NEWSLETTER May 2008 Volume 1 Issue 4
In This Issue: * Interview with a Blacksmith *T and T by Steve LaPaugh * Monthly Meeting * Safety Note * Editor’s Note * The Hammer by TonyPirrone Demonstration Schedule *
Blacksmith Interview: by Vince Nakovics
I am excited to introduce Steve Robinson, of Forsyth, Missouri. Steve has had an interesting and exciting career both as Blacksmith and as a US Navy SEAL. Steve has published his own book, “No Guts, No Glory” on weeding out fake heros. He was instrumental in making it a criminal offense to wear military medals and honors not earned. Steve is, well he does a pretty good job of telling his story here and on his website, which I encourage you to visit to see more about him and his terriffic Blacksmith capabilities at:
Steve Robinson is a member of the Russian Union of Blacksmiths, certified as Master of Artistic Blacksmithing. Steve is one of 58 foreigners and the only American ever granted membership. Steve is also one of 12 members of the Inverness Hammerman’s Burgh and certified as Master Hammerman, with the other 11 being natives of Scotland. He is the only American and the only outsider ever to be granted membership to the prestigious Inverness Hammerman’s Burgh.
1. What was your very first blacksmithing experience?Steve: In 1975, as a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) – an historical re-enactment group that focuses on recreating the Middle Ages and Renaissance – I had an opportunity to “help” a blacksmith who was hammering out simple sword blades from carbon steel bar stock. My involvement was limited to turning the handle on his forge blower, carrying water for his slack tub, and once or twice using tongs to hold the heated stock across the face of his anvil while he used a hot set and hammer to score the surface for later cutting. I felt like I’d been enlisted to assist with the most crucial aspects of the most incredible work that I could imagine. That feeling has never left me.
2. What made you think “I would like to be a full time Blacksmith!” Steve: In Huntsville, Alabama, in January of 1993 I was laid off in a massive series of downsizing and corporate mergers of defense contractors. I spent more than six months going door-to-door in the contractor parks, looking for work, and mailing hundreds of resumes to places as far away as Raleigh-Durham North Carolina, Silicon Valley in California, and several defense contractors in Texas, near the Gulf Coast. After six months I’d not heard anything; then I received a single response. They wanted to know if I was willing to move to Raleigh-Durham NC, at my own expense, and take a $10,000 cut in salary. I was absolutely convinced that neither would be a good idea, and that both ideas together were sheer lunacy. I politely said “NO!”My wife is a native of SW Missouri and we made a road trip to visit her family there for the annual family reunion on the 4th of July. Although we’d been married for two years, it was my first visit to meet my wife’s family members and to see the area where she was born and raised. From the moment I met them and saw the area, I knew I’d discovered the place I really needed to be. This was pioneer country, and there were plenty of people involved in selling ‘rustic crafts’ to tourist visiting the area. On the way home we discussed the idea of moving there permanently. With no regular work (other than job hunting) I’d gotten plenty of practice at my hobby of blacksmithing, and was finding the solace of the forge to be the best possible medicine for the unemployment blues.
My wife asked me “What is it you’d like to do the most?”
I answered “Go to work in a forge everyday and have folks call me THE BLACKSMITH!” Her response was “Be careful what you wish for, it just might come true!”In November of 1993 we relocated from Huntsville Alabama to Forsyth Missouri. I got a “no brainer” job in a warehouse over the winter, and in the spring I applied for and was given a job at the Silver Dollar City pioneer theme park as a BLACKSMITH. I worked there for five full years before leaving to start my own Artistic Blacksmithing business – Moose Creek Forge.
3. What was your background prior to becoming a full time Smith?Steve: Even while in High School, I knew I wanted to be in the military. Both of my parents flew during WWII; Dad flew 40 missions as a B-24 Bomber Pilot in the Pacific Theater, and Mom was a Womens’ Airforce Service Pilot (W.A.S.P.). Dad’s last duty in the Air Force before retiring in mid-1969 was a 2-year stint as the Commanding Officer of a USAF Tracking Station on the island of Antigua in the West Indies. I spent every free moment of those two years in the ocean, and by the time we returned to the continental US, I knew that I wanted to be a Navy Frogman – a SEAL.
I joined the Navy in January 1970, and after qualifying for SEAL training, I was assigned as a member of a SEAL class convening in September 1970. I graduated in February 1971 and I was posted to SEAL Team ONE in Coronado, California.
In 1975 I was injured and hospitalized, and woke up after some 5 hours of surgery wearing a body cast; the doctors told me that I would never run again or walk without braces, crutches, or canes. It made me mad! The cast came off after 5 weeks; I walked out of the hospital 5 weeks and 3 days after I’d entered it, under my own power, with my cane over my arm (until I got around the corner of the building), and the following weekend I joined a historical re-enactment group that fought in full armor as a recreational activity in San Diego’s Balboa Park. I used that armored combat as my personal physical rehabilitation and was ultimately returned to full military duty. But the Vietnam War was over, and peace time in the SEAL Teams back then was a slow and depressing place. I finished out my last hitch and I left the Navy in November 1978 and started college in 1979. I graduated with a degree in Computer Science in 1981 and went to work as a programmer/analyst in the defense contracting business in Huntsville Alabama. My military background and analytical capabilities rapidly came to my employer’s attention and I was redirected to work as a Soviet Threat Analyst on several high priority, high security projects, including President Reagan’s “Star Wars” Strategic Defense Initiative. Ultimately I was granted a very high level security clearance, began working inside a vault called a “SCIF” (Secure Compartmented Information Facility), and enjoyed being involved in a wide variety of remarkable and challenging government projects. As described earlier, the bottom fell out of that particular job market in 1993.
4. There is often much discussion about traditional methods versus modern methods and the merits that go with both. How do you, personally define the difference?Steve: There are some key abilities which define the true blacksmith and separate that job title from others such as “metal bender”. The principal one that comes to mind is the ability to make a consistent and secure forge weld. For at least two thousand years before any assisted welding techniques were available, blacksmiths were joining metal using only the heat of the fire and the force of their hammers. It’s a key ability which should never be lost or forgotten.
When I first began setting up my own hobby forge, an older member of the Alabama Forge Council told me “The thing that separates the men from the boys, and the true blacksmiths from those who simply molest hot steel with a hammer, is the ability to make a consistent forge weld!” I’ve never forgotten that comment, nor have I ever found it to be less than golden in its truthfulness.There are numerous other “traditional” skills which were key to the blacksmiths of bygone days, and while the mastery of those particular skills and abilities may not be crucial today, they are nonetheless part and parcel of the blacksmithing trade. In a world that enjoys a variety of welding methodologies, computer-controlled heat treatment capabilities, precise gas forges, effortless metal cutting tools, and “exotic” metal mixtures that produce incredible end products, the preservation of those traditional methodologies is very important.It’s certainly good to know how to use a MIG welder with Argon/CO2 gas flux. It’s great to have a power hacksaw to cut through large pieces of stock while you go about other business. The use of a plasma cutter can turn an all-day job with hammer and cutting chisel into a 30 minute task. But those extra bits of equipment may not always be available. If you know how to do without them, then when they suddenly become unavailable your forging doesn’t have to cease.No empire lasts forever; not the Greeks, not the Romans, not the Byzantines, not the Ottoman Turks… and not the Americans. Sooner or later there will be a decline. There is a joke which may be all too truthful in its simplicity – “What I make with my hammer and anvil may not be of use in the next war… but in the one right after that it will be the height of technology”. Whether the ebb and flow of “modern technology” takes decades, centuries or millennia, the skills and abilities of the “old fashioned” blacksmith will ultimately be important again. If it doesn’t happen in your lifetime, count yourself lucky, and make sure to pass along those traditional skills and abilities to the next generation. Sooner or later they will be needed.
5. This is a question with several parts on some of your favorite tools if you have one or several. Which hammer style do you prefer? How much does it weigh? How big is the anvil that you use most? What special tools do you use on a regular basis?
Steve: Hammers - Although I own a full selection of hammers, low weights to higher weights, straight peins, cross peins, and ball peins, I use a 4 lb cross pein hammer for most forging operations. I also cut off the handle of an 8 lb 2-faced sledge hammer at 14 inches, shaped the heads as I had done with my other hammers, and used it for “moving lots of metal in a short time period”. The handle is long enough to use 2-handed, and short enough to use 1-handed.
Anvil – I own an 1859 Peter Wright anvil that is marked as “1.0.0” indicating 1 hundredweight (CWT) – i.e. 112 pounds. When I worked in the Silver Dollar City pioneer theme park I used their 180 lb Hay-Buden “long horn, long heel”. That long horn and long heel were really great for forming/shaping operations that are more difficult on the shorter horn and heel of my Peter Wright “London Pattern” anvil. The step down from the cutting table was far more pronounced on the Hay-Buden, and I could actually use it for some swedging operations… and that isn’t possible with the shallow step on my Peter Wright. But I own the Peter Wright… and the Hay-Buden isn’t available to me anymore… so my “favorite” is very obviously my own hundredweight Peter Wright anvil.
Others – I use a wide variety of hot cuts, hot sets, swedges, fullers, punches, and one-of-a kind bending jigs. If I don’t have a tool, and cannot buy/afford a manufactured one, I make what I need. Perhaps the most important tool I own aside from my hammer and my anvil is my TOUCHMARK. I have a touchmark that I made to personalize my hot metal projects; it isn’t ‘registered’ with any organization, though there are hundreds of blacksmiths whom I’ve encountered over the years who would instantly recognize it as mine if they saw it on a piece of metalwork. I’d recommend that every SERIOUS blacksmith undertake to create such a unique mark for use in signing their work.
6. What is your advice/recommendations to Smiths thinking about going full time?
Steve: Let’s face it, traditional blacksmiths are dinosaurs. Cut-and-weld “ornamental iron” shops that use square steel tubing, chops saws, right angle grinders, plasma cutters, acetylene cutting torches, and wire welders can turn out dozens of feet of “fence” in a day. They can create a truck-bed rack in a day and can supplement their “ornamental” work with “fix-it” welding jobs on the side. They can order inexpensive ‘pre-made’ ornamental pieces from Mexico (or from companies that import Mexican items) and weld them together to make a “wrought iron” gate or fence in a fraction of the time needed to craft the same item using traditional blacksmithing techniques and tools.
Time is money, and the less time it takes to make an item, the less it costs to make it… and the more of them you can make in any given work day. Lower costs and higher production numbers are the key to succeeding in ANY field. There is a place for art, and tradition, and fine hand crafting… but unless you find the right market in the right place, you’re likely to starve or find yourself looking for a second job to make ends meet.
Before you decide to “go full time” you need to do your homework. Dig in and find what the true potential is for the area in which you are marketing your work. If you have a unique item you need to ensure that you have it patented, copyrighted, and/or trademarked before you start making it available to the public. If it truly is unique and in demand, it won’t be long before someone tries to copy it. If you are considering ornamental ironwork for the housing market, you’ll need to determine the cost that contractors are currently paying for any particular sort of item, then determine if you can make that item cheaper, and in sufficient quantity to get that business. You’ll also need to perform an honest appraisal of how long such a demand is likely to continue.
If you are planning on providing ART, then look at the current economics. When the economy is in trouble, when recession is threatening, the first thing people cut back on are the “frills”… and that includes ART. Do you have a craft fair in your area? Is there a regular market for ART or is it only a once-a-year event. If you decide to take your wares on the road, will the costs of creating the items combined with the costs of getting them to the market (including hotel rooms, meals, and GASOLINE) be offset by your sales?
If you are considering being a BLADE SMITH, you will need to realistically evaluate your skills and product compared to what is available on the market. Do you have access to the heat treating equipment that is required? Exotic handle materials? Proper crafting tools? Presuming that you do, can you live with the fact that a high quality knife, complete with a fancy sheath, can be purchased from your local Wal-Mart for $35?
The bottom line is that most potential customers will evaluate your product, whatever it is, against a very unreal measuring stick. They will want your product “McDonald’s quick and Wal-Mart cheap”. The average person has no notion of what it takes to be a blacksmith and to create ANYTHING from raw metal. But the vast majority of potential customers will base their purchases on two factors only – how fast can they get it, and how much will it cost. You will be competing with machine production from the very start.
Probably the rarest, but the best possible way to “go full time” would be to find a place where being a full time blacksmith entails demonstrating traditional techniques to visitors… perhaps as an employee of a National Park, a local tourist spot, or an historical society’s entertainment center. While production of items might be a part of the job, it must be clear to the employer that the hand-crafting blacksmith simply cannot compete with machine-made products and modern “cut-n-weld” operations.
7. What do you get out of being a Blacksmith?
Steve: The time I spend in the forge is no longer directed at developing my blacksmithing skills, and I am able to fully immerse myself in the creative process without wondering if the project will be brought to a sudden stop by some lack of equipment or skill. It is a complete involvement in the act of creation, of expressing myself in a way that others do not, for myself if for no one else. I do the absolute best I can, not because it will be seen by others, but because I will see it. However, I am mindful that I am working with metal, and that the product of my labors will most likely outlive me by many, many years. I am provided with a very real sense of my own place in the scheme of things; humbled at the short span that I have to enjoy, and mindful that what I create now will very likely be seen and touched and examined by people who have not yet been born. So I do my very best on each piece, no matter how simple or ‘normal’, hoping that when those as-yet-unborn people hold my work in their hands, the thought that will cross their mind will be “This was made by a real blacksmith, not a machine, back in the days when those skills were valued and important”.
Curtain Weight Anvil Stand
By Steve LaPaugh
This is certainly a good use for them and would make a great stand for a very wide range anvil sizes. Mine is a 1-2-8 Mouse Hole with and 11" x 11 1/2" base. I made it all out of existing shop stock. The main item is the base which was made out of two of the 2" thick curtain weights. They were torch cut so they were not exactly square; also they were not all the same thickness. I look through the six that I had until I found two the same thickness, nominally 2”, and set them even on square the ends and spaced them to give me a 12” width. This left me with a varying gap between them to be filled with weld metal in lieu of making a “V” grove for the filler metal, and proceeded to weld both sides and both ends.
The top surface I ground to a smooth to mate with the anvil. I used 1 ½” box tubing for the legs only because it was all I had on hand. I wanted to use at least 2”. As it turned out, the 1 ½” just fit on the ears of the curtain weights due to the cutouts. I set the miter saw for a 5 degree angle and then cut the four legs 22” long., all angles going the same way.
Next I welded 1 ¾” x ¼” pads on one end of each leg. Then set up the vise to hold the in place legs for welding. Each leg was set at a 45 degree angle to the sides and the ends, leaving a bout ¼” shoulder on the corner of the curtain weight for the fillet welds.
A little cosmetic grinding and a little more welding rod and the anvil stand was completed.
To attach the anvil to the stand, I used a length of ¼” chain run through the slots in the ends of the curtain weights and crisscrossing underneath, connecting them with two ¼” screw pin shackles. To tighten the chain I put a block of wood between the chain and the base-plate and drove a wood wedge between the wood block and base-plate and the anvil and stand became one solid unit. It makes a very clean looking assembly and is very functional.
April 2008 MeetingBy Vince Nakovics
With 20 members present and an excellent Iron in the Hat we had a really good meeting. There were a lot of hand forged items today; Micheal Lambaise, Burning Hand Forge, donated one of his knives, Tim Edney put in his demo item bridle hook, Jon Cookson/ Firescreen, Steve LaPaugh/Daffodil, Vince Nakovics/Rose letter opener and Tom Herendeen/Dinner bell. There was lots of other great stuff there; folding knife, hay tines, tool steel, horseshoes, etc. If you missed the meeting you really missed a good one.
Tim rang the anvil and started promptly at 1PM. There is a work day on the 27th of April to build some shelves and install the flues for the forges. Originally we wanted “Stainless Steel”. That was going to run us about $3000 buckeroos. The Board in it’s infinite wisdom decided to go with a regular galvanized run at a greatly reduced cost. Once we get up and running we will begin having classes again. There have been some fee changes and changes to the way that the classes are going to be taught so please see one of the board members or look at our website for the full details. The Fees went up because the cost of material has gone up. Even so our classes are a tremendous value for the training you receive.
Tim did a terrific demo on making a Bridle Hook. Tim made it look simple enough to make and showed us all how adding just a simple slitted twist makes something really standout. Now I said Tim made it look simple, that’s because Tim was making it! Tim could have been done in about 15 minutes, but we kept bothering him with pesky questions. That was just to slow him down, hehehe. I will try to recap the process really quick here. Start with material for 4 penny scroll double hooks (size to your liking), a longer pc for the top and bottom hooks and center column of the entire pc. Make a penny scroll neck in via a half face blow about ½ the material width on the anvil’s edge. Rough round it, then turn it 90 degrees, finish rounding it up. (About now because you wasn’t there your saying to yourself “Hey you left out something here!” You are right!!! I don’t intend to write the entire process step by step, you can look it up on the Tip and Techniques CD or some other source.)
Tim pointed out that if you are making more that one or two scrolls use a jig, it will make it easier and ensure that all the hooks are the same. * Once you get your penny shaped and put your curve in it, try not to hit it anymore as it will require you to readjust it on the jig again. * If you quench your scrolls you will make them to hard to drill and ruin your drill bit, if you intend on drilling them. * When putting the faux braid groove in your twist remember to do opposite sides, this will help prevent the section from twisting. * Lightly chisel the lines on the 1st pass. Then deeper on the 2nd or 3rd if needed. * Chisels should have a curve so you can walk it through the groove or cut. * When heating for the twist, ensure that you have an even heat throughout the pc. If one end is hotter than the other shut down your air and let the heat soak throughout the pc. * Keep your hooks on the ends in line with each other. * Anytime you leave your fire, crank it up and put coal on it and then shut it down. * When you get ready to put the bridle hook together make sure that you have your holes offset on opposite sides for the rivets or else you will run into a problem setting your hooks on the center column. * You can cold rivet most things, I only do hot rivets on tongs. * Finishing; exterior paint it. Interior; I like a dark oil stain, then spray with Minwax clear coat. You don’t even have to wait for the stain to dry. It will eventually dry and lasts for years inside.
It was a great demo and Tim added a bonus round of punching round and square holes in a bar. He did both with equal ease and showed again how well he can swing a hammer. Thanks Tim.
Tim Hitting it Hard and Fast! Yup, that’s a pretty good job.
Joe & Diane checking out the goods Chubby Checker eat your heart out,
Twistin’ ain’t never seen it so good!
Engaged and attentive
That looks pretty good, but I think I will tweak it a little
more.
Safety Note: Believe it or not this really happened! No this month is just a reminder that as we put our Guild forge together there will be a lot of us working together and we need to exercise care for that reason. We do not work with each other in this type of scenario on a regular basis and will be apt to be in automatic. That means to remember to call, watch your eyes, out when welding, let others know if you are running equipment, cement saws etc. Ensure that what your doing isn’t adversely effecting others. Be diligent in the wearing of your eye protection. What we do at our homes and own shops is up to us, but being good stewards towards each other means reminding each other to wear eye protection, ear protection and other protective gear when necessary. Don’t worry about the one your talking to thinking “what a dweeb”. When his eyes, lungs and extremities are protected he will be able to do better work, cause he there will not be any unnecessary worry about them.
There is no more important safety gear then safety glasses worn properly on your face.
BE SAFE, HAVE FUN, TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER.
Editor’s Note: Well the only thing that I have to say this month is that I still need articles and pictures for this Newsletter. If you are doing a Demonstration and you are heading it up then it is your responsibility to ensure that an article and pictures gets submitted. Please get them turned in, in a timely manner. Last year we had several demonstrations that did not get reported on because noone even took pictures I guess. At the very least you would think you could submit 5 or 6 pictures for a photo essay. Well that’s about it for me. I hope that you enjoy this month’s issue. I know that I enjoyed putting it together for you. Let’s remember to thank Travis & Tony Pirrone for their articles and pictures, Steve LaPaugh and Joe Gentile for submitting pictures this month.
Some guys will go to any lengths for a deal.
Taken at Blacksmith Guild of Virginia Meeting
Check out the deals that Grainger is offering ABANA Members
Travis has all the details posted on our website.
Joe took the opportunity to give Clay Spencer some TBG memorabilia after his demo at BGV’s meeting
Tidewater Blacksmiths Guild Mission Statement
“The Tidewater Blacksmiths Guild is 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:
President: Tim Edney (757) 421-0123 blkwtrforge@cox.net
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 rorcutt@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.net
Eric Hinckely 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:
May 9th Norfolk Collegiate Academy Colonial Day – Contact Dr. Dan Frank
May 10th & 11th Portsmouth Arts Festival – Contact Rusty Heeley (757) 484-3054
May 17th Bayside History Trail (Thoroughgood House) – Contact Bob Orcutt
* 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.*
Peat Oberon’s School of Blacksmithing http://www.school-of-blacksmithing.co.uk.
Yesteryear School of Blacksmithing email: yesteryearschool@hotmail.com or call 434-390-6203
John C. Campbell Folk School http://www.folkschool.org