Other hammers shown included a tack hammer, a coupling pin (wagon hammer) that doubled as a wrench for removing a wagon wheel, a napping hammer used for breaking rock during road work, a shoemaker's hammer, ball peen hammers, straight and curved claw hammers and straight and cross pain hammers. A strap hammer has metal straps as part of the head to hold the hammer onto the handle, he said.
"It was amazing what the blacksmith did," Venable said, displaying a buttress for cleaning out the bottom of a horse's foot when it was being shoed. The blacksmith kept the community going, the speaker said, repairing farm equipment and making "a lot of things." A blacksmith was capable of making a wagon from scratch, Venable said.
Several planes were shown, including one that could cut conclave or convex, a bull nose plane for working in corners and a small "squirrel tail" plane. At one time, the Stanley Company made more than 600 different planes, the speaker said.
Several braces that used square shanked bits for drilling holes were shown, along with a jeweler's vise not much larger than Venable's thumb. He also displayed a gutter adz used for cutting out wood gutters. Drawing knives, chisels, edging tools, miter saws, a large carpenter's framing square, a double-sided adjustable wrench, hand router and woodworking clamps were shown.
Venable also showed a rail splitting wedge, noting that the best wedges were made of dogwood.
Venable, who has some 150 hammers, said he prefers octagonal wood handles for hammers rather than round handles.
A new agriculture exhibit, now open at the museum, includes a number of miniature farm buildings made by Venable as a teenager.
Johnny Faulkner, Stanton, an archaeologist with the U.S. Forest Service, will discuss "Native American Prehistory of Eastern Kentucky" at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 14 at the museum, 217 S. Main St.
