What Will I Find Metal Detecting a Colonial Blacksmith Shop? 

Hey Folks! A few links for my other sites: My website: www.GMMD.us Facebook: Facebook.com/GreenMountainMetalDetecting Instagram: @Green.Mountain.Metal.Detecting

The legged item looks like an andiron.

Hi Brad, down south we call those items "Fireplace Dogs"

I've been watching your vids for more than a year now, always thrilled to see a new one. I have thought about what is so appealing about them. Your soft spoken, easy manner makes me feel like I am hanging out with an old friend.You teach by sharing your knowledge with enthusiasm and wonder. And you share the joy of discovery...not simply about artifacts...but of the mountains and the forests which you clearly love. You also share the stories of people who lived in those mountains when life was so, so different than today. And what is most impressive is the value you see in the artifacts you find. It isn't about what they might sell for on EBAY. It's the stories they can tell about the lives of people who are mostly forgotten, yet were elemental in building the nation we have today.

You do like your hearts brad, you big softie. Love your uploads. Great mix of nature & history.

As a certified journeyman ferrier, you can’t be a ferrier without being a blacksmith. But you can be a blacksmith without the knowledge of how to shoe a horse.

FUNNY STORY: I was climbing back into my truck and as I moved up into my seat behind the steering wheel...I hear cling cling clang cling...I look down to the left floor board and door seal I notice all my change fell from my pocket. Being the avid fan I am of this show i giggle and say to myself, "cool, a coin spill." I lean down to pick up my mixed collection of coins I spilled; silver colored coins first of course. Deciding to go ahead and pick up my pennies as well I noticed nothing other than two of the three coppers were wheat pennies. Definitely not as cool as your half cents or indian heads. Knowing there's very little monetary value, I still found my today's treasure. The value for me is the experience and happiness of the moment finding the treasure of my coin spill being the huge fan I am of this very humble and genuine man and his show that I enjoy so much from all the peace ✌️ I get from watching. Thanks for all you do and the moment of joy today has brought me.

Dropping 'pedantic' into casual conversation. Nicely done.

Could the mystery item with a handle have been a hide scraper?

Coffee and a new video...today is off to a great start!

Brad, the part I like about your channel best is you don't do the live digs. We all know how to dig a hole but the way you do it gives more useful content- if you follow. Stick with what you've been doing.

Thank you Brad for all the fun!

I think my grandfather called those big iron things “fire dogs”.

The hearted andiron is cast iron with the back leg broke off. Sadly, welding cast iron to iron in that era was not possible, so a new andiron was made. Why the iron one was still there, your guess is as good as mine. Great video, keep them coming.

I like when you show scenery

Particularly thankful for your video today as I live in California and the state is pretty much entirely on fire. Inside days and apocalyptic skies have me feeling particularly claustrophobic. Your videos create much needed space.

Beautiful show! Keep on hunting!!!

Another great site. Cool old andirons.

Great stuff. I felt like I was there with you getting excited at every find. Thanks

another great video brad . my sister has a house in upstate new york from 1760 on the property was a blacksmith shop . i have been detecting and getting tons of iron hits , i was getting upset about pulling lots of trash out of the ground . but you taugh me today not to give up and you never know . thanks again for all the lessons and videos

Brad, I love your channel. Your voice is so soothing and your videography of the forest is beautiful. Your appreciation flora and fauna is palpable.

Love the videos. Brad, your videography skills are as good as any professional. The content, the camera work, the music, the narration are near perfect.

Hello brother,nice to meet you🙏 Greeting from indonesia👉🇲🇨🙏🤝🤝

Brad interesting finds love your videos 📹

Always look forward to Friday morning. Loved that shoe buckle.

Always love the educational component to your videos. Well done as always. I believe the iron piece was used to remove flesh from hides.

Nice finds Brad!

People in the south, Appalachian region call them dog irons. I have seen some from the early 1800s that are still being used today.

Well done, your videos are well done and very informative.

Recently found your channel & I have been enjoying all of your videos. You’re an American archeologist & so knowledgeable on colonial history of Vermont. Also, I just admire how expressive your hand gestures are. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!

I love the fact that I get to watch you go to places so amazingly beautiful. I know my body would never allow me to go. I adore nature and Vermont it would seem is a magical beautiful place! Thank you for what you do and sharing the cool stuff you find! I love seeing what people find metal detecting and while some people want you to show every find, I am partial to watching you because you only seem to show the good stuff you find. I believe the Vicks works, you (or I haven't seen you say that you have tried it) never came to a conclusion for your thoughts? Love your respect of nature and the land, the desire to work with the land owners(not always an easy feat) your desire to share history of the area, the things left behind that have a story of it's own. I love that your treasure hunts are always to find the ultimate prize of something like gold but that just like this video your love for the simplest every day things like shoe buckles, shows to me the man behind the camera, joy in simplicity is awesome! Always wishing you safety from from the bug to the bears!

Still love watching your videos; great finds or not. The history and the research you do in advance, and the great views of nature. Keep up the great work"

Scraper looks like something you would use to move coals around with or cleaning out ash

12:00 for fireplace, need a 2nd one to put logs on to burn and to put a pot, pan on when fire has burned down to coals.

The twisted hinge looks very much like old iron hardware that has been through a barn fire. It wouldn't be too far fetched to think that an old blacksmith shop had at least one structure fire over the course of several decades. Also, that leghold trap is relatively recent - probably post-1930.

Great location!!!

I believe that tool was used for tanning hides scraper

Over the past 65 years of Mojave Desert explorations, I have come across several blacksmith sites at old mines. No anvils, just the stumps that supported them. There were always chunks of metal like the one you first show around those stumps.

With hearts being on some of the things you found, could the family name have been Hart? Just a thought. I enjoy your videos and all of the nature shots you show. I miss so badly the woods I used to live in. Thanks for posting. God bless you.

It's pretty amazing that the iron relics you are finding have very little rust on them. I don't know if that's to do with the climate or the content of iron that the blacksmith was working with. I'm a detectorist here in Michigan and the majority of iron relics I find I have to do electrolysis and a good bit of sanding and soaking in metal rescue before they become display pieces. Obviously this is a very precipitation heavy place with all the Great Lakes

Like the video. Beside the large cent the trap I like the buckle

:16 seconds in(2)👣👣👣🌲👣 two shaved bark directional forked long sticks.. Aprreciation i am seeing you are locating their trailmarkers.. grail markers👣👣👣🏞 On MANS ROCKstack walls Always acknowledging rock powersthe draping of the signs sticks logs branches👣👣🌲👣

Very enjoyable video. Many blacksmiths would make their own custom tools that they seen a need for. That one larger flat tool could have been something like that, or something else.

As a kid in the early 50’s we had a blacksmith. Trimming shoeing he did it all. This was in upper New England.

The trap is most likely an Onida jump trap, from the late 50s to current. It has coil springs. Your second find is a hot cut bloom end from a piece of raw iron. The old smiths would cut the bar off a few inches from the end to avoid inclusion and delaminations

I have to agree about the distinction between a blacksmith and a farrier. Not all farriers made the shoes. Quite often, they would contract, with a blacksmith, to have shoes made and they would, then, fit them to the feet of the animal. True, the farrier would have to be able to make the shoes, especially if there was a special type needed. Most small communities would have a person who would be an all around handyman who was a combination of blacksmith, farrier, wheelwright and whatever else was needed.

brad back in the day some farriers were also black smiths my grand dad was one. he lived till he died with a piece of steel that flew out of his forge red hot into his leg. yes thats what killed him eventually . great hunt .

For the little handle thing.. im guessing a scraper for pelts...to preserve hides

Are there any "follow-up" videos showing the "unidentifiable" items found? Great work...

I’ve been following your channel for quite a while. I’m embarrassed to say I just noticed the metal detector separating the mountain peaks in your opening logo! Ha!!! Very cool. I’m not the most observant person.

Brad, yes, I was soooo nervous with that trap!

Good Morning Brad. Thank you for sharing your finds.

Love all the videos man u rock

THANK YOU, Brad!! I know you can't always live-dig but I so really appreciate seeing them sometimes. So exciting!!

Very cool andirons! The blacksmith may have made the forged one. The other was missing the back part of the leg. Maybe he tried to repair it.

I'm sure the blacksmith and farrier work did overlap as you say. Then perhaps the blacksmith saved time and labor and produced a line of several sizes of shoes. Shoes for horse and oxen as well as hardware for all the other tools of woodsmen and farmers. Blacksmiths were even called upon to marry people, to doctor, even remove teeth if you can imagine. Love the video's and the insight you share.

Love the fungi shots Brad

Great find with the shoe buckle. Love the ❤️ on the buckle.

Amazing finds. The piece of iron that you found look like it was ''hot cut'' on an anvil by a black smith. The smiths and farriers, sometimes the same person, would often get their bulk iron delivered that way. Also, locals would bring in scrap iron from broken plows, etc. and trade for work needed. Maybe attach a small magnet to your shovel handle? Good hunt. Many more to come, I hope.

Your channel is special & uniquely preferable because you avoid the unnecessary “live digs”. There are plenty of live diggers out there for those that prefer. Live digging is a time/film waster. I trust your character in producing honestly found artifacts. Thanks for your individual style.

Brad, The unknown, three footed piece of iron is an Andiron .. One side of a pair, probably with Penny Feet.

I would say that with the nails / screws still in place on the hinge you found that it was in use in a building. Great video once again 👍👍👍

That chape with the heart is probably the prettiest one I've seen anyone pull out of the dirt so far 😀 great save; as is the fireplace piece with the heart also 👍👍 Congrats on finding your Draped bust ☺

12:07 mark is an end iron to put wood on in the fireplace.

Sophia wanted me to say "Maybe it's a spatula?"

At 11.00, worn down to a knub ! Like a plumber with leakey pipes at home..the blacksmith wasn't about to use the good things for sale to work with!👍 LOL 😜

A SET OF ANDIRONS, LOOP ON TOP TO PUT A ROD THRU TO HOLD POTS, OR ROTISARY COOKING.

That "tool" looks it could have been used to smooth or round off hot steel ???? Be cool to find out!

Wow

Always a great video Brad. I can only dream of hunting locations that you do. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks for the video! Keep adventuring!

Brad, another great video with interesting finds. I'm enjoying your music. Fyi...I bought a Garrett PRo and am learning the ropes of metal detecting. Thanks for the lessons and inspiration.

And as for the thing that looks like a spatula type tool, I was thinking it was a side step to a carriage.

Nails!

I so miss detecting the NE. Thanks for reminding me of what I'm missing but at least I get to see you dig the old stuff.

The legged bits go in your fireplace and hold your wood.

Hey Brad, very cool finds, my guess is no one has been there before...hopefully the land owner will take the "heavy" stuff....

Excellent video Brad! Loved going along for the journey on this one for sure. Hope you have a great week and spreading the good vibes!

I think this was a FANTASTIC hunt Brad! Very nice variety of artifacts. I’m guessing the unidentified object may have been used in the process of tanning; separating the fat layer from the skin? (I have no idea actually, just a guess off the top of my head!) Thanks for taking us on another entertaining adventure 🤗

The shoe buckle chape is amazing, Brad! And I agree that that was a tool, but no clue as to what! This was an awesome place, I love the andirons!😊💖

Nice hunt Brad! Coolest shoe buckle I have ever seen! GL&HH

The two large iron things one cast and one hand made if UK would have been known as a fire dog. These would have been set either side of a open hearth. They would have held things that needed to be kept warm or that needed to be slowly fed in to the fire . You could warm your boots feed in long logs heat food what ever.It is a item that almost indispensable in the days of open fire places

That “spoon tool” may have been for pouring molten lead into tight places.... My son and I went out panning for gold yesterday here in South Central Alaska. Our weather is spectacular this week also but snow is coming.

I love the settings of your hunts! Forest detecting is awesome. I noticed some huge black cherry trees in your video, they usually don't get that big up here in Canada so it's cool to see them.

Good morning Brad, another interesting Friday morning video. Great job as usual. I love the heart innards of the shoe buckle. The picture you showed of what a pair would of looked like, was greatly appreciated. The item with the turned up little corner, possibly a tool of a trapper? Cleaning the pelts as a scraper? Could be because of the very old trap. Just a thought. Thanks again, Joyce. ARROW *🎱. 🇺🇸. ❤️.

Yo Brad, I like your show. Could be the lots of nails and bent hinges were the result of a fire.

Yeah, it did make me nervous when you put your hand in that trap! Musicians kinda need their fingers...that observation compliments of a finger picking guitar player.

I was going to tell you about the andirons but good old google beat me to it. I am old enough to have seen those in use in our home as a child and recognised them immediately. It's interesting how bits of old stoves last for so long. We had almost an entire one in the yard of the our farm house which was almost 100 years old and used for outdoor cooking. When we were burned out in a big bushfire it was one of the few things not totally destroyed.

On the clean out door for the stove at 15:57, the last word might be "patentee".

Still a good find 🙂

I was getting nervous when you were handling that trap. I thought any second now it's going to snap closed on your fingers.

Cool Heart Andiron! Maybe he was making them and the Heart one was for dimensions? Great Show as always!! W.

Those andirons are also known as Fire Dogs, they were used in fireplaces

Brad, That looks like a ingot holder to pour molting metal. That was my first thought. Great video and thanks for sharing.

What surprises me is how many shoe buckles you find. My grand father was a shoe maker in around 1910 and people could only afford one pair of shoes for the most part, because they made them from leather. And hide. I would've thought once you pass away they bury you in your shoes. Crazy thought, I didnt see a Nike sign anywhere,.. or, maybe they made crappy shoes then and they had all these extra buckles from their old pairs. Who knows?

Awesome video. Love the explanations for each find. Thanks for sharing. *Chris*

andiron half, or "dogs"?, for a fireplace - they kept the BURNING logs from rolling out into the house...! Heart-shaped objects theme, must be catering to the Lady of the House, too...!

Looks like a paddle type knife that may be used for fleshing hides.

The one odd one to me looks like a de-barking tool for stripping bark from logs that's my .02 cents