I love seeing the tools early Americans used to settle the frontier, really get a feeling for how tough it was

Thank you to all the folks who keep this knowledge alive. I always feel like I'm with old friends when I hang out on this channel. LOVE & HUGS

Literally just film all of the manufacturing and tooling of all your equipment and teach everyone. You'll get views but also become a library of needed info to keep history alive. Thank you Townsend

A drawknife and shaving horse are an amazing combination, so versatile and fast to shape wood.

My draw knife is one if my most prized possessions. It was made in 1838 in Buffalo new York. Everything else is ileagable on it. Still has the walnut handles and rivits on it. Ive tried to carefully clean and sharpen it just once. It still purrs and cuts like the day it was forged. I use it in early summer for bow stave reduction mostly. I have built an entire generation of archery equipment with it.

I was pleased to inherit some drawknives and a hand brace from my Farfar (Danish for dad's dad/grandfather) in the 2000s. I had concocted a story in my head that he had brought these over from the old country, preserving generations of history etc etc but some years later I learned that he had actually got them cheap off a guy in the 60s LOL (somehow, that reminds me of him even more!). Still, it has great meaning to build things with the same tools he did.

Yesssss. More blacksmithing videos makes THIS blacksmith very happy. Well done! More great blacksmith videos and guests please!!!

How would blacksmiths acquire metal blanks to create the initial tools (such as the file that was used) in the first place? It would be so interesting to learn how iron and steel was made from start to finish during this era.

Did you hear that Internet Archive recently had complete scans of 186,000 18th century books uploaded? I'm sure it would be an absolute treasure trove of content. Also, as for projects, I definitely want to see more homestead content. What about growing crops? I know its a whole thing and requires proper timing even for just a small subsistence garden with the tilling, and the manure spreading, and the sewing, and the weeding, and the harvest, etc. but it was absolutely crucial to homestead survival and you haven't covered it yet. What about making some other things for the home? Dishes, furniture, decorations, etc. You could even make something like a loom or a spinning wheel and go into the important aspects of yarn spinning and textile weaving. The significance of other important crafts such as sewing, knitting, basketry, etc. are also good for late Fall/Winter when one would rather spend their time indoors anyway. Food preservation is also an important part of Winter. I know you guys are working on your smokehouse, but you could also talk about pickling, root cellars, and other important means of food preservation for times when food is scarce. You've talked about it a little, but I found those videos to be more about cooking than actual preservation.

All your crafting videos are just pure joy. The craftsmanship that goes into these videos is incredible, and not forgetting the amazing work on the modern craft in camerawork and videoediting as well.

I have several tools along with his dovetailed oak carpenters toolbox that my great grandfather (x4) built back in the late 1700's. It has several draw knives in it, one for carving chair seats. Occasionally I get "historical" and use his tools to build a project. Thank you for continuing to bring the past back to life.

Love this episode Townsends Thank you and to Simeon also.

This channel never misses. Awesome seeing Simeon’s family drawknife. Thank you guys❤️

I can never get enough of this channel. All this superbly made videos (not content), reminds me of watching PBS on Saturdays as a kid. This would fit in perfectly with the likes of New Yankee Workshop and Victory Garden.

Love love the smithing vids and hand tool work above all others. And I love them all!

Would love to see how some kitchen tools and pots etc..were made

I'm a woodworker, so it's a thrill to see the crossover between Townsends and woodcraft (and blacksmithing, which I would like to get into someday).

Being myself from appalachia , i love seeing the old ways , most are still applicable even today.. 👍

Alas, my great-great-grandfather’s draw knife was stolen, along with the rest of the family woodworking tools, from my brother’s workshop when he suffered a fatal fall. Since my grandfather died in the 1918 ‘flu epidemic, I can’t imagine how old it might’ve actually been. More of these craftsman vids, please. They’re fascinating.

You guys need to seriously start doing workshops and teach these skills.

Whoa, what timing, I was JUST looking at primitive and historic forging techniques. That guy knows his stuff, wow! He was really fine-tuning the hardness of that file, I feel like you guys wanted to ACTUALLY use it, not just create it for a video. Great stuff!

Thanks, Townsends. With the world going crazy, it’s nice to find something wholesome.

I really loved this peak into the world of blacksmithing at the time, I would absolutely watch more. I would even be so interested that if you guys made a series or second channel about just period blacksmithing I would watch every one, a few times even. Thanks so much for another fabulous video!

Love that you are keeping these things alive and sharing your skills.

Seeing this we really take for granted how easy it is for us just to go down to the hardware store and buy one. Keep the knowledge going you guys are doing everyone a service!

That's awesome. I think I like the homestead videos more than the cooking ones, which I LOVE. I think it's just getting back to basics and how we got to where we are about it. I work 7 days a week as a machinist, but one of these days when work finally slows down, I plan on visiting you guys. I think I live like half an hour away.

Could you possibly make a video about early frontier medicines in the colonial period? I'm also fascinated by folk stories. Perhaps a video about early American myths and folk stories? That could be interesting. Really love the video. Great content as usual. Keep it up!

YES! More Brandon and more Simeon please!

Blacksmithing is one of the greatest crafts. I admit this as a leatherworker myself.

I love this channel a lot, especially when you guys do blacksmithing videos. I can say that this is one of the things that inspire me to do forging.

Awesome video! The quality of that end product is good enough to sell. Love having guest starts like this and remember him from the older gunsmith videos.

I think it's so cool to learn about what to us is lo-tech. No matter what manner of living you have, it's good to have all this information. I think about survivalism often, and that's how I found your channel. The more information a person has-from whatever era-is valuable in any one disaster situation. The differences between us now and societies then are first we have all this information available altogether, especially on KZfaq. The other is for the most part we aren't hard pressed by the environment, so we can learn these techniques at our leisure and hone them.

Just two weeks ago I purchased an old draw knife from an antique shop and have been fielding questions to friends on what it was. I tell them and send them a picture of it and a sketch of a an old Shaving Horse in the book ”A Museum of Early American Tools” by Eric Sloane (an excellent read for anyone interested in this stuff. It’s crazy that this video popped up right now, having been published less than 30 minutes, but now I have another resource to send to my friends. Thanks for all your awesome videos @townsends!

What kind of oil would that have been? Here's a farming suggestion -- Terraced rows. In my area (first settled by likely Scots-Irish and English folks starting around 1816) there are still a LOT of fields that look like they were plowed into terraces. Not just on inclines, either. Some of those fields are still used either for crops or livestock.

I love this!!! These videos are the perfect addition to the homestead videos. I would die and go to heaven to see you guys tan leather from rawhide and make clothing or gear like belts/bags out of it. It would make a perfect addition to the carving and leatherworking history videos. Something our ancestors would have done every summer after harvesting deer. Shouldn't be too hard to find some hunters willing to donate some hides, heck if I could get my hands on some, I would ship them frozen in a cooler overnight.

One of my favorite episodes! More like this please. I'd love to see more work in the wood shop as well.

Really like these Townsends crafting videos. Watched them all several times, they are interesting, educating and relaxing at the same time. Thank you.

great video as always. This is the quality we have all come to expect and appreciate.

Amazing work, guys! Love the finished product and the entire process. I needed this down to earth video and break in a crazy weekend. Thank you for keeping the skills alive and sharing the process with us.

Happy Sunday, Townsends! 😊

Thank you so much! would love to see more of these videos. Good job and well done.

Still have my grandfathers draw knife from around the turn of the 20th century. I built a white oak shave horse some years ago to help me make some of my own took handles.

Very much enjoyed it. Really cool to see a VERY big part of history that isn’t talked much about in tool recycling. Many times ancient battlefields have been picked clean and the weapons and armor turned into tools for the common man. Few tools survive because old ones would be turned into new ones.

I very much appreciated this video. Spokeshaves, drawknives, and the like were such important tools on the farm, not just for the smith and woodworker, but for any handyman. I would also like to see how ferrules were shaped and fitted. Any joinery would be nice as well.

One of my favorite tools is the draw knife. I have done boat building and even made a bow out of native bay wood. I love you showing making basic frontier tools👍👍

As a history nerd and knifemaker/bladesmith I really like these kinds of videos! You guys used good materials and did everything with good techniques, hopefully we'll see more videos like this soon! Also my first ever custom knife was based on a frontier knife :)

Thanks for sharing with us Jon , Simeon , and Brandon, nice job on the draw knife. Fred.

this is beautiful! Thanks for showing this process.

Just taking the opportunity to say I LOVE your channel! I'm big on history and social studies and must say the accurate and authentic insight you provide into life in colonial America is wonderful! I've been tuned in for years and have only seen consistent progress! Continue to thrive, prosper, and produce awesome videos!

I enjoy watching these videos so much. Thank you!

Very interesting to learn how things were made as well as how they were used.

One of the first tools I made for myself was a draw knife. It's so satisfying to use.

I love watching your videos. Learning not only the history but how it was done is amazing. When I learned linen was made from flax plant I was utterly amazed at process. This makes it very enjoyable for even the young to learn history and how pioneers lived. Thank you.

Thanks Jon and Crew! You always bring such great projects to share.👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 🍁🍂🦃🍂🍁

The blacksmithing videos are great! Always a pleasure to watch.

Love it! Thank you for showing!

Watching the woodwork for the handles reminded me of Roy Underhill and what he got started in the 70's with The Woodwright's Shop. Getting back to the tree and working it to a finished project. That would be a great episode to invite him out. Not sure his status of these days. But perhaps a bit of research might help. Old cabins, old woodworking techniques etc, but that never changed in 200 years.

Very cool…I love collecting antique tools.

As always, I absolutely loved this video, it had the perfect combination of being educational while maintaining the style and feel of the old homesteads. Amazing cinematography as well.

Beautiful story about Simeon finding his grandfather's fingerprints worn into the wood tool-thank you for sharing it. And what a delight to have such master craftsmen walk us through the complex process of creating the drawknife. If it has not yet been done, for a future project, may I suggest having these skilled gentlemen create a fixed-blade pen knife for cutting quills? Cheers!

Awesome!!! Your videos are so fun!! I found a hoof pick in an antique shop. It's made from a horse shoe the handle end has a horse head on it but the pick is my favorite!!!! It fits my hand perfectly and whoever forged the rest of it knew what angle to make the pick end and it is just awesome, whether I'm picking iceballs out of my horse's feet or just picking the poop out it is my absolute favorite go to pick. If you all made those I would so buy 1!!!

Good morning from Syracuse NY brother and everyone else thank you for sharing your live history videos

I always enjoy watching the smithy work! Thanks guys!!

Wonderful episode as always. It would be interesting to see how gun barrels were made in the 18th century, and how they were rifled. Any of your blacksmithing videos are fascinating! Thank you so much for keeping these crafts alive and in use.

I'd love to hear what he liked and didnt like about your frontier forge. Thanks for the videos.❤

One of my fav vids of the last year, please make more! Cheers

Please. More if this series. It is super interesting!

Your channel always makes my day a little easier. Thanks again.

I love the lathe work on this project. The finished product is surprisingly pro looking. Fine craftsmanship to be sure.

IT is very satisfying to watch how they are made.

Love your work man!

Beautiful story. I also use my grandfather's draw knife. You can see the grime in there. Passed on through generations.

Funny thing about Simeon altering the forge to suit his needs in this project, we've done a bit of modification to the forge at Martin's Station, so I suppose we'll see if he appreciates the new modifications or if we'll need to do some more!

Great episode. Definitely would watch more like this to go along with the cooking and building

Another great video although I have to say I’m from Mishawaka Indiana originally, I know you guys are not that far away from there when I see these outside videos in late fall and winter I am so glad I moved to Florida

Great video. I really enjoy watching these types of projects, and always love it when Simeon is on. Thanks. TC

Tune in every now and then to see your vids, and it has been a year or so since the last time. Brandon my man your looking healthy! Congrats and keep up the good work! Cool seeing Simeon in the video as well, great guy with lots of great of knowledge.

I would love to see more about the pole lathe. That's a tool I've always been fascinated by, having only worked on modern lathes myself.

For forging a tool such as this from scratch, a blacksmith would be trying to use as little steel as possible (since it was around 3 times as expensive as iron for quality tool steel). So even a frontier blacksmith would be taking either iron bar stock they bought from the fort, carried with them in their travels, or recycled from something else like a worn out wagon tire and welded the steel edge onto it. Check out Black Bear Forge’s channel on a more traditional forging for a drawknife. Most tools would have been mostly iron with steel welded onto the working surface or edge to save money throughout most of blacksmithing history.

Very nicely made tool. Great series. Enjoyed.

Loved this video guys :) as both a dedicated fan and dedicated hand tool user it would be great to see more

I love the insights into the methods of self-sufficiency. I used to guide the Green River through Desolation-Grey canyons. A workshop at the Rock Creek Ranch used to have a working lathe like you used. So cool to see the techniques used to make wagon wheel spokes so necessary in that rough country.

My third great grandfather was a Black Smith.He made tools like these.also a carpenter and gun maker.Great video.David Back.

There are few things more satisfying than using a drawknife for shaping wood. Even if you only make toothpicks, the process is very fun.

Awesome video gentlemen! Thank you for all you do!

So nice to see great ideas brought back to Life 🙂 great video.

Could you all do another frontier cook off? My and my siblings really enjoyed watching the last one!!

Thanks for another great episode!!

Great channel through and through!

Always love seeing videos like this from yall

I love these "making things the old way" videos.

Fantastic, wonderful job by all!!!

I always love the tool making episodes

Love this content! As I love all of Townsends content. Idea? Making a gun barrel from iron dug from the ground. Tall order, I know. Best wishes to all.

I love the blacksmithing videos, please make more. The draw knife is a great little project. Well done!

Nice to see this being done, I have a 19th century French draw knife somewhere. They used almost ball shaped handles instead of what you expect to see. Works really well for extra grip

Thank you! Interesting video to show and demonstrate a great tool.

Love these types of projects!!

Excellent content!!! Thank you!!!

great presentation and super cool to have tools forged by your pards *LIKED* the video. --LT