11. What is the largest job you have built or worked on to date, how do you manage the process of building a larger project, hire an extra hand, and get wife and or family to help out?   

    A house in Vermont that has nine fireplaces. Made 9 screens, 9 sets of tools, 2 sets andirons, 7 andiron that needed extensive restorations, a chandelier, and a pot rack. I was going to do a hand rail and a entry gate as well, but lost out on that dew to a change of plans (A new site manager was assigned and I got lost in the shuffle… BAD). I hired help for that job. I am lucky to have a bit of help here and there by friends and family. I’m a one-man shop and would like to keep it that way. 

       Chandelier from noted restoration job.                               James showing his forge design and some of his tools                                                                                                                    

Scholarship Report:

My Week at John C. Campbell Folk School

By Vince Nakovics

     My week at JCCFS was possible due to the scholarship of Tidewater Blacksmith Guild. This is a great group of Blacksmiths who have helped in the past and I am sure will do so in the future. There is nothing like getting together with a group that enjoys the art of heating and bending metal to make something out of something else. I Thank the Scholarship Committee and TBG for selecting me. I had a great time, learned a lot and hopefully can convey some of that knowledge back to you in this article and later on in a demo to be scheduled. Let me take this opportunity to say that if you have not attended a course at John C. Campbell Folk School, I urge you to do so when funds allow. “For the money there is no other facility that provides so much” The courses run pretty much the same or slightly less than others for the same period that is where the similarities stop. You can get a room and board on campus, or even get a deal with a hotel/motel downtown for about $70 more for your week there. You will not eat as well anywhere for the same money, unless you are Euell Gibbons and like bark. I worked until at least 9 PM every night except Thursday, which was 8:40PM, others stayed until Midnight on Wednesday, and until at least 10PM every night. Courses officially run from 0900 to 1630. From 4:30 on it is the dedication and kindness of your instructor, they get paid not a dime more for staying past the official time.

     Our course instructor was Greg Price, very talented with an abundance of knowledge, of Warrenton, Va. Price was assisted by Kevin Foster of Talkeenta, Alaska. On Monday I ate breakfast with Kevin and his wife Peggy and it turns out that she not only had met Phil Koontz and Jake Pogrobinsky in Galena, AK, she had also read the interview I did with them. Who would have thought! In Brasstown, NC. Our class started on Sunday 27 Apr and continued until noon May 2nd, 2008. Let me put up front here that due to some technical difficulties unfortunately I have no pictures to accompany this report as there normally is, I regret this inconvenience, but it was out of my control.

     The class title was Light It Up! Obviously it concentrated on …. Candle holders and Chandeliers. The pace of the course was very rapid covering everything from the basics of lighting a fire to making tongs and tools. The composition of the class was about 50/50, 4 had no experience and 4 did. Robert (Bob) Trout of Ontario, New York, a Roycroft Renaissance, Master Artisan in Metal was in attendance and shared his vast knowledge of Chasing and Metalsmithing. We spent the first night getting set up for Monday morning when we conducted our 1st project; fire management and 3 hooks the same size. This is similar to what I do when I haven’t been forging for a while so it was a good warm up and begining project. Hooks contain many of the necessary hammer functions that you will perform while at the anvil; drawing and tapering, hammer control, spreading, bending, and getting to know the distances of your anvil. This also pointed out the ability to use your anvil as a measuring tool, face width, hardie hole to heel edge, etc. Between the lecture and project it took up most of the first day there. I was able to decide on my project of a double ring chandelier and start getting my material together for it.

     On Tuesday as a class we discussed projects, materials and some design concepts. Lectures for the day covered slitting, punching, riveting, and forge welding. We practiced forge welding and other aspects for the remainder of the day. Price demonstrated often using clay as his medium. This is a really terrific training aid as it allows for rapid repeatability of the steps. Of course most of the topics were performed in hot steel, but the lectures were accompanied with clay and really helped with the visualization of what was happening. Utilizing clay allowed for Price to cover several variations of each step without having to wait for a piece of steel to heat up, saving time and material.

     My double ring chandelier project consisted of welding, wrapping, riveting, slitting, punching and chasing. There are two different type of welds, 3 cat eyes, 3 punched and drifted openings, 3 short wraps and a lot of straight chasing and grooving.

     Tuesday afternoon Price discussed beginner’s leaves and how they all look like pin leaves. Sound familiar! Well the reason for this is that it seems we don't leave enough material or worse we hit the point to soon to provide us with a nicely shaped leaf. He recommends fullering all four sides after you put a short point on it from all four sides. Short point is key! Then get a good heat, yellow to bright yellow, strike it on the diamond, use your peen to draw out the sides, being careful not to hit your point. When you have it drawn out to your liking then hit the point and use it to lengthen or draw out the point of your leaf. The rest is pretty much the same as you have seen else where. Use the step to crease, use a fuller made from angle iron, piece of wood, curl the edges, etc. On Tuesday I had a total change of design that would allow me to complete a chandelier by Thursday.

     I am not going to try to give the daily lectures word for word, but I will try to point out some of what was gone over during the rest of my stay there. Price quoted Francis Whittaker “The most important measurement is the one you didn’t write down”. This was sound advice and one that should be remembered.

     When chasing or making grooves particularly straight lines it is very important to do two things. 1) use a good scribe that cuts a clean line. 2) Use the same chisel that you use for your first pass cold to make your 2nd pass hot. The chisel will track your first line better with less chance of straying. You can make a chisel with a stop or guide set for a certain distance to help with keeping your lines straight.

     If you split a piece you can dress the split up to a sharp “V” which looks cleaner and doesn’t cold shunt on you. This is done after cleaning up the inside cut marks and done by putting a chisel mark on both sides of the piece in the “V”.

     Welding a 3 leg stand, the short piece gets thinned out on two sides and the long piece thinned in the middle where the two will overlap.

     Candle cups are made from a ¾” un-galvanized pipe. These cups look better than the store bought ones and are easy to flare out on the horn. Other shapes can be made by using different shaped bicks. Keep the pipe at an orange to yellow heat to work it. When initially fullering it you do 90, 90, 90, & 90, then 45, 45 degrees, etc. until round and fullered to your desired diameter. You can use a “V” block to make longer tapering cups after you flare them.

     Riveting, always use a monkey tool to seat your parts. This ensures that the rivets will be tight!!!! If you have a slight gap they will be loose. Rivets seats must a slightly rounded shoulder to sit in. To lock a round rivet you can use a chisel to cut a small groove in one side or if you are really worried put two 180degrees apart. A fast way to start a rivet heading tool it is to hammer the end of your heated steel to form a sort of birds mouth or “c” on the end all around then clean up the depression with a ball bearing or a design to imprint it if that’s what your are after. This saves a step and makes more efficient use of your time.

     Always make a test piece of anything you are making, especially for the 1st time.
Collars hold on the corners so be sure to make them tight. Hot collaring from the forge must be done fast before you lose too much heat. If you let is get down below an orange your collar may be loose. 
           Scarf welds; this is the most common weld performed. It is used for chain, round rings and flat rings. The most important thing is to take your time and remember that the thin edge of the scarf is to make it easier to dress the weld and make it disappear. Borax the all purpose, most used flux around, Price agreed that for the first weld it makes the pieces very slippery and he does not use it for the first weld. He does use it to finish dressing out a weld. We discussed this and I know that I agree, I have gotten into the habit of using no flux for smaller pieces, I use the stick test while they are in the fire whenever possible. Price discussed this as a viable method that he sometimes uses himself.

     Well there was a lot of ground covered during the week and I am sure that I missed some of the items that were discussed in side bars after Price’s more formal lecture in the morning. As an added bonus I was able to gain some insight on how to make a multiple piece item come together from inception to the final product. While there may be many things that are imperfect with my finished chandelier, I was satisfied with the results considering the time frame it was made in and my personal experience level. If you have any questions drop me an email or see me at our meetings every 3rd Sunday. 
 

              Courting candle jig                     My Chandelier and details            Display table of class work

Affiliate Letter May 2008 5/28/2008