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International Young Smiths


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Hi everyone,

 

I am excited to announce that the International Young Smiths will be meeting in Brandon Mississippi this July. This year the group includes Daniel Lea from Frankfurt am Main Germany, Raleigh Desiato from California USA, Alec Steele from Norfolk UK, and myself Joshua McLaren from Ontario Canada.

 

Please check out the facebook page created for the group

 

https://www.facebook.com/InternationalYoungSmiths

 

I would like to personally thank everyone who has made this opportunity possible!

 

 

Josh

 

 

 

 

 

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Sounds like a terrific event but you do need some old hands, good tall tale telling is a learned skill. It's not a coincidence blacksmithing is abreviated BS. you know.

 

Have a blast, learn lots and make the whole darned blacksmithing world one community.


Frosty The Lucky

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  • 4 weeks later...

From what I understand the event for the young smiths has now been moved to Tannehill Historical Ironworks

 

Here is a list of the events.

International Young Smiths
Schedule of Events- July 12-27 2013
Hosted by Tannehill Forge School of Blacksmithing
at Vulcan Forge

Open to the Public!
Come for a day or camp out and watch the whole event free.
camping contact: mckeemetalarts@yahoo.com

Friday- July 12
Meet and Greet Event Opener with the International Young Smiths - 5:00 pm

Come meet and talk with Brian Brazeal, Alec Steele and the 2013 International Young Smiths team as well as our hosts, Lee McKee of Vulcan Forge and students.

The IYS team will have the Brian Brazeal Blacksmith shop set up. Come and check out the tools, forges and anvils. Hang out with us in the shop and talk forging with some of the best.
We will have demonstrations too!

Saturday-Wednesday July 13 - 17

Brian Brazeal and Alec Steele will begin a 5 day "tools to make tools" curriculum with the IYS team. The first day they strike for each other for the "forged to finish" rounding hammer and the Brian Brazeal hot cut hardy.

Thursday - Friday July 18-19

IYS techniques class, the team will learn and practice the techniques used to forge the Crane sculpture.

Saturday - Sunday July 20-21

The International Young Smiths team will complete their Crane sculpture!
Please, come watch and support these inspiring blacksmiths who are here to share and promote friendship and forging information with their communities and the World!

Monday- Wednesday July 22-24

the IYS team will be teaching the Crane techniques class to the Tannehill Forge School of Blacksmithing students.

Thursday- Friday July 25-26

Together, Tannehill Forge School of Blacksmithing students and the International Young Smiths will forge a second Crane sculpture to be donated to Tannehill State Park.

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From what I understand the event for the young smiths has now been moved to Tannehill Historical Ironworks

 

Here is a list of the events.

International Young Smiths
Schedule of Events- July 12-27 2013
Hosted by Tannehill Forge School of Blacksmithing
at Vulcan Forge

Open to the Public!
Come for a day or camp out and watch the whole event free.
camping contact: mckeemetalarts@yahoo.com

Friday- July 12
Meet and Greet Event Opener with the International Young Smiths - 5:00 pm

Come meet and talk with Brian Brazeal, Alec Steele and the 2013 International Young Smiths team as well as our hosts, Lee McKee of Vulcan Forge and students.

The IYS team will have the Brian Brazeal Blacksmith shop set up. Come and check out the tools, forges and anvils. Hang out with us in the shop and talk forging with some of the best.
We will have demonstrations too!

Saturday-Wednesday July 13 - 17

Brian Brazeal and Alec Steele will begin a 5 day "tools to make tools" curriculum with the IYS team. The first day they strike for each other for the "forged to finish" rounding hammer and the Brian Brazeal hot cut hardy.

Thursday - Friday July 18-19

IYS techniques class, the team will learn and practice the techniques used to forge the Crane sculpture.

Saturday - Sunday July 20-21

The International Young Smiths team will complete their Crane sculpture!
Please, come watch and support these inspiring blacksmiths who are here to share and promote friendship and forging information with their communities and the World!

Monday- Wednesday July 22-24

the IYS team will be teaching the Crane techniques class to the Tannehill Forge School of Blacksmithing students.

Thursday- Friday July 25-26

Together, Tannehill Forge School of Blacksmithing students and the International Young Smiths will forge a second Crane sculpture to be donated to Tannehill State Park.

 

Yes! I should have updated this! Please anyone and everyone feel free to come out and meet us!

 

Josh

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If you can get to Tannehill to see these guys and gal work, certainly do so. They are traveling a long way, sacrificing a lot of time, and working really hard to bring a good show, demonstrate some awesome technique, and make some interesting items.

Last year's young smiths 2012 team did well, was well received, and was the first organized team to support youth in blacksmithing at such a large event.

This year's team is much more organized and I know it will show in the quality of demonstrations, and the quality of work. Support these guys by your presence if you can. U


To the demonstrators:
When you demonstrate, speak UP. It is hard to hear over all the other noise. Speak loudly, slowly, and clearly. (Alec, your accent makes it difficult to understand sometimes.......be mindful to speak more slowly than normal.)
NEVER assume your audience knows what you are talking about. ALWAYS explain special terms when you use them. If you say, "half hammer face blow on the near side," explain what you mean. There may be someone in the audience who is not familiar with blacksmithing terms.
You will have differences of opinion while working with you other team members. DO NOT settle those in front of your audience during a demo. Be professional!
Finally, if you are running two or more work stations this year, like we did last year, do not try to talk about what you are doing at your station, while someone else is talking about what they are doing in their station.

These are some things that make a GREAT demonstration. Don't be average......be GREAT! Take it from a young smith 2012 member who's has been demonstrating for six years to anyone from 2nd graders to full time professional blacksmiths.

Good luck guys!

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The IYS team would like to encourage everyone to attend and ask any and all forging groups - blacksmiths, farriers or knife makers to sponsor one or more car load  to attend this free event.  (contact Lee McKee- mckeemetalarts@yahoo.com for the camping information and costs, park entrance is $3.)

So much important blacksmithing information will be revealed publicly while you watch the IYS team work on Brian Brazeal's, "tools to make tools"  curriculum.  

Again, free.  This truly is an opportunity like no other and not to be missed! 

Each one of the IYS team members are coming great distances either at their own expense or sponsorship. Raleigh is putting her business on hold for 2 weeks, OABA is sponsoring Josh, Daniel and Alec are coming from another continent. 

Each is willing to take a class and forge for 16 days straight while a scrutinizing public observes.   They are putting themselves out there as a community service to promote good forging techniques that move metal and prove anyone can do it, it is not magic! 

Please! Let's all support them! Come to the event and cheer them on!…Karen

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I would like to explain the idea behind International Young Smiths. You do not have to be young to be a young smith. I have been giving classes here in Brandon, Mississippi for the past three years. We start with forging a hot cut hardy then forge a rounding hammer before lunch. Then we forge the tools that it took to make those tools over the course of the class. We get on both sides of the anvil, directing and striking. After three to five days, the basic tools are forged depending on the individual. Within a week most get a pretty good grasp on the elements of forging with hand hammer and with a striker. The idea is to get an understanding of the process and have the tools to go and do the same with others and share the information. The sharing is where you really start to learn more! Over these last three years it is mostly the youth that went back and actually continued to share and learn more on their own with their own initiative. Alec Steele is one of the best examples of this, but others like Daniel Riffe, Arron Cergol, Kainon Baumer, Dave Custer, and Steven Bailey have also gone back and continued. There have also been other older individuals that have done the same like Lyle Wynn,Russel Colvin, Philip Box, Laurie Wicker, Jullian Puy, Mark Milster, Raleigh Desiato, and Mark Hemmer. There may be others also, and there are those that tried a lot of this from the posts and the pictures that Lyle Wynn, LDW, has taken and posted in his Picasso album. This curriculum has proven itself with the evidence all around the world, and we hope to compose a textbook of the course at this next event at Tannehill by documenting it. You do not have to be young to be a Young Smith. We hope to continue this program and take it to Europe next year and to the high schools and colleges somewhere along the way, because the young people will inspire the young and young at heart to bring blacksmithing back to the world and into the future. Brian

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We would love to have the opportunity to get involved with the colleges. Alec will be staying after the event until he has to go back to school and so will Josh and Daniel for a little while. If this Summer is too sudden, we could still plan something with some of the youth in America anytime in the future. We can also talk about it at Tannehill if you can make it.

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HI Brian, book a slot for 13th to 16th August 2014, for the UK,  we are currently in the process of organising an International Blacksmiths Festival at Westpoint forge, I have already mentioned it to Alec, and would love to have you and the  retinue attend. Owen Bush, Mick Maxen, Hector COle and Jim Horrabin are also possible attendees, 

 

A lot more to do yet, but will keep you all informed as we go, currently trying to arrange funding for the event, we have booked the showground, just need teams and individuals to come along and demo, and others to come along and watch and learn and generally enjoy themselves.

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