"Sliding bar minigame" is just the quality "mini-game" its not a functional feature yet, it was disabled for 0.0.9e
You need to use the Radial Menu, which I think... defaulted to Z? It tells you the default key when you first start the game, look around in your smith's bedroom at the papers and book
You have to select Axe heads from Radial, 3 heated ingot to make Pickaxe - to sell a pick, it needs to be 2h grip, but for the smith, you can use a one-hand
