seldom (dick renker)

On the weekend of May 17/19 the New York Designer Blacksmiths are holding the spring all hands meeting, there ius also one in the fall. This is being held at the Arc and Flame center just outside of Rochester. There you can meet a lot of local folks and most likely several from the Syracuse area. The demonstrator is Kim Thomas. I would highly recommend attending this session. You will be able to join the group and watch and ask questions.

on the weekend on April 19/21 the Freetown Ma., historical Society will host the second Hammer-in at the reconstructed blacksmith shop on their grounds. Our demonstrators this y ear are Brian and Candi Martens, a husband and wife tag team from Rochester, NY. Candi is a past president of the New York Designer Blacksmiths and is the Blacksmithing Director at the Arc and Flame in Rochester. Brian is an instructor at Arc and Flame and is a Past treasurer of the New York Designer Blacksmiths. We had a nice crowd last year and looking for another this year. We have room for several campers if someone wants to make a weekend out of it. There are hotels nearby and resturants and other attractions. All the buildings on the grounds will open so you can see a bit of history of the area as well. The Freetown Historical Museum is located in Assonet Ma., a small village in Freetown, just north of Fall River, Ma off rt 79. Hope to see you there.

old co2 fire extinguishers make good bells, etc

be aware some of these clips are now galvanized. enough said.

I will get them to you at some point charles. right now the pics are in new York and I'm in mass for the foreseeable future.

lots of trading material

Charles, i'm a bit embarassed right now. After seeing the pics myself for the first time, not anything like described. Needs to be shod to give hoof time to heal and get quarter crack under control. No drastic desease here, just a farrier that needs to do the job he is paid for. I dont normally knock another farrier but this really ticked me off. Dick

thanks Charles. so far this not anything that i have come against in the 15 years or so of shoeing. so is interesting, confirmed not white line disease or laminitus. will see if i can get pics.

Ok folks, here we go. My wife is managing a theraputic riding stable and is haveing problems with the walls separating and giving a very loose indication of white line disease. Vets confirmed or indicated it is not. At present the farrier leaves the sole untouched when trimming, no cupping and the bars full. The horses are bare foot 99 percent of the time. 45 years ago my training as a farrier said to clean and cup the sole and clean up the bars. Anybody have any ideas on how to handle this? Thanks Seldom (Dick Renker)

mberghorn, there is historical museum in kent conn. that has a blacksmith shop. I know that they do some activities there. I cant recall the name of it, the train left the station and forgot to leave it. I have been there once but was a few years ago, maybe 8/9. I believe they are open most weekends dick renker (seldom)

Rashelle, Sounds like something I would have done. Loved it.

Scoot, Thanks for the kind words. It was the first one we have had but not the last. Conversations already working around for next year. JPL, Was listed in up coming events on IFI. Also had it list on this site as well but didn't last long. Apparently cant double list. Oh well. We will give plenty of notice for the next one Seldom (Dick Renker)

Well its time for a report on the hammer-in even if its a bit late, two weeks. We had a good turnout. A lot of the local folks that had been attending classes but also someone from PA and someone from central MASS. It was gratifying to see people taking notes. Brian did an excellent job in presenting the info on an easy to understand basis. We all ended up with a better understanding of how metal works on a molecular scale and that made it easier to figure out how to deal with tool steel and harder stuff. The second day was heat treatment day and it was fun watching folks understand how heat travels. Discussions are already underway for next years hammer-in. Hope to see some of you folks there. We missed you this year. Seldom

Beware of the Pandol clips used in welded rail and higher speed apps. Some of the newer ones are now galvanized. This was submitted a year or so ago but nice to bring it up again. especially since you use a lot of rr stuff. Just a reminder to all. Thanks.

Charles, couldn't agree with you more. Well said. George, that was interesting, as was noted in a side note in Indiana, nobdy saying anything about snowmobile tracks and skis doing damage as well.