NEWSLETTER July 2008 Volume 1 Issue 6
In This Issue: * Monthly Meeting * Blacksmith Poet * Spring Fling 08’ * Southampton Down Home Day * Work Day * Editor’s Note *
MONTHLY MEETING: SUMMER FAMILY DAY!!
If you weren’t there you missed one of the best family day meetings we have had! Sure we had some really good food; hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages and all the fixings, deserts homemade and store bought. Travis Covington manned the sausage grill masterfully; Tim’s wife Ruth and daughter Audra flipped the burgers and franks with apparent expertise of a master grill chef. We want to thank all those who helped set up the tent, tables, arrange the chairs, etc. Iron in the hat had some very nice things in it, but of particular notice were those items made or forged; Dinner Bell – Tom Herendeen, Rose Hook – Vince Nakovics, Tractor Yard Art – Emory Ewell, Spruce Cone – Tim Edney and Straight Adze – Rusty Heeley. There was tool steel galore including a cable billet donated by Mike Keeney. There was the bar of steel that cost 51.60 or was it a bar of 5160 steel? Door prizes were of a variety of items from our own Tee Shirt to a Set of Auto Body Shaping Tools. Ian and Alex Daley performed admirably as official ticket pickers, even if they did seem to pick Dad’s (Ben) suspiciously often. Haha.. It was a lot of fun with almost everyone winning something. Best of all everyone seemed to be having a grand time talking about a whole variety of Blacksmithing projects and other topics.
Iron in the Hat table looks good! Travis, Tim and Rusty Chatting it up.
Whoever is pulling on my toes better stop right now!
Huh, what’s that?
Glad the smoke didn't get too thick The look of disapointment that was Ben Daly again
A meeting of the minds, we’re in trouble now. Daddy said I would get something good here?
JOE BUTLER
“I am a blacksmith in a mental health project. My job is to work alongside men and women in recovery from mental illness and to teach them to forge hot steel.” J.B. ,Artist Blacksmith, Winter 2007/2008, No 123 pg 16, titled Bridewell. Bridewell Organic Gardens is an independent metal health charity in rural West Oxfordshire. This was my introduction to Joe Butler’s work, by way of fellow blacksmith Peat Oberon who happen to send me a copy of Artist Blacksmith, BABA’s magazine. It was interesting to read about this concept of blacksmithing as therapy, but what also intrigued me were the 5 poems included in the article. Joe Butler has graciously authorized us to reprint 2 of them here in our newsletter.
Visit Joe Butler’s website www.ironscribe.co.uk to see his Blacksmithing work and to obtain his book “HEARTHSTONE” which is also available from www.tworiverspress.com
Scroll
is spiraled steel-strand, is metal snail-shelled in a coil,
is steel drawn to the thickness of foil,
then furled, the curl pinched and rolled,
wholly, backwards through the body of the bar,
as supple and as darkly sweet as bootlace liquorice,
as crisp as paper in a roll whose fibers tension it to spring apart,
so what you wrap is double-scroll, what you wrap is air,
the solid and the in substantial interweave.
But metal’s curve declines, unclenches, trails, and space confined spills outwards,
It gathers breath to breast the tip, the spinning of the tail,
to make of steel a glitch, a hieroglyph,
a comma, not a stop
Dead Men
I am warded by dead men, guided by ghosts; their touch on my arm is deft, I fear for the skill in my hands,
I take his tools down from the rack and watch, as the scroll coils, the steel draws down. The drift sinks plumb-centre
through the body of the bar.
These things are gifted:
I step into their spell.
In the upswing of the hammer the blow’s intuition.
In the pressure of my knuckles on the tongs a nicety of angles judged.
As though their palms had printed on the place a knowledge-hoard that’s mine to touch.
And at its heart the fire, the cave of coals through which the bellows’ pulsing soughts.
Behind the suck-and-push of leather, I hear the sibilance of heat that spreads along the bar.
The looseness that precedes the burning, the lucent dangerousness of steel, the hiss of their companionship.
Blacksmith poet, Joseph Butler, was born in Oxford in 1962. He has earned his living as a farmer, teacher, and boatbuilder as well as blacksmithing. These poems grew out of working with a family of 3 generations of blacksmiths in an Oxfordshire forge; they are linked up with the Greek myth ofHera and Hephaistos, the crippled god of fire and metalworking, and patron of craftsmen, and bound up with his own family drama.
Spring Fling 08’: We were represented in force this year. Vince Parrish, Larry Ange and Emory Ewell attended. They reported that it was held at the Ruritan Fairgrounds in Berryville, VA on April 19th – 20th. There was a truly great Iron in the Hat that nobody won anything at. At least that’s what they said. Saturday was beautiful, but Sunday was wet and a little chilly. Now there is a rumor that two guys had to be dragged out of the chow hall to get to a scheduled demo, purely a rumor I heard.
Southampton Agriculture and Forestry Museum
Down Home Day April 19, 2008
By Travis Covington
I would like to thank Tom Herendeen, Mike Anderson for their help at the forge. Greg Sprock and his friend Mike came for a few minutes of the demo and gave up their whole day working on the sawmill’s big antique engine voluntarily. The people at the museum said they were lost until Greg and Mike stepped up. I was told the new saying is “If we can’t do it, call the Tidewater Blacksmith’s they will”.
Our demo went really nice. We had a steady flow of people most of the afternoon. Mike and Greg made a handle for a valve on top of the engine. Tom demonstrated how to make a Dinner Bell and kept the people interested with his knowledge. One of our newer members Annie Roche and her daughter stopped by for a few pointers from Tom and Mike. We were able to watch a sheep shearing, and watch kids and the Petting Zoo all day. I think I can speak for everyone and say we all had a good time.
Southampton Agriculture & Forestry Museum is an independent organization that has one of the largest collections of antique farm forestry equipment and tool collections in the state. They have a small village of the actual stores and post offices from area villages. They hold tours for school and local interest groups regularly.
Mike Anderson dazzling the crowd Greg Sprock working the forge!
This is the sawmill that needed the work.
Proof positive that more hands are better!
Way to go Greg and Mike!
Work Day June 22nd Thanks to Tim Edney, Bear Short, Steve LaPaugh, Dave Strasfeld, Ken Kroger, Woody Sanders, Vince Parrish, Vince Nakovics and Joe Gentile we were able to hookup the stacks to the forges, setup our post vices, organize some more of our equipment and stock. We are almost ready to light up a fire and start forging.
Is anyone going to help me here? They look like they know what they are doing.
Almost like a govt. job 1 worker, 3 supervisors. Why don’t these match up with the peg board holes?
Somebody has to do it! We’re glad that you did! Thanks!
Editor’s Note:I want to thank Vince Parrish and Steve LaPaugh for the pictures that they sent in of our summer family day. I want to thank Joe Butler for giving us permission to print his work. Emory Ewell did a good job reporting and photographing Spring Fling 08’. Thanks to Travis Covington for his article on Southampton Down Home Day. Steve we are going to have to call you Peter Parker from now on thanks for the work day pics. Thanks to everyone who participated in these events!!! There’s a lot of stuff that needs to be done and all I can say that if everyone pitches in a little it will get done faster and we will be sitting fat. I am wishing that everyone submits a picture or article that they think is neat, cool or in someway connected to blacksmithing. Well I hope that you enjoy this issue of your newsletter and Thanks to everyone for your contributions and participation. If anyone has read a good book pertaining to Blacksmithing I would appreciate a review, it can be one that you have had for years and think everyone should have it.
** Dona Z. Meilach’s book “The Contemporary Blacksmith”, published by Schiffer, ref number ISBN: 0-7643-1106-9, mentions Dianne deBeixedon several times and includes color plates of her work. You can look it over at Barnes and Nobles, order it online from them or several other stores. FYI Tony Pirrone**
Tidewater Blacksmiths Guild Mission Statement
“The Tidewater Blacksmiths Guild is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the craft of Blacksmithing and to increasing the public awareness of the history of Blacksmithing while at the same time demonstrating that in this world, things hand made still exist and remain objects of art”
2008 TBG Officers:
Vice Pres: Travis Covington (757) 617-9174 travis@covforge.com
Treasurer: Steve LaPaugh (757) 877-5684 slapaugh@verizon.net
Secretary: Joe Gentile (757) 965-6878 amx-ray@cox.net
2008 Board of Directors:
Diane deBeixedon (757) 627-9962 ddebeixedon@cox.net
Bear Short (757) 485-5117 hydraconstinc@aol.com
Eric Hinckley (757) 497-6067 usnbear2@cox.net
Emory Ewell (757) 482-1448 eewell1@cox.net
Rusty Heely (757) 484-3054
Committee Chairs:
Demonstrations: Hospitality:
Bob Orcutt rorcutt4@cox.net Tom Herendeen twoherrons@aol.com
Joe Gentile amx-ray@cox.net Scholarship:
Rob Costello robjeniantim@sprynet.com Mike Keeney scforge@cox.net
Librarians: Website:
Diane deBeixedon ddebeixedon@cox.net Travis Covington travis@covforge.com
Eric Hinckley usnbear2@cox.net Building Fund:
Newsletter: Joe Gentile amx-ray@cox.net
Vince Nakovics restoreman123@msn.com Diane deBeixedon ddebeixedon@cox.net
Vince Nakovics restoreman123@msn.com
Tidewater Blacksmiths Guild meets every third Sunday of the month. Location of the meeting is posted on our website: http://tidewaterblacksmiths.com
Demonstration Schedule:
We have no demos scheduled as it stands right now until
Sept 20th & 21st , Chesapeake Heritage Arts Festival, contact Larry Ange or Emory Ewell for more info on this event. This event has been combined with the Civil War Days so it will be larger than in past years.
* Newsletter articles may be reprinted by ABANA affiliate newsletters when credit is given this newsletter and/or newsletter of origin unless otherwise noted as copyrighted or restricted. Copyrighted or restricted articles and pictures need the publisher’s permission.*
Yesteryear School of Blacksmithing email: yesteryearschool@hotmail.comor call 434-390-6203
John C. Campbell Folk School http://www.folkschool.org
Peat Oberon’s School of Blacksmithing http://www.school-of-blacksmithing.co.uk
Rion Motley’s handy work Steve LaPaugh’s Horseshoe Candleholder
Vince Parrish took this on a trip to St. Augustine, Fl. Pretty nice blacksmith shop; more photos are in the Members Gallery on TBG’s website. Check it out and post a few of your own!
