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Hey all, I am fortunate enough to have been allowed to help out at a historic blacksmith shop somewhat nearby my house. The venue is historic reproduction, so it (to the best of my knowledge) is created after a blacksmith shop around the turn of the 20th century or just before. Half of the shop is seating for observers, and in a good day they say they have between 150-250 or so people visit for demos. My my question for ya'll is, what are interesting demos? The place is outfitted with an astonishing amount of tooling, anvils, floor mandrels, post vices, swage blocks, post drills, bench vices, grinding stone, etc. All hand powered, no electricity. NOTE: all items made are property of Glen Haven historical village and are offered to the visitors with the request of a small donation to the village. I will NOT profit from any of this other than experience. I was thinking Fredericks crosses, hooks, fire pokers, tavern puzzles (this may take too long), bottle openers. I'm open to any and all ideas! They seem to have endless square bar for metal stock in various small sizes under half or so inch. I saw some flat bar and maybe a bit of round bar. Horse shoes available too, no rr spikes that I spotted at first glance. Thank you for your time and thoughts, Brent

The Blacksmiths Guild of the Potomac's annual "Spring fling" this past weekend was a whole lot of fun. The three day event in Berryville,VA included demos from Colonial Williamsburg Blacksmith Chris Henkels, Williamsburg Gunsmith Richard Sullivan and Massachusetts artist-blacksmith Carl Close. The demos were quite comprehensive . Also included were raffles, auctions and tailgating. Good times! Links to two short videos I took: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFUAWy6zCxM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmNt2yDF_f0 Demonstrator links: http://www.hammersmithstudio.com/history.html http://www.history.org/almanack/life/trades/tradebla.cfm

ABANA Conference Central States Fairgrounds RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA JULY 18-21, 2012 Central States Fairgrounds RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA JULY 18-21, 2012 Demonstrators Claudio Bottero will be working by hand and power hammer with a team of blacksmiths to create a large sculpture. Punzo Family Coppersmiths will take scrap copper and turn it into beautiful copper vessels. All work is done by hand with very few tools. Håvard Bergland will make a true Viking Axe. Håvard’s book, that has been translated into English, will be for sale. Patient Order of Meticulous Metalsmiths will be making a Scandinavian style door with custom engraved hardware. They will be available to answer questions as they work Becky Little will create a coat rack with her whimsical style. I cannot wait to see what else she has prepared for us! Brian Brazeal and his assistant Lyle Wynn will do some hard hitting to make hammers and tooling. The Smelt Team - Lee Sauder, Steve Mankowski, Shel Browder will be building a furnace on site. The first smelt will be on Thursday along with a talk about theory on site. Friday will be the second smelt. The first bloom will be transformed in to sculptural piece; the second one will be made into steel and forged into an axe. Two smelts will give everyone a chance to see the process. Knife Makers will demo: Making and patterning a damascus billet, Making Mokume Gane ( Copper, Brass, Nickel Silver ) They will be demonstrating other interesting and exciting variations of knives. Teaching Station Mark Aspery, Darryl Nelson and Gerald Boggs have the teaching station well staffed.The guys will be instructing the National Curriculum along with other projects. Classes Nathan Roberts will be hosting a hammer making class, each participant will take home a hammer. There is an additional fee for this class. Programs / Lectures The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology will put on seminars at the school. ALL classes will be free of charge and sponsored by Nucor Steel. Limited enrollment and pre-registration suggested. Smith Busting: The Science of Blacksmithing. Steel Making for the Non-Metallurgist. Student Success Stories: Examples of successful student projects from SDSMT. This will be hands on and will highlight the making of a Samurai sword and a furnace. Drawing, Creative Visualization: From Cocktail Napkin to CAD A tour of SDSMT Metallurgy department will be offered. Ellen Durkan will talk on her work and drawings that are in the Apex Gallery. The John Deere Historic Site director will give a talk about John Deere the blacksmith and their upcoming event. There will be slide shows with demonstrator talks. We will also have a poster gallery of all the Poster Contest entries. FAMILY PROGRAMS German Braided Rug Weaving Class Quilt Magic Class (No Sewing Required) German Braided Rug Weaving Class “Kanzashi” Japanese Folded Fabric Flowers Class Basket Weaving Class Local sight seeing tours will arranged if needed. GALLERY The Gallery will be open to the public to showcase the work of our members. There will be a “show-and-tell” area along with a business card exchange table and portfolio table. The Apex Gallery at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology will have a gallery reception on July 17, 2012. Ellen Durkan from Delaware will be the featured artist. VENDORS Indoor and outdoor vendors with those hard to find tools and wares will be selling hard to find tools and equipment. TAILGATERS An area of the parking lot will be set aside for tailgating. Please register to tailgate. LODGING ABANA has made arrangements with local hotels and the School of Mines for special rates for lodging. The fairgrounds offers onsite camping for those who wish to camp. COST Registration Fee - $275 Per Person. $50 discount for ABANA members - $225 Per Member Family members - $25, spouse, child under 16. Saturday Banquet Dinner included. Registration: http://www.abana.org/Conferences/2012ConferenceRegistration.shtml