Alec.S

hey dan! it was really nice you comming to my shop on sunday! i hope the rest of your stay in england is good! Neat by the way... where did you see that design? alec p.s sorry for not posting pics of your visit... been busy

haha!!! that is just hilarious!!!

That sure is one funky looking stand you got there Richard!!! alec

I for one "hope" to be attending it..Apparently it will be great! alec

thank you very much clinton!!

thank you very much brian!!-ironstein<br>

Thank you very much, Bryce, for your wise words...This passion i have is definitely not a "phase" i do intend to stick with it, because i enjoy it so much...And i agree with you that it is important to do other things- and i do do other things and i enjoy them also... But nothing captivates me quite like forging. ....alec

I really don't know what to say... but thank you, that really means a lot to me. I hope to prove worthy of your compliments... alec keep forging, keep making beautiful things and most of all... keep teaching!

thank you very much for the kind words! I just got back in from the forge... i havn't done much today because i work up at 2 pm due to jet lag! But i just prepared a billet for making a hammer eye punch (cut of 3 inches from jackhammer bit). I doubt that i will actually make it today because i have no striker... I need to train someone up! thank you all again for the kind words alec

My name is Alec and I am thirteen years old, I have been forging for about one year and three quarters and I just got back from one heck of a trip! Well I got back from my trip yesterday... And I was straight in the forge again, no less than one hour after I got home! (I made racks and rings) Unfortunately... words cannot describe my visit to Brandon Mississippi, but I will give it a try! It was stupendously amazing! I arrived on Friday the 8th April at around 8 pm. Karen showed us to their house from the airport and we ate "Popeyes" chicken (I had never tried chicken in this way! And it was delicious!). The next day, we went to the AG museum where the Mississippi Forge Council meeting was hosted. We saw Jim Pigott demonstrating. Thank you to everyone at the Mississippi Forge Council for their hospitality and encouragement. In the afternoon, we made 2 tools and then we went to a "Wynn" family party. All the family are the most hospitable and generous people I have ever met. They invited me (a foreigner) to their party with open arms! The next days were spent forging full on... Throughout my class we would work 12 - 15 hours each day and, on one occasion, we started to forge at around 9 am and finished at 2 am!!! On Friday, we packed up for Artmania and hit the road! Brian and Lyle packed their whole shop up into Lyle's truck! Yes, their whole shop! The drive down was full of adventure! Luckily, the tornado was just in front of us. For about 40 miles, we "followed it" and saw the devastation it left ten minutes after it passed. My prayers go out to those who were affected by this. We set up in Washington, Louisiana, for Artmania that evening. And I fitted a handle in the dark, but Lyle's awseome wife Patricia held a flashlight for me! Thank you, Patricia! Patricia is a whole lot of fun and she definitely shares the Wynn's hospitality and generousness! Thank you Patricia you are so very kind, funny and plain right nice!!! The event started on Saturday morning, where Brian, Lyle and I demonstrated (the crowds preferred to look rather that buy!) but we all sold things nonetheless. That afternoon, Brian demonstrated and taught me the principals of the forge welded bundle and how to execute it. He did one and I later did one also. That evening, I struck for Brian because he needed to make himself another hot cut. Then he asked me what I wanted to make: a 90 degree top hot cut. We accomplished this in under 30 minutes! That amazed me! Then all three of us struck to make a three-inch bottom swage! Karen took a video of it, which I am planning to post! On Sunday, we demonstrated again and Brian, Lyle and I at one point started to make a horse head shovel. Brian and I also played about with some aluminum that Tim David kindly gave us! The aluminum was a very hard grade and was not so brilliant to forge but we had fun with it nonetheless. Bruce and Renée from Tintypes Forever photography wanted to take a picture of me with my face all dirty... So on went the coal! They took a photo of Brian, Lyle and I and then a picture of all of the blacksmiths! Then was the auction! The auction was good fun! And a lot of money was raised for the charity that we were supporting: the St. Jude Children Research Hospital. Thank you, Jerry Baker and all of LAMA, to make me feel so welcome at the Artmania event and to encourage me so much. We then packed up and headed back to Brandon, MS. The next 2 and a bit days took on a slightly slower pace because all of us were tired! Now, we must talk about Karen Brazeal! She is an excellent cook! And she is so very very hospitable it is amazing! She let us into her home with open arms! Fed us and dealt with all of my stinky and dirty forging clothes and had these washed and dried within 6 hours!!! She is a remarkable woman! And she also deals very efficiently with all of Brian's desk work! She is so very kind, it is unbelievable! Thank you, Karen, for making my stay even more incredible! We must also not forget Dagney!!! The coolest/ cutest/ plain right awesomest dog in the world! Lyle Wynn, now!: he is so very funny and loves to tell jokes! He is a great help in the shop for learning! Lyle Wynn is so very generous and kind! Case in point: on our departure, he took us to the airport and made sure we had our luggages safely checked in and made sure we had passed safely through security before even thinking about leaving! Lyle Wynn is a truly amazing person and my stay would most definitley have not been the same without him!!! Thank you, Lyle! Thank you also so much for taking some great and sometimes goofy photos and videos of me and my tools! And thank you also for taking the time and care, night after night, to upload/edit/take all the photos! Your photos really have changed my understanding of forging. And Brian! What can I say... A truly amazing teacher and up for a good laugh too. He is an amazing blacksmith and it is incredible to see him forge in person and it is especially amazing to learn from him. His teaching is second to none. HE IS an amazing person. He has developed new techniques and has re introduced old ones. He claims that no one should believe anything that he says until they have tried it for themselves and have seen it works. Brian teaches how to make the most beautiful tools/ hammers and forms. But first and foremost, he teaches to understand how the metal moves. I believe, thanks to my learning from Brian, I could make almost any tool in his racks... or, at least, a serviceable version of them. Brian Brazeal, thank you also so very much for teaching me these things and being such a revolutionary and inspiring person and blacksmith!!! Now I must just try to walk in the huge footprints that you have made and will continue to make! If you have a chance to learn from Brian... You must leap at the opportunity and grab it with both hands and make the absolute most of it and you will not regret it at all!!! He is a truly amazing person. I had an absolute blast and will never forget these past 12 days... Thank you all so much to those who contributed to making my stay so amazing! Thank you to my Mother and Father who allowed me to go and learn and who support my forging so much! Thank you also to the members of iForge Iron who have posted such nice comments regarding my stay at Brian's! Thank you to Jerry Baker and the LAMA group for being so very kind to me and my mother at Artmania, and to The Mississippi Forge Council: it was a privilege to spend time amongst you all! Words can't express my gratitude to all of you and especially to Brian, Karen, Lyle and Patricia!!!!! If you have the chance to learn from Brian... Do NOT shy away from that opportunity, for you will not regret it! He is an amazing teacher and time spent with him is time well spent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you all so much !!!!!! It was incredible!!!! alec Oh yeah... and I can safely say, that I was one of the few people to have worn Brian out!!!!!

Haha!!!! Thank you very much.... But I am only a beginner and it only takes practice and the right mindset. Can't wait to meet you at artmania!!!! alec

great! Good luck spread the word!

ouch!! it looks pretty cool though!

i happen to know that that hammer weighs about 3 pounds (i think ) and yes , Brian did make it. It is a 'fullering hammer'

I certainly hope to be attending

very nice work!

Very nice stuff clinton!!!

It looks like you lot and Aaron had a great time!

looks like you had a fun weekend!!

Now that is just teasing Brian! Although you are right!

I am loving that hammer with the eccentric cheeks!

Looks Like fun!