Johann Elias Bleckmann (1784-1856) founded a steel goods shop in Ronsdorf near Dusseldorf Germany. After completing a business education in his father's business, his son Johann Heinrich August Bleckmann (1826-1891) gained further experience through travel in North and South America. When his father died, he took over the steel goods store and moved it to Solingen. He bought a hammer mill in Mürzzuschlag Styria (Austria) in 1862 and converted it into a modern crucible casting steel smelter. His "Phoenix Steel", which he produced himself, achieved worldwide renown. He then went on to establish a file and tool factory and later founded a steel and plate rolling mill. Apart from cutlery blades, the company's self-produced steel was also processed into tools, scythes, rifle parts, etc. His sons Eugen and Walter continued after his death in 1891 at the Phoenix steelworks. However, by the end of the First World War, the two brothers fell into economic difficulties as a result of eliminating a large part of their foreign trade. In 1921, the company was converted into a public limited company and merged three years later with the company Schoeller & Stahlwerke. Made by Bleckmanns a significant Austrian manufacture of cutlery and tools in a recognized area of Germany famous for the production of steel items. The item is giving a snapshot of early colonial and European trades persons tools and gives an interesting insight into the development and progression of European tool and steel development and innervation prior to the First World War.Drop hand forged steel wrench with unusual locking mechanism to size jaw opening made by J E Bleckmann, Solingen Germany.Machine stamped on handle of wrench LOTUS L R GEBRAUCHS under has MUNSTER, J E BLECKMANN, SOLINGEN Germany. [ Translated: LR Gebrauchs= use,usage, or custom application] [Lotos] Translated: Lotus ie flower] [Solingen =town in Rhine valley]manufactures, tools, engineering, blacksmith, workshop tool, dropforged, handmade, wrench, adjustable wrench, phoenix steel, j e bleckmann, solingen, murzzuschlag, steel mill, cutlery, steel foundery

This hand groover is sometimes called a seamer, grooving iron, punch or fuller. It would have been used by a metal smith, such as a blacksmith, tinsmith or sheet metal worker. It is used to join two edges of metal. The smith overlaps the edges of the metal, then places the tool on top and beats it with a hammer on the top, forcing the metal into the tool's groove, which joins the metal. The device would be moved along the edges to complete the seam. The same tool could give a decorative finish to an artisan's work.This hand groover is sometimes called a seamer, grooving iron, punch or fuller. It would have been used by a metal smith, such as a blacksmith, tinsmith or sheet metal worker. It is used to join two edges of metal. The smith overlaps the edges of the metal, then places the tool on top and beats it with a hammer on the top, forcing the metal into the tool's groove, which joins the metal. The device would be moved along the edges to complete the seam. The same tool could give a decorative finish to an artisan's work.Tool: a fuller, used to form a groove in heated iron. It is also referred to as a groover, seamer or fuller punch. Hand tool with round handle, flat round top and indented rectangular base. Base has grooves on long edges. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, blacksmith tool, vintage tool, sheet metal fabrication, groover, seamer, hand tool, tinsmth, metalsmith, seaming tool, sheet metal worker, manual tool, smith's tool, fuller, grooving iron, punch

Before drills and braces, T-shaped augers were used to poke holes into wood, while smaller gimlets were used to start them. Auger handles were usually made of a piece of hardwood that was sanded, rounded, or even contoured to give the user a firm grip. Bits on spoon augers essentially carved a hole in the piece of wood, and had to be periodically removed to clear the chips. Spiral-bit augers were precursors to modern drills, whose bits cleared the hole of chips as the user drilled. A significant advance on the auger was the brace, which was originally designed with a single, permanently fixed bit at its end. Eventually, though, braces were designed with sophisticated chucks to accommodate replacement bits, as well as bits of different sizes and for various purposes A steel spiral bit Auger* pioneers, early settlers, market gardeners, moorabbin, bentleigh, cheltenham, brighton, tools, craftsman, carpenters, , blacksmiths, builders, farmers, metalwork, woodwork, drills, augers, gimlets

A screwdriver is a tool, manual or powered, for turning (driving or removing) screws. A typical simple screwdriver has a handle and a shaft, and a tip that the user inserts into the screw head to turn it. The shaft is usually made of tough steel to resist bending or twisting. The tip may be hardened to resist wear, treated with a dark tip coating for improved visual contrast between tip and screw—or ridged or treated for additional 'grip'. Handle are typically wood, metal, or plastic and usually hexagonal, square, or oval in cross-section to improve grip and prevent the tool from rolling when set down. The handle and shaft of screwdrivers have changed considerably over time. The "Perfect Pattern Handle’ screwdriver was first manufactured by HD Smith & Company, which operated from 1850 to 1900. Screwdrivers were probably invented in the late 15th century, either in Germany or France when Screws were used to construct screw-cutting lathes, for securing breastplates, backplates, and helmets on medieval jousting armor—and eventually for multiple parts of the emerging firearms, particularly the matchlock. The jaws that hold the pyrites inside medieval guns were secured with screws, and the need to constantly replace the pyrites resulted in considerable refinement of the screwdriver. The screwdriver depended entirely on the screw, and it took several advances to make the screw easy enough to produce to become popular and widespread Canadian P.L. Robertson, though he was not the first person to patent the idea of socket-head screws, was the first to successfully commercialize them, starting in 1908. In Portland, Oregon, Henry F. Phillips patented his own invention, an improved version of a deep socket with a cruciform slot, today known as the Phillips Screw. Phillips offered his screw to the American Screw Company, and after a successful trial on the 1936 Cadillac, it quickly swept through the American auto industry. A main attraction for the screw was that conventional slotted screwdrivers could also be used on them, which was not possible with the Robertson Screw. A large steel screwdriver with worn wooden handlepioneers, early settlers, market gardeners, moorabbin, bentleigh, cheltenham, brighton, tools, craftsman, carpenters, , blacksmiths, builders, farmers, metalwork, woodwork, screws, philllips head screwdrivers, h.d.smith & co usa, p.l. robertson, henry f.phillips , oregon, canada, american screw company,

Before drills and braces, T-shaped augers were used to poke holes into wood, while smaller gimlets were used to start them. Auger handles were usually made of a piece of hardwood that was sanded, rounded, or even contoured to give the user a firm grip. Bits on spoon augers essentially carved a hole in the piece of wood, and had to be periodically removed to clear the chips. Spiral-bit augers were precursors to modern drills, whose bits cleared the hole of chips as the user drilled. A significant advance on the auger was the brace, which was originally designed with a single, permanently fixed bit at its end. Eventually, though, braces were designed with sophisticated chucks to accommodate replacement bits, as well as bits of different sizes and for various purposes. Chucks were patented as vigorously as the braces themselves The braces themselves also evolved for particular trades, from furniture makers to surgeons. The operator holds the ‘head’ in one hand, positions the drill in the wood , applies pressure and rotates the ‘centre piece’ to cause the drill to pierce the wood. A steel revolving hand tool for boring and screw-driving with wood handles * pioneers, early settlers, market gardeners, moorabbin, bentleigh, cheltenham, brighton, tools, craftsman, carpenters, , blacksmiths, builders, farmers, metalwork, woodwork, screws

A hammer is a tool with a heavy head and a handle, often made of shock-absorbent wood or fiberglass that is used to strike an object. The most common uses for hammers are to drive nails, fit parts, forge metal, and break apart objects. Hammers vary in shape, size, and structure, depending on their uses. Hammers are basic tools in many trades. A hammer is composed of a head most often made of steel and a handle also called a helve or haft. Most hammers are hand tools. A traditional hand-held hammer consists of a separate head and a handle, fastened together by means of a special wedge made for the purpose, or by glue, or both. This two-piece design is often used, to combine a dense metallic striking head with a non-metallic mechanical-shock-absorbing handle -to reduce user fatigue from repeated strikes. If wood is used for the handle, it is often hickory or ash, which are tough and long-lasting materials that can dissipate shock waves from the hammer head. A well used hammer with wooden handle and steel headpioneers, early settlers, market gardeners, moorabbin, brighton, cheltenham, tools, craftsman, carpenters, blacksmiths, builders, woodwork,

This steel leather punch would be used by early settlers in Moorabbin Shire c1900when making and repairing, farm and household leather goods.Early settlers in Moorabbin Shire had to be self sufficient and made and repaired their farm and household equipment. Blacksmiths made the toolsA solid steel leather punchleatherwork, craftwork, moorabbin, bentleigh, cheltenham, early settlers

This tuyere (word from French origin) was used by professional blacksmiths and or cattlemen before and during the Kiewa Hydro Electricity Scheme was being constructed. The need to use a furnace or forge in the shaping of metal rods, horse shoes and pipes is both a rural necessity and a construction, on site requirement. The "inventiveness" of cattlemen and construction workers to produce metal objects not available "off the shelf" is one of the inherent traits not only of rural self sufficiency but in the "pioneer" days of rural isolation one of survival.This tuyere is of great significance to the Kiewa Valley and its regions because it highlights one of the greatest strengths of the rural (especially isolated) life and its folk living there, and that is the great human factor of adaptability and survival techniques in sometimes harsh and demanding environmental circumstances. The inventiveness and the attitude, "she'll be right mate", demonstrates life on the land where specialised blacksmith activities can be found in non "professionals" because of the fact that "someone" has to do the job. This is one of the differences between country "rural" life and that found in cities and larger towns.This iron cone shaped tuyere has a small hole (diamenter 25mm) starting within an ever enlarging cone (amplification of the air pressure going through) delivering varying hot or extremely hot air into a furnace or hearth which intensifies the heat to allow the "shaping" of metal objects. The larger "flared" cone extension allows for the directed air to be spread and not concentrated.blacksmith tool, tue, bellows, fashioning metal, forge manufacturing process

Formerly KV113. The blacksmith's vice firmly holds hot iron while it is hammered, chiseled or twisted. It is the only vice that is designed to take this kind of use day in and day out.Used by blacksmiths in the Kiewa Valley.Formerly KV 113. Large 4 inch and heavy steel blacksmith's vice missing the handle bit that turns around making the jaws go in and out. Ref. Page 74 Tools for all Trades Catalogue.blacksmith's tool, vice, blacksmith's vice

In the Middle Ages double-acting bellows was introduced. It had 2 parts, one operated by hand or foot, the other took air from it and was weighted so it forced air out while the part was filling. Blacksmithing is the shaping of hot iron and steel, usually by hammering. Very hot fires were produced by 1.a hot air blast. 2. burning charcoal (not wood). Bellows were used to make tools, fix equipment including machinery, drays, carriages, harnesses etc. Farmers in the Kiewa Valley often had their blacksmith forge. They made their own tools, were able to mend equipment, drays etc., gates, and most items that were made of iron and steel.Large Double Acting bellow with wooden top and bottom, shaped like a 'water drop' - narrow at one end and broad at the other. The wood is held by strips of wood and leather bound and placed around the perimeter. The wood on the top side has inscriptions (illegible). The wood on the bottom side has a rectangular hole. The narrow end feeds into a pipe to enable the fire to receive a hot blast of air. When the bellow is squeezed it allows both pieces of wood to be pushed together.Illegibleblackmiths, bellows, double acting bellow

These long handled "Blacksmith" tongs were used in the late 1800's to mid 1900's by a blacksmith(or others) within the Kiewa Valley. During these times blacksmiths would regularly visit "remote" rural properties and work on any "hard to manufacture" items. A few properties had either stockmen,farm hands, or owners able to do "minor" blacksmith work. The ability to undertake blacksmith functions was sometimes "by necessity" handled by a local "jack of all trades" person. During this period however demand for rural based blacksmiths was very high. The rural store, however was usually very small and many "off" the shelf rural appliances and apparatus available in the larger rural towns were not available to the semi remote rural areas.This long handled shaped nipper tongs is very significant to the Kiewa Valley because it represents one of the essential mores relating to isolated rural regions as was the Kiewa Valley at this period in time (1800's to mid 1900's). This "ingrained " more was the ability to achieve anything that was required to maintain a living standard or survival in a remote grazing, mining and farming region. The remoteness was due to the small population, poor transport routes and flood prone roads winding through the lower lying flat plains of the Kiewa Valley. Any blacksmith work whilst grazing Cattle on the Bogong High Plains or any part of the Kiewa Valley, had to be done in situ. The part of the "culture" of this regions was that of "self help" either from within the family or from a friendly neighbour.Long handled blacksmith's tongs. The handles are rusted and painted orange. The nippers have one central fixing and are flat edged.tools, blacksmith, horses, trades

These long handled "V" shaped tongs were used late 1800's to mid 1900's by a blacksmith within the Kiewa Valley. During these times blacksmiths would regularly visit "remote" rural properties and work on any "hard to manufacture" items. A few properties had either stockmen,farm hands, or owners able to do "minor" blacksmith work. The ability to undertake blacksmith functions was sometimes "by necessity" handled by a local "jack of all trades" person. During this period however demand for rural based blacksmiths was very high. The rural store, however was usually very small and many "off" the shelf rural appliances and apparatus available in the larger rural towns were not available to the semi remote rural areas.This long handled "V" shaped nipper tongs is very significant to the Kiewa Valley because it represents one of the essential mores relating to isolated rural regions as was the Kiewa Valley at this period in time. This "ingrained " more was the ability to achieve anything that was required to maintain a living standard or survival in a remote grazing, mining and farming region. The remoteness was due to the small population, poor transport routes and flood prone roads and lower flat plains of the Kiewa Valley. Any blacksmith work whilst grazing Cattle on the Bogong Plains had to be done in situ.Long handled tongs with "V" shaped ends on the nippers (used by blacksmiths)I.T.O.C.tools, blacksmith, horses, wrought iron tools

This blacksmith's hammer was an integral tool used by cattle property "blacksmith's" for the maintenance of horse shoes and the manufacture/alterations and repair of any other metal item required by the property. Self sufficiency was the key element to the success of a cattle property especially in semi isolated rural areas(early Kiewa Valley) and the larger the property ie. stock holding the greater the need..This blacksmith's hammer would not only have been used on the cattle property of the pioneer family (the Ropers) in the earlier part of the 1900s but also up in the Bogong High Plains grazing region to maintain the constant refurbishment/maintenance of horse shoes and other metal items. Depending on each property's requirement for blacksmith's service, one from the larger property could have serviced all the valley's requirements.Large blacksmith's hammer has a handle of twisted iron encircling 19 cm. hammer head. It has a round striking end and a wedge shaped punch end.V.B. [in dots ]tools, horses, punch, blacksmiths

Hand forged metal tool, possibly a sailmaker's hook with the hook broken. It may be a fire iron. The twisted metal is a skill learned by a blacksmith.The item is a handmade tool, an example of the work of a blacksmith. Smiths were sought after in colonial Australia. Their trade allowed them to custom make work for the different industries necessary for survival in a new land.Sailmaker's stretching tool; long thin metal rod bent in half, with centre forming a handle or loop, and long ends twisted together to form a stem. The loose ends are formed together but appear broken.warrnambool, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum, flagstaff hill maritime village, tool, sailmaker's tool, fire iron, blacksmith, twisted rod, twisted wire, sailmaker's hook

Fireplace tongs were used to add wood to the fireplace as well as break down the crackling wood to add more oxygen to growing flames. Of the four tools that were usually found in an upright fireplace set, tongs had the biggest design variation. Some tongs looked like medical calipers that were rounded at the bottom, while others were almost like metronomes with their rectangular shapes. https://www.lovetoknow.com/home/antiques-collectibles/vintage-antique-fireplace-tools Tongs are tools used to handle items, and generally move the item from one place to another, or turn things, like a piece of meat on a barbecue. Tongs usually have flat ends to pick up items without damaging them and to grip onto the items easily, however, some tongs have claws or toothed ends to grab more bulky and slippery items. Tongs are used mainly for handling food or hot items. Modern tongs are usually made from plastic, metal, stainless steel, or other material, depending on their purpose. Originally, tongs were probably wood sticks that eventually became metal sticks around 3000 BC to handle hot items in a fire Tongs are used to extend the hand or as a replacement handler for potentially dangerous items. Tongs usually have a sprung end so that the operator is required to squeeze the middle of the tongs to grab hold of an item, or they have a pivot which requires the user to squeeze the handles at the end to grip onto items, these being more effective at holding heavy items due to the extra force able to be applied. There are many types of tongs including barbecue tongs, salad tongs, blacksmith tongs, crucible tongs, ice cube tongs, sugar cube tongs and fire tongs. Tongs are often called ‘a pair of tongs’ and the word comes from the Old English, ‘tange’ or ‘tang’, meaning ‘that which bites’. There is evidence of Egyptians using metal rods and tong like tools to hold objects over fire, in around 1450 BC. https://tenrandomfacts.com/tongs/Fire tongs are still used with most open fires in homes.Brass fire tongs with holding clip and flat rounded handle at the end.None.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, fireplace tools, tongs

This book contains information relating to daily work conducted by Charles Edwards, Blacksmith, during period 20th January 1920 to 27 April 1921. It lists customer names, types of work done and costs involved. The written X indicates whether work was paid in full.This books contains historical information relating to peoples names and industries in the Bacchus Marsh district and the work performed for them by the blacksmith during the period mentioned. Most of work relates to shoeing horses, repairs to horse drawn vehicles, repairs to farm machinery/tools and some work on cars.Cardboard covers - green marbled design with black spine. Account type book with red ruled columns. Hand written names, jobs, charges and dates.On the inner cover - Mrs C Edwards, Main Street, Bacchus Marshbook, blacksmith, day, customers, clients, charles edwards