[hso]

We attended much of Bowie's Hammer-In this weekend in Knoxville. Even with short notice (Bowie wasn't originally going to go to all the trouble of putting it on) there was a good turn out.

I counted 30 or 40 bladesmiths and a few collectors. The presentations covered a range of topics from Confederate Bowie History to specific forging tricks and tips to equipment demonstrations (I saw a tiny little 4 brick forge not much bigger than a toaster that was more than hot enough to allow a smith to forge any size knife blade all the way up to two handed swords).

THR members were present as well. Stephen Fowler and Fuad Acawi always show up and help. Larry Harley attended as well. Stephen took time to show my daughter's buddy Thomas how to forge a blade this afternoon and Thomas made it home with the knowledge how to finish it out.

Here's Larry, Fuad and Stephen

[hso]

Here's a couple of pictures of some of the cutting competition. Smiths have to chop through a 2X4 for time, cut empty aluminum soda cans, cut through the largest number of fill water bottles they can and cut a free hanging manila rope with a single swing. All while their knives stay sharp enough to shave hair! No sharpening between events allowed.

[hso]

While amateur and professional smiths attended the event to learn new techniques the real future lies in smiths sharing their knowledge with kids. New makers and collectors don't just spring from the ground. Notice that there's no Nintendo in the boy's hand.

[hso]

A few other random images.

These are all forged by my buddy Alan Longmire. The hand and a half was done with the aid of a power hammer, but everything else is done by hand (file and sandpaper as well as hammer and forge).

[hso]

Grinder and little dragon.

[bikerdoc]

Awesome pics!

[hso]

That itty bitty little forge does everything needed because Mr. Landrum (the smith working with the little boy) worked out how to optimize the performance. All of us were ooohing and aaaahing over it as it heated steel so fast it took speaker/demonstrators by surprise. It also just sips gas. It ran 3 days, 10 hours a day and never had a change in gas. Other forges would have run through that big bottle in a day of heavy use. Heck, he even figured out he could provide the thing with regulator for $300 delivered.

[7X57chilmau]

That little forge is awesome! Any idea what's on it for a burner head? Looks very much like those one and 2 brick forges you posted a few weeks back....

J

[hso]

It uses a mig gas tip inside the bit of pipe with the leaves that control the air flow.

It was amazingly hot.

Of course it was heavily coated in satanite over lite-weight fire brick. The satanite is then coated with ITC-100 to increase the reflectance of it the interior surface.

Did I mention that it was amazingly hot?

[7X57chilmau]

:)

I hear it was hot.....

Spent some time the last couple weekends working my own forge a bit, making a couple small items.... Nice now that the cool weather's back and the wind's keeping my planes grounded :)

Thanks for putting up all the photos, hso. Hope to one day go to one of these shows. I'd learn more in a day than I've been able to these last 5 years, I figger.

I've yet to get the chance to observe a truely professional smith. Just a couple guys doing tourist wrought iron bits....

J

[hso]

Where are you located?

[7X57chilmau]

New Brunswick, Canada....

About an hour from the Maine border.

J

[Dimis]

HSO sounds like that was an awesome little event do they do that once a year?

id sure love to attend once or twice is it by invite only or open to the public?

[hso]

You're in luck then.

One of the most skilled smiths in North America is in Kings County, New Brunswick. His name is Jake Powing and he does amazing work. Here's his webpage - http://www.powning.com/jake/smithph/smithphl.shtml

You should get in touch with him and see if you can come over just to stand around and watch (and clean up around the forge).

Jake didn't attend Bowie's hammer-in, but he did send a piece to Alan Longmire in exchange for a hand crafted pipe Alan had made for Jake. The knife was a small 3 bar damascus seax. Jake had etched 2/3rds of it to show the pattern and then polished the bevel so that the pattern couldn't be seen. It was very striking. I don't have a picture of it, but I did handle this sword at Harley's Hammer-In a couple of years ago.http://www.powning.com/jake/images/patternwlded12.jpg

[hso]

Dimis,

Bowie's is open to the public. Other hammer-ins are open only to smiths and collectors or by invitation only. I assure you that anyone interested enough to go to one would be welcome, especially if you had a few hundred bucks in your pocket to purchase equipment, knives or tickets for "iron in the hat".

[7X57chilmau]

hso,

I met Jake years ago, we both did a summer camp thing at Kings Landing when we were maybe 13. I saw an article about him on CBC a couple years ago, and shot him an email then, but got no response.

I'll have to try him again some day. I've seen some of his work online, and it appears to be simply mindblowing. Haven't seen him since his parents (bronze sculptors and potters) held an open house at their studio when I was still in high school...

J