orgtwister Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 did my first demo today after all the years i have been playing with blacksmithing i have never done it for fun it was always done cause i need this or that or some paying job anyway it went well had alot of fun talking with people and i only had one know it all so it wasn't bad i made some hooks and i also made my first cross well i made 2 sold one for 20 bucks and some hooks for 5 bucks i just wish i had more time to get ready my buddy came up up with the idea of this on wed to do this on sat the town was having comunity fair called pirates day and i had to adapte things to get the job down (i know i'm going to hear the jokes of the brick set i was using for a hot cut) heres some pics let me know what you guys think of the first croses i made Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Hill Forge Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 I have my first demo scheduled for the 26th and 27th at a National Park venue. I finished up a stand for my post vice today. Have a few finishing touches on the portable forge yet to do. I want to make a stand for my Champion 400 blower if I have time. Looks like you had fun. What type event was it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgtwister Posted September 13, 2009 Author Share Posted September 13, 2009 it was a town fair theam of pirates as we are a old shore town that had pirates back in the day there were crafters and food venders alot of stuff for the kids to do and such not really a blacksmith them to say of but the town had a big blacksmith shop back in the day so i guess you could say when they sailed in to port here they may have had the blacksmith make something the place i was at is my friends parking lot and he has a furniture refinshing shop there and also has a machine shop were he restores turn of the century motorcycles so it kinda fit in with his bissness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindy Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 We did our second demo yesterday at a small town event. It's lots of fun, but tiring. I tried to get stuff made up before hand to sell, as it seems to always take longer to make things at a demo (not the forge you're used to, people talking to you, etc.). But I really enjoy doing that. We had some boy scouts stop by and talk. They had been to summer camp here in Missouri and had taken a week long blacksmithing class sponsored by BAM. It's great to see young folks getting into this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Creek Blacksmith Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 It is always fun to demo, I demo at the National Threshers Convention, County Fair, and this year Soil and Water puts on what they call Ag days for 4th graders at the Fair grounds and I'll be there to demo. My youngest son is in 4th grade and he doesn't know it but when his class comes in the blacksmith shop he will be making a J-hook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyancarrek Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 Hey Org, Sounds like you had a great time - glad your first one went well - with a couple sales to boot! Your mention of the "know it all" brought back memories of how we'd deal with them at a Natl Historic Site I worked at - It was a 4 forge shop. If any of us had a visitor who was being rude, over bearing, or wouldn't leave (we called them squatters) we used a prearranged signal and one of the other smiths would mount a piece of sheet metal in a vise then run a file across the thin edge putting out an oh-so-sweet sound! It didn't take long for the squatter to move on . . . Of course this worked only when the squatter was the only visitor in the shop but it really was effective One warning about demos though . . . they can get addictive really quick! Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drako11 Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 Looks like fun man! I am doing my first demo the 24,25, and 26 of this month. I hope mine goes as well as yours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgtwister Posted September 13, 2009 Author Share Posted September 13, 2009 well drako you got alot more time to get ready then i did but it was fun i would have some stuff made up before you get there that helps them see what you do i had nothing made up as i only had a few days to get it together so as i made hooks and the first cross i put them out on the table and it seemed to gather more people after that and standing there for 6 hours swinging a hammer it gets rough i'm little out of shape i guess but it was really the kids that made it fun there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Browne Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Glad your demo went so well. As for your hot cut, what is wrong with it? Looks like it works perfectly well to me so no comment. Now I do have a question. I note you have an electric fan set up on your blower. How does it work? What type of fan is it? Do you use your hand cranker to boost the volume? Any info greatly accepted. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Good for you! Demoing is fun, it's not about being productive, it's theater at it's best, education disguised as entertainment. Are you disappointed nobody has made fun of your hardy? I certainly won't. The baby buggy wheels on your forge on the other hand . . . Look just fine. Know it alls can be part of the entertainment. If they're particularly onerous or I'm feeling mean I let them go on for a bit then ask them how long they've been smithing and if they offer lessons. Their experience is almost always based on a grandfather being a smith or more recently something EVERYBODY who plays World of Warcraft knows. About 10 years ago a fellow was most insistent that unless an anvil's edges were sharp and square it was no good. "All of them?" I asked. "What do you think, of course all of them," he said. He showed me he did. The other spectators were looking at him like he had an extra head or something. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgtwister Posted September 14, 2009 Author Share Posted September 14, 2009 (edited) rob as for the blower me and my buddy add that on wensday when i got the forge unloaded (as i just bought it tuesday)we got it up and running and we add it to keep the fire going it has a dimmer switch on it it came off a natural gas smelting furnace its bolted to a hole through the forge pan its not hooked to the blower just against it worked great when i needed the heat i used the hand crank as for the hot cut it worked a lot bedder then i thought picked it up at home depot for 8 bucks they have different sizes i figured if it would last the day but it held up with no markes other then some blueing i haven't used a hot cut since high school metal shop (do they even have that anymore in the schools )as i just use power tools at home but thats not practical frosty the buggie wheels were on the forge when i got it tuesday the old gentalman i got it from said when he got it they were on it he couldn'tremember when he got it but did tell me he haddent used it in 20 years the straight wheels were shot and he gave me 2 more to replace them with and the buggies just took them off and and greased them it was nice to clean up with those wheels put every thing in the forge and bushed it back across my buddys lot but it was fun talking with every on and forthe noit all he was a fireman that said theNYC fire company had there own blacksmith shop and was commenting on me using a pipe madral for bending the hooks around said i should hammer them around the horn and thats the right way i was taught what ever way works for me so i did that Edited September 14, 2009 by orgtwister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Browne Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Thanks for that info. How about a thread in the solid fuel forge area with PLENTY of photos? It would be really handy for lots of us to see what and how you did. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Kinda makes me wish I had a brick set this past Saturday. I set up at the Fayette County Cotton Festival and quickly realized I had left a hot cut in Mexico,while teaching there. There was in fact a hardware store 100 yds from my setup. I proceeded to kick myself furiously and then took about an hour and a half to make a new one. That is what blacksmiths do, they improvise in bizarre situations. Good job on doing your demo, nice looking products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgtwister Posted September 15, 2009 Author Share Posted September 15, 2009 thank you there bigjohn as for the brick set it was a spure of the moment i was at home depot looking at punches and such thinking of what i could use as it was friday night about 9 and i was going home to machine a hot cut to fit the anvil that wasn't mine and i looked done and said lookie here i bet that will work and it did think i will make it fit my anvils now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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