Scenes from the ABANA 2014 Conference

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Announcing Our Spring and Summer Demo Schedule!

As spring begins, we are working at Mount Vernon and Jeff is teaching blacksmithing classes before the summer heat arrives.  If you are interested in a class or two, this is the time to do it!  We are still finalizing some details, but this is how our spring and summer demo schedule is shaping up:  

April 26 - 14 Fairfax Civil War Day (10 a.m. - 5 p.m.) in Fairfax, Virginia.  This is a new event for us, but we are excited to participate in support of Historic Blenhein. Plus, with cannons, living history encampments, period music by “Home Front,” tours of the Historic Blenheim House and grounds, hayrides, and more, it looks like a lot of fun!

May 3 - Wye Colonial Fair (10 a.m.-3 p.m.) in Wye Mills, Maryland.  This will be our 3rd year demo’ing at this lovely church festival, complete with wagon rides, a May Pole, good food, children’s activities, a Blessing of the Animals service and a beautiful church building. Last year, my kids learned to make char cloth at this event….we are excited to see what this year brings! 

May 18-19 - Claude Moore Colonial Fair (11 a.m. - 4 p.m.) in McLean, Virginia.  Our longest-standing demo, we don’t miss a fair!  Fencing, great food, wonderful children’s activities, very nice plants for the garden, all on a small-scale so it is enjoyable for everyone. 

June 7 - Raiders and Invaders (12 p.m. - 6 p.m.) in Leonardtown, Maryland.  This War of 1812 commemoration looks to be a lot of fun!  The event is June 6-8, but we’ll only be demo’ing on the 7th. 

From the event’s website: “Site of no great battles but with a whole lotta raiding going on by those ornery  British, the war years of 1813 and 1814 were pretty much a bummer for local folks.  Two centuries later, let us harken back to those years of raiding and invading.  We’ll bring you some serious history, but we’re throwing-in more than a dollop of tongue-in-cheek fun.   Find street theater, circus arts and invasion route boat tours—plus our own British Invasion—1960s style!”

June 21-22 - War of 1812 Fair and Reenactment (10 a.m.- 4 p.m., with evening activities on the 21st) at Jefferson Patterson Park, Maryland.  We’ve done this War of 1812 Commemoration the past two years, but this is a bigger, 2-day event that promises to be amazing. We’ve seen their reenacted battles before and they do it well!  

July 19-20 - Claude Moore Colonial Fair (11 a.m. - 4 p.m.) in McLean, Virginia. 

August 13-16 - ABANA National Conference in Harrington, Delaware.  Jeff is on the board of ABANA, but even if he wasn’t, he’d be attending the conference.  It’s a great way to see many different types of blacksmithing — what a learning experience!   

August 23 - The Battle of Bladensburg Commemoration in Bladensburg, Maryland (11 a.m. - 5 p.m., with additional evening activities).    This is our final 1812 event of the summer season and it promises to be a good one, complete with fireworks over the Anacostia River! 

Blacksmithing Doesn't Stop in the Winter

Some might think that the winter is a slow time around here, and it it true that we aren’t spending every weekend teaching at a demo.  But, Jeff is still plenty busy in the forge.  He’s teaching quite a bit, and also working on a bunch of commissions.  

We haven’t done a very good job of documenting the work, but he and his friend Vince have made seven rookers (a very popular holiday gift this year, it seems!), a fireplace shovel, a colonial shovel, four ladles with copper cups, angled shelf brackets for bar top (complete with twists and hooks for purses), a lot of leaf hooks, and several colonial cooking forks. 

Vince has also made a lot of shoe/boot/hoof picks, in between all the other projects.  Next up on the list are some hinges, a set of 2 1/2 inch-wide legs for a table made from a ship’s hatch, and stands for two small gargoyles. 

Jeff also really wants to spend some time on the ABANA curriculum grill this winter, as well.

And, we are starting to finalize the spring and summer demo season, so if you are interested, please let us know!  

A Fitting Close to a Great Conference

The last day of this year's ABANA Conference was full of the conflicting emotions being together with old friends, and getting ready to leave those same friends, will bring to the surface.  Some sadness, much more happiness as the past four days are reviewed.

Following a great dinner which included buffalo and a spread of desserts aimed directly at the waist (few cared as they filled their plates) and just before the auction a passing thunderstorm left a glowing rainbow arching across the fairgrounds.  It was a fitting end to the gathering and a promise of more good things to come.

Rob Fertner signed his winning poster entry, which later was a highlight of early auction action.

The Patient Order of Meticulous Metalsmiths finished their Skandanavian door.

Jim Garrison picked the first winning ticket in the Iron-In-The-Hat drawing.  All three winners not being in attendance, President Peyton Anderson called them in Texas, Pennsylvania and Rapid City respectively.  

Arrangements for delivery were quickly made.

Four full days of massive collective effort produced the beautiful sculpture which Claudio Bottero designed and directed.  It was the center of attention in the dinning hall.

Look for more details on this incredible conference in the upcoming issues of the ABANA Magazine, the Anvil's Ring.

The Fun Continues in Rapid City

Lee Gunderson, from Buffalo, Wyoming, summed up the value of the teaching tent when he said, "You can watch all you want, it's getting hands-on experience that teaches best."  He was taking a class from Mark Aspery in chisel making .  

Earlier in the day Gerald Boggs had his class turning out workable wizard head bottle openers.

Another bloom was cooking Friday at the iron smelting demonstration.  Lee Sauder had made a sculpture from the first bloom.

Claudio Bottero's team is in the final stages of forging his giant sculpture.  Ribs were being fitted this afternoon.

Rod Lange pointed out the titanium nail on the nail tree while he helped pound in son Scott's large and fancy nail.  The tree is near the fine arts center, which houses this convention's gallery.

It was another great day in Rapid City!

Forges, iron and conference all heat up today and the ABANA Conference

There were lines at the registration desk most of today as a majority of the expected 800 attendees arrived through the day.  Demonstrators set out their equipment and tools.  Many began forging and instructing soon after the opening ceremonies were over.

Highlighting the opening ceremonies were the presentations of the Alex Bealer Award, two were given, and the Joe Humble award.  Daryl Nelson and Toby Hickman were honored by the ABANA membership for their years of contribution to blacksmithing.  Each a Bealer Award recipient.   Chris Holt was the Joe Humble winner.

A stunning table of beautifully crafted copper and silver vessels greats you in the Northwest corner of the grounds where the Abdon Punzo family is demonstrating their mastry of metal work.

At the exact opposite corner of the fairgrounds the furnace for making an iron bloom was in its first firing stages, being readied to make it's first smelt Thursday about mid-day.

Nearby Jill Turman has begun an art project which looks very much like a large wall decoration, though we didn't ask her about specifics.  You can see for yourself if you visit her demo area between one and four Thursday.

And finally, Claudio Bottero and his large team have embarked on a huge piece which they will be forging all of the day Thursday. 

Preparations are Underway at the ABANA Conference in Rapid City

The 2012 ABANA Conference is well underway for the setup crew and the demonstrators are working feverishly to finalize their preparation for the big event.

It was the day before the conference started, but Nathan "I am not an artist" Robertson had a dozen blacksmiths ringing anvils in his hammer making class.  Just so nice, as you walk onto the grounds, to see forges aglow, hear hammers pounding.

Nathan is on the right in the photo above

Take some time before you leave to head over to the Apex Gallery at the school of mining.  Ellen Durkan's exhibit looks at the hard side of women's fashion with larger-than-life wire and iron sculptures of dresses and shoes that look like they could have come out of an ancient torture chamber or off the pages of a new-age comic book.  If you need another inducement the gallery is air conditioned.

I ran into Eric Green, he of the well-tended mustache, who noted that he'd been to every conference since Albany.  We figured that went back about twenty years.

ABANA 2012 Conference Demonstrators (Rapid City, SD)

2012 Conference Demonstrators

International Demonstrators:

Claudio Bottero - Blacksmith – Italy

Claudio Bottero will be working by hand and power hammer with a team of blacksmiths to create a large sculpture.

Some examples of Claudio's Work
    

Håvard Bergland - Blacksmith / Knifemaker – Norway

Håvard Bergland will make a true Viking Axe. Håvard's book, that has been translated into English, will be for sale.

Some examples of Håvard's Work
 

Becky Little - Nova Scotia, Canada      Website: Dragonfly Forge

Becky Little will create a coat rack with her whimsical style. I cannot wait to see what else she has prepared for us!

    

Punzo Family Copper Smiths:

6 members of the Punzo/Angel Family from Mexico : Abdon Sr, Carlos, Abdon Jr, Felipe, Marcos

Coppersmiths will take scrap copper and turn it into beautiful copper vessels. All work is done by hand with very few tools.

   

Knife Makers:

Ed Caffrey, ABS Master - MT      Website: "The Montana Bladesmith"
  

Ed Fowler, ABS Master - WY      Website: Ed Fowler High Performance Knives
  


Kirk Rexroat, ABS Master -WY      Website: Rexroat Knives
   

Knife Makers will demo:

Making and patterning a damascus billet,

Making Mokume Gane ( Copper, Brass, Nickel Silver )

They will also be demonstrating other interesting and exciting variations of knives.

Artistic Smithing:

Jill Turman - CA      Website: Bella Ironworks
  

      Becky Little - Nova Scotia, CANADA      Website: Dragonfly Forge   See photps of Becky and some of her Ironwork above Under International Demonstrators

Traditional / Sculptural:

      Brian Brazeal - MS      Website: http://www.myspace.com/brazealbrothers
      Lyle Wynn (Brian's helper) - MS

Brian Brazeal and his assistant Lyle Wynn will do some hard hitting to make hammers and tooling.

Iron Smelt:

      Lee Sauder - VA
      Steve Mankowski - VA
      Shel Browder - VA

The Smelt Team will be building a furnace on site. The first smelt will be on Thursday along with a talk about theory on site. Friday will be the second smelt. The first bloom will be transformed in to sculptural piece; the second one will be made into steel and forged into an axe. Two smelts will give everyone a chance to see the process.

    

Patient Order of Meticulous Metalsmiths:

    
         Tom Latane - WI               Pete Renzetti - DE           Michael McCarty - NY         Tina Chisena - MD                Carl Close Jr - MA

The Patient Order of Meticulous Metalsmiths will be making a Scandinavian style door with hardware. They will be available to answer questions as they work

Teaching Station

Mark Aspery - CA
Darryl Nelson - WA
Gerald Boggs - VA

They will have the teaching station well staffed. The guys will be instructing the National Curriculum along with other projects.

Hammer Making Class

Nathan Robertson -

Nathan Robertson will be hosting a hammer making class, each participant will take home a hammer. There is an additional fee for this class.