Jerry W.

dcraven, The kids are welcome at this event. We officially get started at 0930. We are usually pretty much set up by then and get rolling pretty good by about 10:30 or so. Jerry

Baldwin would be a very good choice but, it would be a mortise lock. If a mortise lock is not going to work for you, go to a locksmith and see if they can get you the inner workings for a Kwikset handleset. I have been out of the business for about 6 years now but I know that they were available back then. Good luck, Jerry

Check out balconesforge.org They have quite a few members in San Antonio and more as you travel north. Their next meeting is going to be Saturday, May 18th at the Texas Natural and Western Swing Festival in San Marcos. There is usually a pretty good turnout as this is a fun all day event. We will be in the Northwest corner of the courthouse grounds. Look me up if you go and I will introduce you to the rest of the group. Jerry

Luke, it is good to see you here. On Saturday, June 29th Balcones will be meeting at Stormcrow's shop. He will be showing his skill on the power hammer and hydraulic press. Rumor has it that they have barbeque planned for the group. It is going to be a good one. Jerry

It has already been said, HABA. A great group!

Frosty, I don't know if y'all have seen Gordon before. I will offer a little advice. You better rest up. Just watching him work will wear you out. He is like the Energizer Bunny. He goes and goes and goes and goes..........

We demo at a lot of events. Most of out time is spent talking and making nails. When done, we usually give the nails to the kids. 'S' hooks are fast. I have been packing horse shoes and making the Brian Brazeal style heart. Google Blacksmith History, Stories andfLore. These will give you something to talk about while you forge. The forge will bring back special memories for some of the older folks. Some of them are very happy when we surprise them with a freshly forged nail.

Frosty would probably be a good one to hear from on this one.

Congratulations and take good care of Smokey!

ironconcepts, A good friend of mine has repaired several anvils in this way. If you will email me the pics and your questions, I would be happy to forward them to him. My email address is jerry.whitley@ymail.com Two of them were in Marble Falls, Texas last week for our Thursday and Friday classes with Mark Aspery. They are holding up very well.

We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

Call Sid at Little Giant. He should be ableto tell you all there is to know. Great people to deal with. He will probably have any parts that you may need or be able to tell you how to repair them yourself.

evfreek, The use of the side millings and transponders is to make key duplication more difficult. I am not saying that it cannot be done but, your chances of success are very slim. I would recommend that you save your nickels and if you cannot find a locksmith in your area that can cut this key for you, I would go to the dealer. Good luck, Jerry

Hello Pistolpete. If you are ever down this way we can introduce you to Pistol Packin Paula!

Balcones Forge is happy to announce that they will again host their Bluebonnet Demo. This year promises to be a good one as our featured demonstrator is Mark Aspery. It will be on March 23rd and 24th just out of Marble Falls, Texas. The cost is a whopping $45.00. You can find all of the information at http://balconesforge.org/. If you have questions, you can contact me or one of the other board members. We are looking forward to a great weekend.

Last weekend three Texas blacksmith groups got together at Steephollow Forge Works in Bryan, Texas. They are Balcones Forge, Houston Area Blacksmith Association and the North Texas Blacksmith Association. We had a great turnout. I am much more familiar with Balcones and HABA but, you should get in touch with North Texas Blacksmith Association http://www.ntxba.org/. Good luck, Jerry

raserei, Let us know where in Texas you are. There are several very active groups around the state and we may be able to get you hooked up with one of them. I live in Devine, about 30 minutes south of San Antonio. Yesterday I got to open Stroud's Blacksmith Shop. It has been many, many years since that forge has seen a fire. We ended up with seven of us in the fire and had about 20 visitors to the shop. It was a very interesting day. We have been invited to come again so, we will probably be helping get it into shape. If you are close, let us know and we will get you in there too. Jerry

If you do get to go, be sure to introduce yourself, it would be nice to meet more of the Iforge group. We have a three and a half hour or better drive to get there but, it will be well worth the drive. Jerry

Are you going to the February meeting in Bryan? It is going to be a good one.

For those that will be in the neighborhood, Balcones Forge will be having two big events. The first will be on Feb. 16th in Bryan, Texas at Steephollow Forge Works. This is at the shop of Alan, Jeff and Carlton Lee (Lee Brothers). This is a joint meeting with Houston Area Blacksmith Association and, this year the North Texas Blacksmith Association will join us. We will not have a trade item for this event, we will have a competition item. We will be making spurs. This has been a great event in the past and I expect this year it will be even better. It is quite a drive for me, but well worth the trip. On the weekend of March 22-24, Balcones Forge will be meeting at the Sycamore Creek Ranch. This is at the shop of John Crochet which is located just out of Marble Falls, Texas. Balcone Forge is having their annual Bluebonnet Demo. This year as a demonstrator, we are having Mr. Mark Aspery. This is going to be a very memorable event. If you have questions you can go to our website http://balconesforge.org/ or you can contact me, I would be happy to answer any questions. We would be happy to see you there. Jerry

Keith, I have been wanting a treadle hammer for quite awhile now. $500.00 would be a great price for a good treadle hammer. Pieh tools sells one new for $1000.00. Shipping would be another $225.00 to South Texas. Good luck, Jerry

4 rios, A lot of knowledge is shared on this site. It is a great place to be for those who want to learn and also for those that want to share what they know. If you are ever traveling north on IH35, we are just off of exit #122 in Devine. To plan ahead, on the last Saturday of October 2013, we will be hosting the Balcones Forge meeting at our place. The first meeting here this past October turned out pretty big. I expect bigger and better next year. We would be happy to have you. Jerry

Woody, We will keep y'all in our prayers.

The services were today, a really rough day. The City of San Antonio Fire Department went all out for our son and gave him a Hero sendoff. It was much more than we ever expected. Family, friends and community all came together at our time of need. It is the love, prayers, and support along with the Grace of God that will get us through this. Thank you all for your prayers. Jerry & Marsha

Early yesterday morning, our son Matthew was killed in a fire in his home. We could sure use your prayers as we work through this. We did manage to get through yesterday and, now there is today. If you do not have smoke detectors in your home, get them. If you do have them in your home and haven't changed the batteries in awhile now is a good time. Test them and make sure that they are operating properly. Your prayers are greatly appreciated, Jerry