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Houston, TX 77095-2649
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October 2, 2004
FALL BLACKSMITH'S HAMMERFEST
at
Oldenburg
This Fall we return to our favorite Oldenburg site at HABA Lifetime Member Kennie Hall's place on Antique Show Weekend Oct 1-3. to bring our forges and have a good time. Pieh Tool Company will bring their store from Arizona to our Blacksmiths HammerFest. Amy Pieh is loading up the truck with the best of their stuff and will be on site beginning Friday. And there will be the traditional tailgating and sales of old tools and anvils.
Click on the Poster by Frank Walters for the full image you can print and announce to your friends!
Our bi-annual Blacksmith's Hammerfest event at Oldenburg is schedued for weekend of October 2. We will feature several special regional demonstrators under a Big Tent Saturday including :
Weekend Big Tent Pass for All of the Demonstrations is $20. Admission to the grounds is free. The Hammerfest site in Oldenburg, TX is located at the intersection of Highway 237 and Bauer Road. The site is on the north end of town on the East Side of Highway 237. Click here for maps
More information is available at the HABA website for the event Blacksmith's Hammerfest.
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Featured Blacksmiths HammerFest Demonstrators
October 2, 2004
Dave Koenig
Houston Area Blacksmiths Association
Statement
Dave Koenig is a hobbyist blacksmith living in Houston, TX. He has a passion for forging metals the old fashion way…without the use of electricity…and sharing what he knows about the art and craft of blacksmithing with others.
This interest in the craft began in 1979. Like most hobbyists he played around with the craft with little early progress.
Then he learned about the Artist-Blacksmith’s Association of North America, ABANA, and the Texas Blacksmith’s Association, now Balcones Forge.
These organizations were valuable for learning forging process through demonstrations and identifying smithing resources for fuel, tools and books about the art and craft.
In the early 80’s he built his shop in the woods near Magnolia, TX. The shop remains a place to relax and learn and teach.
Dave founded the Houston Area Blacksmiths’ Association in 1997.
In June of 2002 Dave was appointed to the ABANA Board of Directors and that same year became the chairperson for the 2004 ABANA Conference in Richmond, Kentucky.
Forging metals with a hammer, anvil and hand tools is a very satisfying and creative experience. He is convinced that making something by hand, whether it is baking a cake or forging an iron grille, is pretty close to being a basic human need. When that need can be satisfied by directly using the elements of, air, water, fire and metal, the satisfaction is just magnified.
Demo
My demonstration will include forging copper, aluminum and steel and to complete three projects: 1. a copper hairpin; 2. a kinetic sculpture of copper and steel; 3. an aluminum vessel or leaf. The aluminum piece will be forged from 1" round bar.
The sculpture and aluminum forging will be partially completed prior to the demonstration. I will focus the demonstration on key forging processes, resources and finish. I will have some kind of handout for an aluminum forging.
Below are examples of the demonstration pieces.
Contact
Dave Koenig
Tudor Forge
Magnolia, Texas
(281) 855-2869
TudorForge@cs.com
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John Crouchet
Balcones Forge
Statement
I began blacksmithing in 1997, after working for twenty-seven years as a professional goldsmith. I enjoy the change in scale, or what I call “working large”. At the same time, I am intrigued by the surprising similarities between working iron and working gold.
Although I am known as a flypress specialist, that is not what I spend most of my time doing. The vast majority of my work is traditional blacksmithing at the anvil and the treadle hammer. I work in Marble Falls, Texas, with Larry Crawford at Hammerfest Forge building gates, railings, fireplace screens, and traditional blacksmith products.
When I am not working with Larry, I forge at my own shop, located at my family ranch on Sycamore Creek in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. It is a great place to work if you can just remember to forge something instead of going fishing.
My training and experience as a manufacturing goldsmith left me with an appreciation for the classic skills of metalwork. Modern “casual” blacksmithing has often overlooked the importance of training and knowledge in the basic skills of filing, fitting, annealing, and shaping metals. I do not want my work to result from a “happy accident”. It should be carefully planned and well executed. In this way, I try to carry on the tradition of generations of working blacksmiths before me.
Demo
I plan to demonstrate "How to Demonstrate for the Public". This is an art and I have a number of tricks to show that will enhance your future demonstrations. I use some modified tools that make my public demos a little slicker, and I will show how to build and use those, especially a modified nail header.
I will have kits available for those who may wish to build their own modified headers. In addition, I will have a handout sheet to aid in your tool making and presentations. I will also touch on some classic metalworking techniques, showing some fancy filework and "whitesmithing".
I will also bring along a couple of my latest flypress "cobble-ups" that will help the flypress guys do a little magic of their own.
Contact
John Crouchet
Artist-Blacksmith
Sycamore Creek Forge
Marble Falls, Texas
(830) 798-3710
jac@sycamorecreekranch.net
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Chuck Stone
North Texas Blacksmiths Association
Statement
Chuck Stone is an old-fashioned BLACKSMITH complete with handlebar mustache. As a self-taught artist/blacksmith, Chuck began working the coal forge 21 years ago. He is consistently taking courses and workshops to learn new techniques, improve his skills, and increase his knowledge in all areas of smithing. He teaches a variety of workshops.
He has participated in fine arts and craft shows around the country. He promotes blacksmithing through North Texas Blacksmith Association, participates and demonstrates at blacksmithing conferences and community events including such nationally known venues as Six Flags Over Texas, The Fort Worth Zoo and The Fort Worth Historical Stockyards. Chuck currently works from his shop, The Master's Forge, in Newark, Texas, near the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
Because of his love for the Lord Jesus Christ and His commandments, Chuck views his blacksmithing skills as a tool to further the Kingdom of God. As an ordained minister, he has been Preaching Behind The Anvil for
several years in boys camps.
Demo
Chuck will be demonstrating basic techniques such as; drawing out, splitting, simple scroll work, carving and decorative hooks. He will also give history of nail making while designing and demonstrating a Nail Header.
Contact
Chuck Stone
The Master's Forge
Newark, Texas
(817) 489-3580
bak2basx@prodigy.net
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Jerry Baker
Louisiana Metalsmiths Association
Statement
I was born in Montana. My grandfather was a homesteader and pioneer. It being 35 miles to town, my grandfather blacksmithed the repairs on the farm as needed. Being too young to remember any of it, it is in my roots and I am still using some of his tools from that shop.
I started blacksmithing in 1997 as a student of Buddy Leonard of Covington, LA. My actual profession is as a farrier which I started in 1967. I've been beating on steel for a very long time but I was always interested in the traditional methods of the great things that previous generations had accomplished with no modern conveniences. The art and beauty of their work is astonishing. (How did they do that?) It has been a great adventure and still fascinates me and occupies most of my thoughts.
I taught a class and now my students are teaching others so in other words there is almost a third generation of teaching in a few short years. One of the greatest honors was being elected president of the Louisiana Metalsmiths Association (http://lametalsmiths.org/) two years ago. We are a very excited group with lots of talent. Some of the membership that was previously taught by me are now teaching other members. We welcome interested persons of both genders and all ages and are extremely willing to teach the traditional methods and share ideas. My main interest is in functional art and in sharing with others.
Demo
My demo will feature making horse heads which can be added to various tools for decorative finials. Here is a sample of what I will be doing and I plan to have every stage to a teachable level. I have received many requests for instruction and so my mission will be to help everyone become horse head builders!
Contact
Jerry Baker
Lafayette, La
(318) 232-7958
jbaker5175@earthlink.net
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Tom Lundquist
East Texas Blacksmiths Association
Statement
Tom Lundquist has been blacksmithing since 1975, and has been a full time smith since 1991. He has worked on museum pieces and in the film industry, as well as selling his work through architects, galleries and decorators. A large portion of what got him the bigger commissions has been public demonstrations. He demos at historic reenactments and at Renaissance Faires, as well as doing many demos at museums and sometimes schools. Many of these demonstrations are for school children, so that they can see what the smiths of days gone by were able to do. He feels that education is a large part of demonstrations, but also feels that the demo needs to be fun for the audience.
Bluebird Forge is a one man blacksmith shop located in east Texas. "I have been blacksmithing for over 25 years. I started out as a hobbyist, and decided to go to full time smithing in 1991 after helping my brother, Paul Lundquist, forge the hardware for the movie, Last of the Mohicans. I am a member of the East Texas Blacksmith Alliance and also the Artist Blacksmiths' Association of North America, also known as ABANA."
"In 1999 I was among a group of Texas blacksmiths who forged and donated hardware to the Barrington Farm project at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park. Barrington was the homestead of Anson Jones, who was the last President of the Republic of Texas. "
"My shop is well equipped for both primitive and modern forging and fabricating techniques. I hand forge an eclectic collection of items, from small gift items to furniture and housewares, to architechtural elements such as railings, gates, chandeliers, and fireplace screens. Commissions are welcome."
Demo
I will do a demo on giving public demos and will lecture and demonstrate at the same time. This will cover both how to do a demo and some simple items that one can make in a few minutes. I will provide a one or two page handout.
This presentation will cover how to design a demo depending on the expected audience and also some examples of projects to demonstrate.
Contact
Tom Lundquist
Bluebird Forge
Onalaska, Texas
(936) 646-4985
tom@bluebirdforge.com
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