Bruce the Spruce the spiral bird bath
Peter has been making tools since he was in his teens.
Here are a set of hand forged tools used to carve a bird bath from the stump of a spruce tree in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
All of the metal in the tools was reclaimed and repurposed. The wood was almost all from very local sources including Abbots Langley’s Tanners Wood, the orchard at Peter’s previous forge in Bushey and the now closed, long established Bushey wood merchant, so the carbon footprint was negligible. Peter collected and cured most of the wood, with some of it being worked in its ‘green’ state – used soon after the tree had been pollarded or chopped down.
The wood included: oak, ash, apple, cherry, pear and purple heart.
Here are all the Petefire Artist Blacksmith hand forged and wood carved tools.
The copper top is the bird bath, formed from the bottom of a household boiler, and attached with screws.
Hand forged large axe
Forged by Petefire, handle made from ash, bought from generations-old Bushey wood merchants – now unfortunately closed.
Hand forged scoop chisel
Forged by Petefire, apple wood handle, from the previous Petefire forge in Bushey
Knife
Forged by Petefire, from a metalwork file, handle is ash wood
Small hand axe
Forged by Petefire, handle ash wood Bushey forge
Small wide faced hammer
Forged by Petefire, handle is ash, Bushey. Head of hammer made from a jack hammer
Hand forged 12mm scoop chisel
Spring steel, oak from Abbots Langley, Tanners Wood
Light weight bill hook
Ash wood handle, blade: truck / large coil spring
Large adze
Handle is local cherry wood, head from a large piston
Mild steel hammer head
Abbots Langley pear wood handle
Angle faced chisel
Pear wood, spring steel
Small carving knife
Purple heart wood, blade spring steel
Heavy full metal offset knife
Forged from a digger piston
Small hammer
Name Peerie Dinger
Digger pistol, head, locally sourced ash wood
Small adze
Made from a ball pein hammer, hickory wood handle
Who would have thought so many tools went into the carving of Bruce the Spruce the spiral bird bath?
It was a great project to work on, and a good test of the Petefire hand forged tools.
If you’re looking for a unique tool, or a regular tool, you’re very welcome to get in contact. Peter is happy to meet up and discuss how to make tools for clients, whatever you need.
Here are the various ways to contact Petefire Artist Blacksmith.