ArtMetal

Blacksmiths in the Northeast might be interested to know that the Atalntic Coast Blacksmiths Association will be hosting a regional conference at Ashokan, NY on the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th of September, 2008.  This is slated to be the first in a series of planned annual regional conferences to fill the gap left when ABANA decided to cancel the 2008 National Conference.  It promises to be a truly great occasion with some truly top-tier demonstrators lined up.

Mark Aspery will be demonstrating traditional joinery, David Norrie will be doing functional architectural work, and Peter Ross, the head smith at Colonial Williamsburg will be doing his usual tremendous job with traditional colonial techniques.  In addition, there will be several shorter demonstrations by other smiths from various areas.  I will be presenting a demo entitled "Have Gun, Will Travel", or "101 Things You Can Do With A Muffler Gun."  A muffler gun, for those who don't already know, is a one-handed pneumatic hammer, and the range of things you can do with one and some special tooling for it is really amazing.  The other pick-up demos have not been announced, as far as I know.

You can get the details of this great opportunity, and download the registration form at:

http://www.acblacksmiths.org/index.html

Since this is the first of what is planned to be an annual event, my guess is that there will not be a lot of vendors or tailgaters there, allowing me the opportunity to really focus on the demonstrations.  The ones I'm going to be watching, not the one I'll be presenting, that is. :-)  Too often at these things, I spend too much time at the sales area and miss too much of the demos, but not this time.

The Ashokan meet will be held at the Ashokan Campus facility, a park-like setting several miles out of town.  As such, I'm opting to get the full package with bunkhouse and meals so that I don't have to drive twenty miles to eat or sleep.  It all should make for a very intensely concentrated long weekend of blacksmithing and camaraderie in an absolutely gorgeous woodland setting.  I'm really lookng forward to it and recommend it if you're anywhere near that area. 

I look forward to perhaps seeing some of you there.

Rich Waugh