I will be demonstrating a whole series of items this coming Saturday at Arc and Flame in Rochester, NY.. 

https://nysdb.org/

https://nysdb.org/All-Hands/

The items will range from a compass, treble herb hook, wakizashi (Ninja-to) strap hinge, thumblatch, Draw knife.  The list of items is not set in stone but dependent on interest. 

I will also be at Arc and Flame Friday night for a meet and greet with forge warm up for items that need prep.. 

 

Hi Jennifer,

I'll see you there.

Dick

Thats awesome..  I'll be there starting on Friday night..  I have a few items I want to prep so might start the demo sessions Friday and roll them into Saturday. 

Yup. Leaving here first thing Friday morning. So should be able to be at Arc and Flame by around 4 or so. My old stomping grounds, that's where I got my start. 

Hate that drive. Don't like paying to be bored.

Oh man that’s sounds cool!

too far away for me here in Oklahoma but I look forward to seeing all the pictures!

12 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

I'll be there starting on Friday night.

Any idea what time on Friday you plan on starting work?

Thanks

8 hours ago, Latticino said:

Any idea what time on Friday you plan on starting work?

Thanks

I'm hoping to get there about 5pm to 530pm..  I'd go earlier but don't want to interfere with classes and such. 

Saturday will be all day..  

Please bring your spear if you can..  I truly missed seeing it when we were in PA..  It was the only regret that I did not get to see it before parting ways.. 

One of the potential items to forge will be a Ninja-to. 

 

This is one i forged in the 80s and it's tip geometry was not what I wanted so put it in storage. 

Took off all the rust and this beautiful hamon was under it. 

20 hours ago, seldom (dick renker) said:

Yup. Leaving here first thing Friday morning. So should be able to be at Arc and Flame by around 4 or so. My old stomping grounds, that's where I got my start. 

Hate that drive. Don't like paying to be bored.

When is a good time to get there?  Mady said about 530pm for me so not to mess with classes.. 

Hamon looks fantastic, look forward to discussing your technique for that with you.  I don't see anything wrong with the tip geometry, but I'm hardly an expert in Japanese swords.  I like what appears in the photos to be a subtle sori in the overall blade profile.  I've never been a fan of those "mall warrior" ninja swords that look like rectangular slabs of metal with edges put on them.  What are you considering for a tsuba?  There is some wrought at Arc and Flame that was donated by a friend of mine who took a class there a couple of years back that we might be able to get a small chunk of...

I'm not sure what Maddy is on about regarding classes today.  Looking at my schedule for Arc and Flame I don't see any blacksmith classes today at all.  There are welding classes till 5:30 or so (and a small welded sculpture class in the evening), but the blacksmith shop is pretty regularly used simultaneously with the adjacent welding area.  I'm pretty familiar with the shop (though with the new director things keep getting moved around on me), so if you get there earlier I might be able to get out of work early as well and get you setup.  I'll try to remember to bring the spear tomorrow or Sunday.  Already at work at this point.  Keep me posted if you haven't already left.

Triple booked for the weekend, so I will be running from activity to activity, but will try to find time to hang out if you aren't inundated by admirers like you were at ABANA.

Latticino, Was great to see you and spend a little time talking..   This event was so fast paced..    I had a great time but it was over nearly as fast as it started..  So glad I got to do a little extra on Friday night..  I'll post photos to this thread when I finish the hatchet.

Made it back safely to home base..  Travel was good and prefer to travel at night..  Arrived back about 1130pm

The spear and hatchets you made are stunning..   It's to bad photos don't really show how nice they are..  Fabulous work..  Thanks for bringing them for me to see. 

What a great group you are involved with there..    Some very talented Smiths and it's great to see they are serious about forging..   Seeing B.F.'s work and the level of improvement was inspiring..  I'm going to have to up my game now..   
 

It was a great pleasure having you demonstrate for our group.  You are extremely knowledgeable and swing a mean hammer.  I know everyone in the group learned a lot and will be anxious to get out to the forge to try some of the things you showed us.  We could have easily gone weeks and only learned the start of what you had to offer.  

As for my poor efforts, while I do appreciate your positive feedback, I am just a hobbyist.  I have the theory, but not the hand skills.  I do strive to improve, and make each piece as good as I am able at the time.  I have been lucky to have had a lot of great teachers.

You are right that the NYSDB group has a bunch of talented smiths and metal workers.  I've learned a lot from them as well.  Brady's intellect and dedication are pushing him along quickly.  I look forward to seeing where he progresses from here.  

Got home about 7:30 last night. Left Monday morning and made a detour to the Addirondacs to visit a friend that I havent seen in a while. The fall meeting of the NYSDB and Jennifer's demo was awesome. The lady really has some skills. I am so lucky, I get to see her again in less than two weeks.

Thanks guys..  I love demoing and teaching and you and the NYS designer blacksmiths group were great sports and it was fun, fun, fun.. 

I finished the original sunobi I brought with me that I started to show the process of forging the blade.. 

My sunobi was slightly out of proportions even though I thought i had it close..   So the one I started at NYSDB I'll finish welding and do another one.. 

This one came out pretty good so will probably finish it..  It's going to have some neat patterning in it. 

Looking extremely good.  Really loving these proportions.  Couple of questions:

1. The outer layer is essentially a mono-steel rasp, right?  Why do you expect to see a pattern?  Do you mean you will be quenching to get a hamon?
2. Will you be finishing the sword, or just the blade?  If the former, what are you thinking for a tsuba?  I know they aren't typically as elaborate as on katana, but still think this one might merit something a bit more than just a square of sheet stock.  Even a square with upset and beaded edges (and maybe a decorative piercing or two...) would be pretty cool.
3. Please tell me the sword in the last photo isn't just the forged finish and you have done some grinding or filing at least.  That is just so darn clean and crisp.
4. WHEN are you going to start teaching classes?  Even if your shop isn't setup yet there are plenty of established schools that would love to have you as a demonstrator, all easily within a day's drive.

Thanks..  Next will be to cut in the bottom for the tsuba and handle and such.. Ideally just a filing will show the completed lines.. I just ran out of time.. 

1. The pattern will be from the rasp teeth..  There will be a hamon too..   But the rasp teeth will add a U or V shaped pattern to the steel when clean. 

2. I am undecided about making this a "full" sword. It's a little shorter than I like. My Sunobi proportions were off a little, and once the Sunobi is formed and the sword forging started , it's extremely hard to change the profile or the sword and even harder to add length. There is no square section to forge.. You can change thickness and width some but length.. argh not so much.. 

3. Well, yes it is forged to finish.. Sorry.  the very back spine did get touched with the hot rasp to remove high spots but as it is, it's completely forged.   It's the main reason the Sunobi has to be proportioned correctly..  

4. I've been teaching at different venues. The problem I run into is that with my diverse background, "Teaching everything" is possible. But people, when they identify what they want to have as an instructor, it's usually based on items the smith forges on a regular basis and social media. 

I'm supposed to be at CMA in Johnstown,PA, teaching a timber framing tools class in the spring. It's a combo class involving a slick, framing chisel, and draw knife. 

If you scan my social media items are all over the place based on what my interest is or what tools I need at the time. 

The items covered at NYSDB were based on some of the information I looked at and Mady told me to do what ever I wanted. 

5.  I posted so many photos so one can actually see how it's "rough" forged and then with each step it gets "finer and finer". 

Back when I was doing this more often I'd start on the hilt area and then the tip like I shown..   But then I'd work solely from the hilt area to the tip in about a 4" segment at a time.. this 4" segment would be forged about 80% to finish until reaching the tip..   

Then on the second or 3rd pass it would be finished to nearly 100%..    So it's a progression and this allows for some finer adjustments and to clean up the lines.. 

photos 12-14 you can see how this is the clean up pass..