagg built when he was 17 years old on the Davenport Farm (later the Flagg Farm) in Lincolnville Beach, ME. Tom also built this forge from scratch cutting out plates of heavy steel with an acetylene torch and then welding them together. The hand crank bellows was purchased used by Tom and always leaked oil like a sieve according to Jane Flagg, one of Tom’s three daughters who donated the smithy and its contents to Willowbrook ( it was initially offered to Curran but we had already built the new blacksmith shop in 2009). According to Jane one of her childhood chores was to put the oil to that bellows when her father was forging otherwise it would become a real chore to crank. We will be setting up as large Buffalo Forge in the Flagg Smithy that belonged to the late Larry Cook of Meriden, CT, who was a armorer producing Civil War replica swords, rifles and cannons. Cook’s Machine Shop forms the core of equipment in our Machine Shop that awaits volunteer help to get into working order to use it. How about volunteer some time to this project?

We have two blacksmithing classes scheduled.

Friday Night, April 12, 2024, 6-9PM, Coal Fired Forging (Blacksmithing) Learn the foundational skills of coal fired forging including making a coal fire, safety, and hammering techniques. You will complete several projects including J and S hooks. If you decide to the following Saturday and Sunday knife making class we will deduct $15 from the fee for this class ( the Two Day Weekend Knifemaking Workshop is $325). The cost of this 3 hour class is $65. Ages 15 and older. To register, call: 207-205-4849.

Saturday & Sunday, April 13 & 14, 2024, 9AM-4PM, Two Day Weekend Knifemaking Workshop ( Blacksmithing). This a start to finish knife making class. You will begin with a billet of 1095 steel and shape a blade and handle tang through the use of a propane burning forge. You will further shape and refine your blade sanding it to perfection. You will reheat your blade and quench it in peanut oil as the first part of the tempering process. The blade will be heated again in an oven tom complete the temper. Day 2 will include work on completing a handle comprised on brass rivets, hardwood scales and fast drying epoxy. You can put a finish on your knife. You need to bring a bag lunch. You need natural fiber clothing and footwear, safety glasses with side shields, gloves and earplugs (optional), and a 2.5 lb. or 3 lb. pein or drilling style hammer. Cost: $325 Call to register: (207) 205-4849.

was the greatest attendance in a single day event in the history of the museum. More than 450 visitors experienced our sugaring off activities in the old Sugar Shack. There was lots of food choices in the Curran farmhouse including homemade waffles with our own maple syrup drizzled over them. At the Country Store visitors participated in ice cream making; the product was also served maple syrup. We had a coal fired blacksmithing workshop underway in the Smithy with Dwight King, our resident blacksmith. There was a demonstration of old machinery including a 1906 Economy gas engine running a cord saw mounted to a steel wheel carriage. Our newest acquisition is a pair of Clark Foundry of Rumford, Maine wood splitters dating from the 1920s. One of these was demonstrated much of the day with a 1919 Fairbanks Morse gas engine. At the Letterpress Office, we had guest printer Mark Matteau of the Dunstan Press in Scarborough, ME operate a proof press sharing a prints from a newly donated collection of illustration cuts from the former Bucksport Printing Shop & Free Press owned by the Buxton family for several generations. Jeff Buxton was on hand to share stories about growing up in his family’s letterpress office in the 1970s. Jeff has donated a press, type and other equipment from the former business. Pattie Jones and son Simon shared information about our developing pottery program. Last year the museum was gifted a wood burning kiln from the former Antiquity Tile Works in Hampden, ME. The gift from the new owners of the property included the kiln comprised of nearly 10,000 bricks as well as clay and a lifetime of glazes. We are still in process of moving the mortar-less brick kiln to the museum and need additional volunteer assistance. We plan on a volunteer work day this Saturday, March 23, 10AM. If you are interested in helping, give us a call. We should complete the relocation by the Spring. We have a building that will house potters’ wheels and drying shelves. Our Utility Shed includes an electric kiln.

The museum underwent a major infrastructure development project from 2020-2023 with the addition of 15 new structures. In 2023 we opened our doors to large public school field trips at the Orrington/Holden site for the first time unveiling a program that focuses on hands-on history programming using a working collection. We were open more than 100 days in 2023. Certainly COVID has effected donations in recent years, but we are optimistic, especially after Saturday’s gathering, about the future. We plan on an Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 20, 10-3; details will soon be posted.

On Friday Night, March 15, 6-9PM

we will revisit coal fired forging after a long hiatus. Our instructor Dwight King will develop beginners skills in you as you create a series of projects including J & S hooks. You will learn safety, fire starting and strategies for shaping steel once you’ve heated it. You should have natural fiber clothing and footwear, gloves, and a pair of safety eyeglasses with side shields. Cost $65, Ages 15 & Older.

Saturday, March 16, 10AM-3PM, Maple Syrup & Irish Celebration,

Lots of food, including homemade waffles with syrup, homemade ice cream with syrup, baked beans, chili and more…Egg hunt for kids with prizes, fully furnished doll houses to play with, newly donated Rumford, Maine made vertical wood splitter in operation with hit & miss engines, drag saw and cord saw. Blacksmithing and tentatively metal casting. Visit our Letterpress Office where there will be stories of the old Bucksport Free Press along with a perusal of cases of type and furnishings from the former local newspaper… We’re looking for volunteer docents to do things like run the schoolhouse, the country store, the letterpress office, the cider mill & granary, the car culture building, the carpenter’s shop and the horse carousel. Introduce yourself if you are interested in contributing time to the museum. Learn about our evolving pottery program and our wood-burning kiln. Admission: $12 Adults, $6 Ages 13-18, Free: Ages 12 & Under.

Saturday & Sunday, March 16 & 17, 9-4, Blacksmithing Workshop: Start to Finish Knife Making

Begin by forging a blade and handle tang out of 1095 steel. You will grind, file and sand this to your satisfaction. You will do the oil quench and we will oven temper the knife. You will make and fit a hardwood handle to your tang. This includes brass rivets and epoxy. You need natural fiber clothing and footwear, safety eyewear with side shields, gloves, maybe ear plugs, and a 2.5-3lb. hammer ( pein or drilling type hammer ). Cost: $325 Call to register: 207-205-4849. Ages 15 & older.