“Inkeep show us your wares”

Over a year ago Richard had his first black-smith lessons from our great friend and master armorer Jeff Hedgecock in California. When we arrived here at the inn after purchasing an anvil, joining the Applachian Blacksmith Association and making a small forge from instructions online, he began practicing what Jeff had taught him. Some of Richard’s first knives were made from old saw blades and some were fashioned from Baltimore and Ohio railroad spikes. The most recent knives he has worked on have the handles of deer hunted in these parts by local men for winter meat.
Inn keeping is exhausting and demanding work and it helps to have a creative hobby that refreshes the mind and has a product that will last generations. After a particularly trying week it must be nice to go outside and beat the stuffing out of a piece of metal.