Blacksmither Radio

Douglas Pryor   Guest Intro: Douglas Pryor lives in Rockland, California and works as a repousse artist, primarily making armor. When possible, he uses only hand tools to mimic the authentic conditions of ancient  time periods. His main techniques are sculpting, raising, chasing and repousse. Douglas also moonlights as a parkour instructor. He’s been selected as one of the demonstrators for this year’s ABANA Conference in Salt Lake City.   What we talked about: Douglas got into armor making because he liked roughhousing as a kid, but found it could be painful. Instead of stopping the activity, he fashioned suits of protection out of gutter sheet metal and catcher helmets. That ultimately led him to look deeper into the topic of armor and he began taking metalworking courses.   He went to college for a welding program and was immediately hooked on metalwork. “I knew I wanted to work with metal as I continued to kind of fall in love with the elasticity and how much shape and three-dimensional form you can ge

Guest Intro paragraph Matt Jenkins is a Winnipeg, Canada-based blacksmith and owner of Cloverdale Forge. He got his start in blacksmithing by spending college summers at a Canadian national park doing historical re-creations for tourists. He later studied at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. He now works days as a mechanical engineer and nights and weekends in his own shop. Last summer he took first place in Drawing and Design and the World Forging Championship in Stia, Italy.   What We Talked About Matt followed in his father's footsteps by working summers at Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site as a blacksmith doing historical re-creations for the public. He recalls some of the funniest questions people asked him and the jokes his dad used to play on the tourists. Matt received a degree in mechanical engineering, but also studied at the John C. Campbell school in North Carolina, where he still teaches one week every summer. This year his class will take place in September. He

John Barron is a full-time blacksmith in Georgetown, CA.  He began working with metal in a large fabrication shop in Oakland, California in 1975 and learned. Today, he specializes in architectural ironwork and will be one of the demonstrators at the ABANA 2016 Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. What We Talked About John learned his trade from an Italian trained smith in a union iron-working shop in Oakland, California during the 1970's and 80's. He joined the Shopmen Ironworkers Union and worked in a large fabrication shop. One of the main skills he learned was how to design, build and install stair railings. In 1989 John left the Ironworks Union after being vested with them for 10 years. He moved to the Sierra Mountains and began working for Auburn Ironworks, the oldest running blacksmith shop in northern California. A few years after hiring John, the company downsized and let him go. This pushed John to start his own blacksmithing business. After five years of running the business he took a hard look at h

Patrick Quinn is a full-time blacksmith in Florida, New York.  He graduated with honors in sculpture from the School of Art and Design at Alfred University continued his education with Southern Illinois University to pursue his masters.  He is now a teacher at the Center for Metals Arts. What We Talked About While completing his bachelor’s degree at Alfred university he focused in fabrication of sheet metal work and hollow forms. When Patrick graduated he moved to Vermont for a job at a production forge company as a welder, but the company only had an opening for a blacksmith to mainly work on the power hammer and hydraulic bending machines pumping out production pieces, so he was hired for that position. While Patrick was working at the production forge he rented a local barn to have his own studio space to practice his hand forging. Eventually, he quit his job and ran his own blacksmith business in Vermont for a few years. This led him to some big stainless steel jobs to complete in NYC during the winters.

Guest Intro paragraph John McLellan is the owner of McLellan Blacksmithing in Loomis, California. He's also the president of the California Blacksmith Association and is serving as co-chair for the 2016 ABANA Conference taking place in Salt Lake City in July. John began his business shoeing horses and now primarily does high-end architectural and interior design metalwork. What We Talked About John's interest in blacksmithing began when he was 8 years old and inherited his grandfather's ranching equipment. He taught himself the trade by reading library books. In the 1970s he joined the California Blacksmith Association. McLellan Blacksmithing opened in 1977 and focused on shoeing horses, a skill John learned in a high school regional occupation program. He took the class for two years and then taught it for five years after graduating. He got into architectural blacksmithing in the mid-1980s, hired several employees and now works almost exclusively designing intricate metalwork for high-end homes. He spends

I'm reading two articles from the British Artist Blacksmith Association’s publication called “Artist Blacksmith”.  I am a member of this association and I recently read these articles thinking that I should share them on the podcast. I’m hoping it will be helpful to those of you that are in the business of blacksmithing. What I cover in the podcast A book review by Elspeth Bennie and Steve Rook on the book “The Art of Shouting Quietly” Pete Mosely is the author of the book and he has previously written articles for the Artist Blacksmith magazine, and was one of the key speakers at BABA’s seminar on personal development. The book looks at different ways to promote your blacksmith business. It guides you through a series of self-analysis exercises to ascertain how you tick. Helping you to understand yourself and your beliefs steers you in the right direction for success An article called “The Business of Blacksmithing” by Will Barker The article talks about how Will has come to some personal conclusions about

  Jerry Coe is a sculptural metalsmith who specializes in bronze. He's the founder of Coe Studios Architectural Lighting in Berkeley, California. His interest in blacksmithing began when he was a mountain climber and park ranger at Yosemite National Park. It was there that he became an apprentice stagecoach builder and has been blacksmithing full time since 1979. Jerry also enjoys tango dancing and is currently organizing a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina with a large group of blacksmiths from around the world. Jerry traveled to Argentina a few years ago and was amazed by the amount of iron work there. He said the quality and quantity rivals London, Paris and New York City. Yet because of political changes, no one has cared for it or developed any more since the 1930s. In fact, there are almost no blacksmiths left in the entire country. Jerry shared his pictures and stories from Argentina with a friend who edits a magazine and then produced a short video. A colleague who watched it encouraged him to apply fo

In today's podcast, I discuss how to keep yourself safe from carbon monoxide poisoning while you work. This problem is especially prevalent in the winter months when shops are sealed for warmth. How can you know if you have an acceptable level of CO? And what can you do if you don't? What We Talked About The article by Mark Manley titled, “How Much Carbon Monoxide is in Your Shop?” appeared in the California Blacksmithing Association newsletter in December 2006 and originally in the Northern Rockies Blacksmith Association Newsletter The article states that a properly adjusted propane forge produces little to no carbon monoxide with proper ventilation. But how do you know if yours is properly adjusted? And how do you know if you have enough air flow? The author suggests purchasing a carbon monoxide alarm for about $40. The unit plugs into the wall. It should have a digital display that reads from 0-999 parts per million (ppm) and will sound an 85-decibel alarm at 150 ppm. OSHA regulations state that 50 ppm is

Finin Liam Christie is a blacksmith and carpenter in Southern Ireland who's been blacksmithing since he was 16 years old. Originally from Dublin, he was a blacksmith apprentice for the national railway before working as the official contractor for the City of Dublin. A father of five, he owns his own forge where he specializes in steel and ironwork, primarily making gates and railings with traditional techniques. Finin is also a model steam train hobbyist. What We Talked About Finin's grandfather, James Christie, was considered one of Ireland's best blacksmiths and worked for the national railway. Although he died when Finin was just 5 years old, Finin had a five-year apprenticeship at the railway where he was taught by his grandfather's apprentices. Finin says he received excellent training by these older blacksmiths just before their retirement. After his railway work, Ireland had an economic downturn and Finin struck off on his own. He traveled by bike with his anvil on the back, his grinder along the cro

Jake James is a British-born blacksmith and operates his business out of his forge in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He has training from the Hereford College of the Arts in England and also apprenticed with Richard Bent for 3 years.  He is one of the demonstrators at this year’s ABANA conference in Salt Lake City Utah.  What We Talked About Jake “stumbled” into blacksmithing early on in his life and was encouraged to attend the Hereford College of the Arts. At Hereford he took extensive classes in the blacksmithing program for one year.  During the Easter Holiday students were encouraged to entre a “work placement” program, Jake was placed in Richard Bent’s workshop.  From there he was then was immediately hired as an apprentice by Richard Bent. Richard taught Jake how to free up his design work and invested a great deal of time and effort into Jakes training. Richard had a saying “There are no mistakes only opportunities” and it’s one of statements that has stuck with Jake through his designing. Afte

Welcome to 2016 on the Blacksmither Radio show.  This is episode #55 and I’m going to talk about a few things I have planned for you and for me. The theme of 2016 is “Education” for me, for BlacksmitHer radio, and for you!  I thought it was fitting since the theme of this year’s ABANA conference is “education” too!  A few things that are playing into this theme and the first one is super exciting to me! I’m introducing BlacksmitHer Academy, www.blacksmitheracademy.com .  The main mission of the academy is offer top notch blacksmithing education online.  You will be able to learn from the best blacksmiths around the world right from your own home.  It’s like I’m bringing the instructors to you – no travel expenses needed. There will be: Live blacksmithing workshops that are online in my new virtual classroom, they will have specific dates and times And eventually professionally created online technique courses, where you can learn at your own pace. Each course will have pictured tutorials, audio of the instru

2015 Wrap-up Well, 2015 has been excellent.  We’ve shared so much content through BlacksmitHer Radio and I have to say it’s been so much fun and nothing short of EPIC? Let’s re-cap what we’ve heard and learned:                Way back in January 2015 we found out about a touchmark that includes an anvil and gap-toothed smiley face…who was that, anyone??? That’s Dawn Raines touch mark from episode #14. Jodie Bliss, episode #14, told us that she writes a business plan every 6 months to stay on the right path. Then we heard straight from the owner of Nimba anvils, Jim Garrett in episode #16. How he and his brother became the owners and Jim’s latest project of 2 tons of forged bronze on a houseboat for a railing. Randy McDaniel told us about his new Hydraulic Forging Press book that he recently published with SkipJack Press and we heard from the owner of Skipjack Press Al Krysan.  They have a plethora of blacksmithing books. Then in February Tom Willoughby talked about the cool factor and his anvil vultures in ep

Stuart Geisler is an industrial blacksmith in Pennsylvania.  He specializes in a variety of high quality, hand-made tools for the cooperage industry and the slate quarry industry out of Granville, NY.  He started a blacksmith apprenticeship in 1977 after completing his physics and astrophysics at Villanova University. What We Talked About When he was a little boy, he would visit a place that inspired him to become a blacksmith, the Bryn Athyn Cathedral. The metalwork incorporates animals and plants made of iron and monel (a type of metal alloy similar to wrought iron but has 65% nickel and 25% copper in it and resistant to corrosion). Years later Stuart was studying Physics and Astrophysics as a graduate student at Villanova University. While attending University Stuart was looking for a job in Astronomy as a teacher, but they were hard to come by due to NASA cutbacks in the late 1970’s.  While looking for a job in the classifieds, he saw an advertisement for an apprentice blacksmith in the “A” section since

I’m reading an article from the California Blacksmith Association Newsletter, I belong to that organization and my membership has helped me in so many ways.  There are a lot of talented and skilled blacksmiths in California who belong to that association who share their tips and tricks of the trade.  The newsletter is one that I look forward to reading every time it publishes (every other month), for information on becoming a member visit http://www.calsmith.org/ .  The article is about Basic Forge –Welding by Jay Burnham-Kidwell, Golden Valley, Arizona.  Forge welding seems to be one of the most controversial procedures in blacksmithing.  Probably because it’s the most magical and scientific technique.  Clarifying the process is difficult both in a live workshop and in a written article.  Sharing the content in a podcast, audibly might be another way for you to absorb this magical process.  From the article:   “The basic requirements for a successful forge-weld are: A clean, reducing coke or gas forge Metal

Kate Dinneen is a master blacksmith from Lawrence, Kansas. She's owned her own business called Hot Flash Metalworks since 2006. Her work can be seen across Kansas as well as on the gates at Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London. Kate has studied and mentored with blacksmiths internationally and is currently serving as a Global Assistant to a World War I memorial being designed at an event next year in Ypres, Belgium. What We Talked About Kate's family came from Ireland many generations ago so she has a connection to the British Isles. She travels to the UK regularly to study and work there. One of Kate's biggest blacksmith influences is Uri Hofi. She has spent time learning from him in Israel. Two of his students taught her to strike in an ergonomic way that protects the body and allows her to strike much longer. Early in her career, Kate was involved in a new gate design at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London where she created one of the featured design elements. Kate stays very busy at Hot Flash Metalwor

Victor Plitt is a hobby blacksmith in Central Pennsylvania.  He is a truck driver by trade and started blacksmithing a few years ago.  Victor has also founded the Iron Forge Fire online blacksmith forum. What We Talked About When Victor decided to take up blacksmithing as a hobby, he went to the internet to look for tools to buy and information on learning techniques. He came across the I Forge Iron forum and created a profile to be able to interact with the other members.  Soon after joining the forum, Victor’s profile was deleted and he was not allowed back into the forum.  Victor thinks it was because he entered his website information in his profile. The Iron Forge Fire forum allows you to promote your business and website within your profile. You can also contribute and post information without a profile.  There are about 209 members right now. Victor held an “Iron in the Pot” challenge this past summer, it’s a very flexible contest for its beginner members to forge something within certain requiremen

My guest today is Andy Blakney, one of the owners of the Quick & Dirty tool company.  They specialize in making affordable tongs made here in the US out of Auburn Washington.  On October 20, 2015 there was a large warehouse fire that burned in their shop and most of the contents, tools, machinery, stock.  Andy tells us where they stand right now in assessing the damage.  The very next day after the fire a Facebook page was created to help raise some money to help support the owners of the business and their families.  People have been donating tools, knives, blacksmithing classes with all of the money going directly to Andy Blakney and Larry Langdon. What We Talked About Quick and dirty Tool Co started in March of 2014 when Andy started working with Larry on making blacksmith tongs. The business has grown quickly to where Andy was making tongs 60 hours a week.  In 2014 he made over 4,000 lbs of tongs. Both Larry and Andy learned a lot of tool making skills from Grant Sarver who owned Off-Center Tools, wh

Dan Nauman has been forging since 1979 and has been forging professionally since 1993.  A turning point in his blacksmithing career was when he spent eight days learning from Francis Whitaker in Carbondale, CO, and three years later took Whitaker’s Master Class.  With that knowledge, he started his forging business in Kewaskum, Wisconsin.  At one point, he owned and operated three blacksmiths shops and up to 14 employees.  Dan has demonstrated/taught at numerous blacksmith conferences, schools, and colleges.  He has won two international awards for design and workmanship from the National Ornamental and Miscellaneous Metals Association (NOMMA.)  He served on the (ABANA) board of directors from 2000-2006 and is now the new editor of the Hammer’s Blow magazine.  What we talked about Dan’s interest in blacksmithing derived from a childhood of self-sufficiency at a family summer cabin in the backwoods of Wisconsin. He visited a blacksmith shop nearby and was excited to see the craft was still alive. He eventuall

The Last Hammer’s Blow for Mark Aspery Welcome to Blacksmither Radio, it’s Episode number 47 and today I have a very special guest to mark a change in the Hammer’s Blow editorship. If you are unfamiliar with what the Hammer’s Blow is, it’s a quarterly publication of technical blacksmith projects offered by the non-profit org ABANA.  And today I have Mark Aspery here to talk about the end of his time being editor of the Hammer’s Blow.  What we talk about: Mark talks about what it takes to put together one issue. He has asked the submitters to send him their forged example pieces for him to photograph because he already has the equipment and set-up.  Then there is a discussion around the wording or text for the article.  Mark creates a press ready pdf document in a specific software for editing and producing a magazine. Within each issue, Mark likes to have at around 4 to 5 different articles published. The goal for Mark has been to include beginner, intermediate and expert level forging projects. The Hammer’s