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from HABA President Richard Boswell
Time flies doesn’t it, when you are having fun? HABA has been busy delivering quality programs for your pleasure and education this Spring, and we are having more fun than the law should allow doing it. I hope you have been keeping up with the web page which is exceptionally rich with information about our activity. Our web log was showing we have been averaging almost 120 visitors per day. There is so much activity that the log is as big as the web site (1Gb) so we are letting it take a rest until some server space issues are resovled. You may have noticed a problem or two we have had with the server disk crashes in the past month or so. Well a backup system was installed but I have been adding content faster than they can backup, so when they restore it takes me a while to find out what missed the backup boat and some stuff gets left out. The lesson here is that hard disks are not infallible and you should back up your important stuff or be prepared to live without it someday. Think of it as safe computing practice. So what have we been doing since my last message? It is a lot of stuff and I hope I can list it all. Let me begin by thanking a lot of you for giving your time and talent to making HABA as useful as it is. The last update was Feb 1 and we seemed to have crammed a full year in since then. Fortunately, we can go to our Calendar web page and revisit each meeting and the photos taken. February was a double header plus. Bill Epps gave a great two day demo at Charlie and Sharon Heathcock’s shop in Dobin. The food was excellent thanks to our great cooking duo Robert Killbuck and Robert Scott. Leftovers Sunday were almost even better. Then we had our first Art Show and Dave Koenig was a wonderful organizer and demonstrator. The submittals are excellent representations of HABA work. Please see the photos on the web site and enjoy a little pride in our HABA work. We met a lot of people and have several new Members. Dave Koenig also had a big demo day at Washington on the Brazos Park, and we will schedule a meeting there this Fall. March was another double treat starting at Mark Finstad’s shop in town and this was a perfect follow-up to our art show. His admirable skills and patience in preparation and execution were enjoyed by all. Please see that web page page for the photos of the joinery and flower project. Then many went to the museum and toured the incredible gun exhibit featuring old and contemporary examples of rifle making. The next week we were setup at our Oldenburg Hammerfest hosted by Kennie and Susan Hall who invited us for the bbq supper that night. The wind was blustery that day but many forges were busy and we enjoyed a very comfortable Spring Day visiting and especially enjoyed seeing the treasures picked up in the antique markets nearby. April started early with the Katy Folk Life Festival. Board Member Frank Walters was featured in the Red Barn Shop and was assisted by Dave Koenig. James Porter and I stayed busy all day outside with our coal forges. The visitors were nonstop all day at all three forges and we made a lot of new friends again! They loved those nails that James made and gave away and I will have to do better to keep up next time. Here we are now already in May, and we have another great program lined up. But first our Board Members Les Cook and James Porter will be our representatives at Armand Bayou for their big fund raiser evening on May 8. On May 16 Dave Koenig will be at Bayou Bend representing us for their Family Day. See the web pages for more info. Forgot what it is? Start at www.habairon.org and stay awhile. May 15 we are Robert Killbuck’s AFAB shop in Magnolia and we will feature his very talented knifemaking friend Mitch Wilkins making billets of Damascus Pattern welded steel, using the anvil, treadle hammer, and power hammer. While the iron is heating, we will learn more about knife making. Does it get any better than this? Yes! We will again have great bbq brisket with red beans and rice with andouille served up by the team of Killbuck and Scott. June 19 is still being planned but looks like an indoor "get of the sun" meet featuring expert metallurgist explaining heat treatments, metal, and welding along with bbq and choice blacksmithing videos. Stay tuned for details. And this brings us to July and Richmond, Kentucky for the annual ABANA Conference which Dave Koenig has been working his tail off for the past year. He has a great program planned and you really want to be there. So what’s next? Send your suggestions and check back often. Thanks, and send me your feedback. Ready to Roll and Hammer, Richard Boswell
As a weekend blacksmith I am fairly new to the hammer and anvil compared to many of you, so I want to start off by thanking all of you for making this educational environment possible in the Greater Houston Area. Last year we saw a growth in membership of about 50% and I am hopeful to see this trend continue. We are a young and growing organization. I was not expecting to serve in this job so soon and was quite happy talking to you as your webmaster which I will continue doing. That is a fun job because we have an active membership to talk to and about the activities available. I am pleased that our web usage this month averaged 112 visits per day at www.habairon.org . With your help and support this volunteer job as your President will continue to be a joy to do. Outgoing President Les Cook really did a super job for us, following in Dave Koenig's boot steps, and leading us through a memorable year. Les continues on our Board of Directors which welcomes Lee Oates, Cathy Porter, and Tim Bailey to the table. Contact any of us and tell what you like and want as a HABA Member. We listen carefully to serve you. You are important to us and we want to see value returned to you. A basic theme we will try to pursue this year is "Back to Basics" featuring hands on workshops and not just entertainment. We want to provide the opportunity for experienced smiths to learn more and the novice to comfortably light that fire and move that metal around. Last month was very busy and February will continue with a full agenda. We have jumbo thank-yous for Lee and Judy Oates for hosting a great knife making workshop. When it rains it pours and we were fortunate to have a window to a fine day. These events don't happen by themselves and we had a lot of help and support from the membership. Some of the nearly 70 attendees almost had tears in their eyes that the day had to end. The list of help is lengthy and I want to especially thank Members Robert and Della Scott for the great food service, and Tom Lundquist for conducting our successful fund raising auction. They are also from the East Texas Blacksmith Alliance. Many others also traveled a long way, from neighbors LAMA and Balcones forge groups. And lastly, thank you donors for filling the auction table, and bidders for emptying it. We were reminded and invited to attend the Regional meetings coming up. See the message on our front web page for links to more information. I hope to attend both the Feb 28 Balcones Forge weekend with Lorelei Sims at Marble Falls, and "Banging on the Bayou" LAMA Conference in Lafayette on March 13. A good suggestion was made that we consider a bus load of local and regional members to attend the July ABANA Conference in Richmond, KY that Dave Koenig is working so hard on. Les said he has looked into bus trips before and he and I volunteered to look into this possibility. Any other thoughts on this? Next up for us is our first ever Art Show which will run Feb 11 to March 7 at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft downtown. See the special web page we have for this. Frank Walters created a beautiful poster for us, and Dave Koenig is doing all of the run around and collecting submission paper and stuff to display. I am really enjoying this opportunity and hope you will come down for the Opening on Feb 15 and the demos March 6. In fact, I got so inspired by this event I made a web page for my forge, created a touchmark design, made some new pieces special for the show, and borrowed back all the stuff I made and gave the wife and daughter for submission candidates. What a hoot for me to tell my friends that I'm an artist (maybe)! A benefit of the Art Show will be an opportunity to add to our on-line Gallery, which has been updated recently by Member Rick Barter. Please send us more photos to update or include here. And that's not all for the month! Feb 21 and 22 will feature North Texas Blacksmith Bill Epps in making animal heads and tools at Charley Heathcock's shop in Dobin, at no extra cost to you. Another special feature of this workshop: Bill is bringing his No. 5 Fly Press to work with also! We will have a limited number of metal supply kits available for sale with 18" long bars of various size for the critters we will make. Bring your own if you prefer. And bring your forge and tools because Bill is ready to work our tails off making these pieces. See the special web page for more info. What else is new you ask? We are creating a special Student web page with a BSA flavor to start with to help them with their Metalworking Merit Badge. Please check it out and contribute articles and stories those Students will find useful. Thanks, and send me your feedback. Ready to Roll, Richard Boswell Keep Safety First and Last A good summary of shop safety can be found at the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association site. Refresh yourself on these good tips. Keep Safety first and last for yourself and the rest of us.
Notes about this Website This website is Under Development and will continue to evolve for HABA Members.
Notes about this Website This website is Under Development and will continue to evolve for HABA Members. |