tulsavw Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 (edited) One of my friends, who works for the Will Rogers Museum and Memorial in Claremore OK, asked me to come out to the museum's annual "Frontier Days" kids camp to do some sessions with some children where I would demonstrate some basic blacksmithing and talk a little bit about the purpose a blacksmith would serve on a 19th century homestead. We did all of this at the Dog Iron Ranch where Will Rogers' birthplace house a big oak timber-framed barn sit, overlooking Oologah Lake.I came out early and got set up by about 7am, getting my forge fired about and getting started to make sure I would be good and warmed up by the time the kids and sponsors came around... well, I guess due to the smell of the coal, that did NOT take long. I had four groups come through (25 kids each) with several sponsors per group, and I had roughly 20 minutes or so with them. It seemed that none of them knew any blacksmiths (except for a couple of boys whose father is a blacksmith and a member of Saltfork Craftsmen Artist Blacksmith Association -- the Oklahoma guild.)Interest in the short demo was high and the response was great. I'm fairly sure most kids like seeing fire no matter what, but I was suprised how interested the kids were in hot steel. That was really neat.Here's a little clip from Tulsa's Channel 6 news, where one of their photojournalists came out and filmed a little bit -- he was a really cool guy, too. Anyways, it sure was fun to get to share something new with kids and see them so interested in it all. Many of them left the exhibit saying they planned on becoming blacksmiths immediately! There is probably 4 or 5 shots of me working in video clip.Here's the clipEdit: Oh yes -- I forgot to mention the classic moment when a girl, no older than 5, follows my advice to be careful around the forge to avoid burns with the question: "Is that what happened to your hair?" I had to laugh at that one. Edited July 16, 2015 by tulsavw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastRonin Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Link takes me to the newson6 site but no vid of the smithing can I find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulsavw Posted July 16, 2015 Author Share Posted July 16, 2015 Link takes me to the newson6 site but no vid of the smithing can I findDouble-checked the link's operation -- I did notice that the video takes about 5 seconds to get going for some reason (on my computer and network, at least), but the video window should appear right under the smaller text that reads "Kids Return To Frontier Days At Will Rogers Ranch In Oologah." -- You click on that and the video begins. There's just a few short shots of me working, in between the other clips. I tested it with my Macbook running Chrome browser, my iPhone, and my Android OS work phone and it worked on all of them. Sorry I'm not a whole lot of help with computer stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastRonin Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Ok, must have been cause I was using my phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 It came right up for me. That must have been a good 3 days, I love kids at demos, they ask the best questions. "Is that what happened to your hair." Being a case in point, how long did it take to stop laughing? Have you yet?Good show, well done.Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankySmith Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Very cool! I'm going to have my first teenage "apprentice" tomorrow, the grandson of a coworker coming to work with me for a day, should be fun. Like teaching kids, their minds are still so open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulsavw Posted July 16, 2015 Author Share Posted July 16, 2015 Frosty -- I definitely had to put my work back in the fire by the time I got done laughing. That whole group was dying laughing. It was pretty funny! Kids say the darndest things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I love playing along with questions like that but I don't know if I could have. The urge to laugh would've been too strong. Hope the questioner didn't take it personally, naw, you wouldn't have let her.Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Couldn't get the link, but could imagine you had a good day. Same with me today - just two groups of 24 from a coastal school. All ten-year olds. Made a couple of twisted S hooks for them to take back to school. All the usual questions.So did you get the boys asking you if you make swords?? I always get that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankySmith Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 (edited) I always answer the sword question by making one for them, with a concrete form nail. I did this today with the 15 year old, he was so fascinated by the teensy sword he forgot about wanting a big one. Edited July 18, 2015 by SpankySmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 I recall an earlier post about formwork nail 'swords'. I would dearly like to make some but just cannot get those nails in Australia. Everywhere I try says why do you want them - everyone uses screws for formwork these days.I want some!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarry Dog Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Have you tried asking for them by the name of duplex nails? I know that's what we call them at work. They're really handy for setting up the "Gator" (guided cutter that we use to cut conveyor belt square so that we can splice it nicely). We get them from the concrete finishing crew when we start getting low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Yes, duplex nails, formwork nails, scaffold nails - don't seem to be available here. Might have to import a few. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankySmith Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Hey, Aus, look at Koalanails.com.au, they list a duplex nail as one of their common nail products, I just googled it, their product list PDF shows it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Hey, Aus, look at Koalanails.com.au, they list a duplex nail as one of their common nail products, I just googled it, their product list PDF shows it.Hey Susan, thanks for the link. That's one place I hadn't looked at. I checked out the site and they seem to be a wholesale store for nails. I don't think I could use 25kg of duplex nails, but I'll email them and see if they have smaller packages. Cheers. D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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