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I Forge Iron

Visiting the USA, Again


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Hi All once again I am heading for the NWBA conf. in MT.Hood. I'll be ariving in Chicago on the 3rd of August, is there a smith/smiths in the area that we could visit?

 

I was last there in 2011 and had a fantastic time- meeting and sharing ideas with some of the nicest guys I have ever had the good fortune of meeting.

 

Thanks for your input Ian

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Wow , Thanks Mike, Fun should be had by All.

 

Ric, thats a very generous offer and you are one of those that I have wanted to meet!

However I Would hate to impose! unnessasarily :D  However, is the drive worth the effort? on Google  maps etc. from Chcago to you  looks interesting? please advise.  

 

A week wow! sadly we have prommised one of our sons (17 year old ) an Alascan cruise to see Glasiers! so he will be with us(my wife and I) so we can spend two   days   max.,and if it suits you I would like to spend the  night of the 4th of August in Sturgeon bay.  Looking forward to  meeting you.

Ian  

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Ian...sounds good. See you and yours on the 4th then.

Think about what you wish to do in the shop ...if anything.

I'll have a few more large pieces of kit in place by then...a 50KW induction heater among other things.

I have it in mind to pull a 2" bar in half with my bare hands....since liquid metal does not require much pulling.

 

In the winter we have some ice which approximates a small glacier, but nothing to rival Alaska.

 

The drive from Chicago (once you clear the city) is not a bad one. Along the west shore of Lake Michigan and then into farm country till you get rather close to me.

During the day I would call it pretty...at night I would call it dark.

 

Alaska:

Not sure where you will sail in Alaska, but there is a smith in Juneau, Alaska ..David Mirabile' as I recall. He has a gallery just down the road from the docks.

 

Danger...there is room for one more...if you are not otherwise engaged.

Ric

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Ian: You really want to fly to Anchorage, a drive from Chicago is a 5 day straight through grind. From Anchorage we'll put you on the Alaska Railroad to Whittier for a 26 Glacier Cruise. It's a scenic ride on the train down Turnagain Arm, turn left and through a mountain. Th cruise lasts around 8 hours and they take you within feel the wave when they calve close to 26 tidewater glacier. There are many more glaciers on the mountains. Part of the cruise involves lunch, usually salmon and drinks chilled with ice from glacial ice burgs, these are small enough to be called burgybits. For wild life there are lots of Puffins, like a short beaked Tucan, Bald eagles, other sea birds and lots of sea otters. There's no guarantee about whales but Orca are pretty numerous if the salmon are running. Dolphins are common enough as are many kinds of seal and sea lion.

 

Prince William Sound is made up of fjords, basically deep steep vallies filled with sea water, cliffs, water falls, tree covered flanks, etc. etc. Deb and I have taken 26 glacier Cruises about 5 times and only three with someone else. It's high on our to do list for visitors.

 

More spectacular is flight seeing Mount Mckinley. talk about glaciers and cliffs, the tallest mountain in this hemisphere at 20,320'. flights are available from just a few miles from our house in Wasilla, Anchorage, or Talkeetna where you have to crane your neck back a little to look at the mountain.

 

If you do make it this far, let us know what you want to do, see, etc. and we'll facilitate it for you. Well, do our best.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Awww, go ahead North then, there ain't no easy way to go from there to here to there yonder  B)  

 Don't infer that I may  be doing it wrong :blink:  Invite me to your place and I will  do my best to get the good wife and myself there, I like your work BTW. 

Regards Ian

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Frosty, thatks for your input! have you ever considered a nother career change? :D  WE have however booked a cruise from Seattle. prior to Mt. Hood. Aftet the conf we are going to see John Emmerling, I  had wanted to go  see Ken Mermelstein but he seems to  have fallen off the grid.

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Ric,  I would be chuffed just to see your shop, I' m  always keen to socialise/chat with  other smiths share ideas and exp;erience etc. I have found just getting to know guys is the best of all. It seems i learn something from everyone.

Regards Ian

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Frosty, thatks for your input! have you ever considered a nother career change? :D  WE have however booked a cruise from Seattle. prior to Mt. Hood. Aftet the conf we are going to see John Emmerling, I  had wanted to go  see Ken Mermelstein but he seems to  have fallen off the grid.

 

Mt. Hood has glaciers so that requirement is taken care of.

 

Maybe next time,let us now and we'll set you up.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Frosty, the cruise that we have  booked goes to glacier bay?  and thereabouts, once that is done we are putting him on a plane home  to get back to school. Sara and I will be continuing without him(much to his chagrin) 

 

I should have thought to ask your advice first--Sorry, and my loss.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ric, having looked at your website again, I must say I would not be doing it justice for such a short visit on the 4th  of August. So Sarah and I have juggeled our trip around it order to make it there for at least two nights we therefore respectfully ask if we may change the dates to arrive late afternoon(we would arrive in Milwaukee at 2pm)  on the 2nd of September and leave on the 4th. I hope this would be ok with you?

 

Regards Ian

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Hi Ric,

I'm leaving Johannesburg on 1 August and leaving the USA on 7 September(Our teenage son will be returning home on 17 August). I would like to visit you from the 2nd to 4th  September, I hope this is OK with you.

Regards Ian

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  • 2 months later...

Just bringing this back to the top!

 

I'm in Chicago 3rd to 6th August(other that  the Chicago art gallery and a White sox game I'm at a loose end?) any smiths in town?

 

August 13 to 19 in the Seattle area?

 

Sept 5 to 7 between Milwaukee and Chicago?

 

Any thoughts?

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