Bill Roy

ODBSA's newsletter for May 2010 is available for download. Just click on this link ODBSA Newsletter to read about last month's event and other interesting organization news and activity. Lots of pictures, articles, current news, instruction, and info on the June event can be found on the website of the Old Dominion Blacksmith Association For even more pictures of Dale's school, there is a slideshow at the bottom of the Current News page showing members and visitors in action.

Bob, You crack me up wicked. I'm gonna have to look you up just to shoot the bull the next time I make the trip north to see my Mom and Dad.

Beautiful job! Just curious... how many hours total did it take to restore?

Very nice looking spring fuller! I want to make one of these real soon. What material did you use (size and type)? And what does Mark explain about the flattened out portion?

ODBSA's newsletter for April 2010 is now available for electronic download as a word document. Just click on this link ODBSA April Newsletter Lots of pictures, articles, current news, instruction, and info on the May event for the Old Dominion Blacksmith Association. Did you see the slideshow on the Current News page? Scroll to the bottom and check it out. We welcome your comments and feedback. So come on back and share. Let us know what you think.

The April event was certainly not a typical monthly blacksmithing meeting! ODBSA set up multiple forge stations and demonstrated to the public that came to see the 145th Civil War re-enactment of the meeting of Lee and Grant in Appomattox, Virginia. It was a beautiful crisp Saturday at the historic Cloverhill Village with lots of coal smoke, anvil ringing, and Q&A from the croud. For several of our members it was their first time demonstrating their blacksmithing skills. Check out the slideshow at the bottom of the Current News page. (Important Note: You may need to use Firefox to scroll all the way down to the photos. The site is currently experiencing some unexplainable problems with the IE browser. )

ODBSA's newsletter for March 2010 is now available for electronic download as a word document. Just click on this link ODBSA March Newsletter It's chock full of pictures, articles, current news, and info on the April event for the Old Dominion Blacksmith Association. We welcome your comments and feedback. So come on back and share. Let us know what you think. And if you were at the March meeting in Lexington, how did you like the demo?

What an absolutely great day Saturday! Thank you, Lee, Shel, Steve and Skip for hosting and treating us to a really neat learning experience. Many of us there took pictures and sent them in to Bobby who has compiled them into a slideshow. Anyone can see this show by clicking on the photo at the bottom of the Current News page. Current News I took nearly a hundred pictures myself and a few videos, too. The videos took forever to upload, but certainly are worth a look-see. You'll find 5 of them at the bottom of the webphoto album. Bill's pics

ODBSA's newsletter for February 2010 is hot of the presses er.. I mean its available for electronic download as a word document. Just click on this link ODBSA February Newsletter Check out the pictures, articles, current news, and info on upcoming events for the Old Dominion Blacksmith Association. We welcome your comments and feedback. So come on back and share. Let us know what you think. And if you were at the Feburary meeting, how did you like the demo?

Hey, all you Old Dominion Members! Tell us when and where you will be doing your next Blacksmithing demonstration. Maybe we'll come take pictures and post them here on IFI for the whole world to see. With a little publicity, you might even become famous!

The Art of Forged Leaf (BLK042410) The Art of Forged Leaf (BLK042410) Gerald Boggs April 24-25 9am-4:30pm Non-members $178/ Members $143 Never felt the vibration of hammer on hot steel? Discover the craft and art of blacksmithing by learning the skills and techniques of forging leaves. Beginning to intermediate students will learn the art of creating leaf-design metalwork at the Jacksonville Center forge. Start by making a fire and learning to use the anvil. Before long, students will be forging their first leaves, discovering along the way blacksmithing techniques such as “drawing out,” “necking,” “spreading,” and “swaging.” Develop a feel for the anvil and hammer while adding details to the leaves. Expect to forge several styles of leaves, and forge weld them together into a bouquet or tree of life. Beginning to Intermediate Materials Fee: TBA Minimum Age: 18 ODBSA Members get a discount. Sign up on-line at www.jacksonvillecenter.org

ODBSA March Meeting: Germinal Ironworks, Lexington, Virginia Demonstrators: Lee Sauder, Shel Browder, Steve Mankowski, Michael McCauthy, and Darrell Makewitz Subject: Bloomery Smelting. Watch Lee and his team use the traditional historic method of producing iron by smelting using charcoal in a small hand made furnace. Then watch them use this bloomery iron to forge items. To better appreciate the demo of this process, go to some of following Web sites and read up ahead of time; www.iron.wlu.edu, www.leesauder.com, www.warehamforge.ca, and www.hammerinhand.com This event will not be open to the public because space is very limited, so please sign up by March 6th. Check the schedule of events page for directions, and details. Old Dominion Blacksmith Association

Congrats, an excellent design and a very nice welding job! I agree, the coal storage is very nice. What are your future plans for a blower? Will you go with an electric blower? or a manual or crank style? As a suggestion... Would you consider adding a wide slot opening in the back or maybe a fold down opening that would allow long pieces to pass through?

The list of ingredients in your recipe has an obvious regional influence of the Southwest USA. Hot and spicy! My wife never makes her meatloaf the same way twice. It's always a little different each time. We used to live in New Mexico years ago and got used to the heat. We'll have to try yours soon, for sure. Thanks,

Argh! I feel asleep on the couch last night before the Chat even started. If someone that was awake... and they happened to capture the links to the BP's that were presented... and they posted them in a topic today... would the links still work even though the Chat is over?

Thanks, Glenn. That's a whole lot easier. Thanks for the tip.

The ODBSA Newsletter for January 2010 is 12 pages packed full of articles, photos, news, and a special tribute. The Green Coal Report has lots of pictures of the fabrication project demo'd by Jerry Funderburk at his shop in Evington. Anyone may read the newsletter by going to the website Old Dominion Blacksmith Association You will find the Newsletter download button near the top of the "Current News" page. And after you read through it, be sure to come on back and leave a comment or opinion. We'd like to hear from you.

KYBOY, I didn't think it was possible to get a touchmark that crisp and sharp with a stamp. If you don't mind my asking, where did you get it? And how much did it cost?