primtechsmith

The ABANA Convention is a bit different than the Conferences they host every other year. This convention is to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the organization with a long weekend event focusing on demonstrations by the founding members able to attend, and area affiliates forging as well in a "hammer in" kind of feel. Use this link to help glean some information: http://www.abana.org/Conventions/2013Convention.shtml And also consider calling/emailing Central Office. JoAnn is a wonderful lady that can answer any and all of your questions! centraloffice@abana.org Phone: (423) 913-1022 Hope this helps. Peyton

Having grown up in Virginia means schools would bus classes out to Williamsburg all the time. I remember going while in 5th or so grade and being completely blown away by the Anderson Blacksmith Shop. I actually snuck out of the group after leaving the shop and returned on my own to only be found out and taken back to my teacher. Who was, freaking out for “losing me”; little did she know I was far from lost. I knew exactly where I was and where I wanted to be. I made a few attempts to further my curiosity through high school. It fell on deaf ears. In college I was too poor to do much of anything. I had no TV, so the library gave me some hope on entertainment. I began searching out blacksmithing books. I found Bealer’s book and read it. I then went to the computer and found Anvilfire. That was 2001. My girlfriend stopped by and saw what I was reading and began to tell me her dad was a blacksmith. It is important to note I had fallen in love with her BEFORE she told me this news… I met her dad. I harassed him with question after question for months. It is amazing he even let me come to their house there at the beginning. I guess he figured I wasn’t going away and my interest wasn’t going anywhere. I remember showing up one afternoon and him inviting me into the forge. All he said was, “The first thing you have to learn is to start your fire.” Handed me matches and some newspaper and pointed to the firepot. That was somewhere around 10 years ago. He hasn’t thrown me out of his shop yet, let me marry his daughter, and he shows me something new every time I get in there with him. The education is an endless thing and his guidance has done a lot more for me way beyond the anvil. I am very fortunate to have him as my teacher, mentor, father-in-law, boss, and friend. That’s my story… Peyton

Yep. The cup was made by sinking it into the swage block...

Other things have kept me out of the forge on a regular basis for about a year now...I wanted to get back into the groove on something other than a leaf. So, talking it over with the boss-man I came up with a ladle. I am about 9 years too late on making my first one, but I went ahead and did it. 3/8" square for the handle and a sheet metal disc(not sure of the thiickness). It turned out okay. Not quite what I had in mind with the handle, but it is good enough for an upcoming Iron-in-the-Hat...worth a ticket or two I hope. Peyton

Welcome. it is always good to see Virginia people on here. Our state is full of blacksmiths and opportunities to visit shops, take classes, attend guild meetings, and buy tooling. The Central Virginia Blacksmiths Guild is near by.... www.cvbg.org Peyton

I have also enjoyed time with Frank. I watched a class he taught a while back and it was refreshing to hear and watch a guy so down to earth with such down to earth skills. No smoke and mirrors...just technique and reason to back it up. I have seen A LOT of the top/most popular smiths work in demonstrations and classes over the past several years and Frank is in the top of his class. It is about the forging and not himself....a refreshing break from the norm these days. I hope everyone gets a chance to watch him demo or take a class with him.

The anvil looks a little bit like a Mousehole...good luck with it! There are a couple groups near you that you may want to look into hooking up with. Here are some links: http://www.tidewaterblacksmiths.com/ http://www.artistbgt.com/ Peyton

My main hammer is my rounding hammer made with Brian. I own a Tom Clark, Brent Bailey, Elmer Roush, Doug Merkel, and other hammers...I do most of my work with the rounding hammer. I have a dedicated "cold" hammer hanging on the post vice, a brass hammer for cutting off, small hammers for riveting. I hoard as many hammers as my budget allows. I still go to my cross pein made by Brent Bailey when needing a controlled fuller to be done. I just wish it had a square face and not a round one. I also need to tweek the handle a bit more to be more like Brian's handle style. I am in no way near Brian's ability to use the dies of my rounding hammer for all the tasks. I had a great opportunity to spend a lot of time watching him work and completely understand his methods...just need to apply them I guess. I have never been able to "see" the dies and their jobs as clearly as the time spent with Brian. I have never put a hammer in my hand as natural feeling as Brian's. When funds get a little looser I am going to get him to make a cross pein for me like my boss's that was made with Brian. Here that Brian!?!?! As soon as Sarah allows me some funds I need a hammer like Mike's! (the smaller one...not those huge 5# monsters.) :-) Peyton

Brian, That is great to hear you will be adding something to the BAM box for the ABANA Conference. I encourage anyone interested to get involved with that. It is an awesome tradition and I encourage everyone to get involved. It is a cool way to get your skills out there and help raise funds to continue the education of blacksmithing and also allow the lucky winner a GREAT box full of tools! I think Jymm Hoffmann uses H13 when pouring his anvils. You may want to talk to him to get the details and reasons for why he does what he does. Peyton

Great! Thanks for reposting!!!!!!! Peyton

I did a quick sweep of google with their listed email address....it looks like this was posted on several forums all over the place all at once. I hope this is an actual person wanting information and not someone phishing for emails to scam in responding to them. I am in no way saying this is a scam post. It just looks very similar to things that have been flagged elsewhere on the net. I would suggest no emails sent to the above address until further evidence is given that this is real. ...and yes I am paranoid about things sometimes! :-) Either way it did make me google the subject matter. Pretty interesting to say the least. Peyton

Atta Boy Gerald! And Randy your challenge in the back of your book IS neat! Something I have always wanted to do as well. I believe that would be a wonderful place to start a discussion with a potential customer. Thanks for the reminder. P.

I have no blacksmith ties in my family...other than my mentor/teacher/boss is my father in law. I also hear too often the horseshoe comment and carry a irritation on rr spikes. At the end of the day there are two things that fight back my "Lewis Black" rant. 1. Teachable moments. I suppose my day job of being a teacher is staining this one up quite bad, but ignorance is a curable disease. Stupidity is terminal...Those that ask me if I shoe horses are the same ones that I can expose to the work of a blacksmith. I guess my glass is half full too. If they are asking/commenting then they have some level of curiosity or want to talk about it. 2. Sellability...I have seen that items easily recognized as other things fascinate and draw in the windo shopper customers. Seeing it is a rr spike or horseshoe used/forged into something useful or artistic might be exactly what is needed to make them stop and buy something. They are more likely to stop and look if something recognizable catches their eye. From there the fun starts at being a salesman of your own wares. The example I can share here is my leaf key fobs. I use 3/8" square...forge the taper, fuller on my guillotine tool and make the leaf. I step back behind the fuller and drill a hole for the key ring. Customers like to see what the material started out as I think...it helps the imagination. I tell them that the square is the original size the metal started out before it became a leaf. I have sold a few with this idea... For the record, I have been doing this less than 10 years and only as a hobby. I think I would be right there with you, Randy, if I had been doing this as long as you! My .02 Peyton

Even better listing is off of the actual ABANA site. Here is a link: http://www.abana.org/affiliates/affiliate_list.shtml Or use the interactive map: http://www.abana.org/affiliates/affiliate_map.shtml

I know this is a bit late but thought of sharing the information just the same... The Teaching Tent at the 2012 ABANA conference will be named the "Bill Fiorini Memorial Teaching Tent" this time in honor of him. Kirsten has made mention of possibly having some of his tools and unfinished projects in the gallery and possibly in the auction as well. ABANA is accepting any donations in honor of Bill to go towards the teaching tent expenses. Bill was a natural artist and dedicated teacher. Peyton