April 2011 GCBA Meeting

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GCBA enjoyed a beautiful day at our May 1 meeting at Buddy’s shop.

Larry House reported a successful two-day Fire in the Swamp. He and John Perilloux managed a perfectly executed iron pour on Sunday. They made several box molds and pours directly in the ground, including a large iron cross.

Our newest member, Ben Boerner, winner of the tool box raffle, came to sign up and watch some work at the forge.

Chuck Robinson demonstrated his process for fitting a handle on tapered hidden tang blades. He included the use of a 4-flute carbide reamer to shave the annealed tang as a Japanese blade smith would use his “Sen”. This is a tool used to plane the annealed steel on the blade much as a spoke shave shaves wood. In the accompanying photos you can also see the use of a silver guard and a special jig for grinding the guard to thickness. Also shown is a special tool for cutting out the slot in the handle.

Norbert Delph returned a rebuilt blower for an annex forge so we will have all forges ready to run for the next meeting.

New Business

You are reminded that our Annual Elections will be held at our next meeting, May 29. Please be prepared to make nominations for President, Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer as well as board members. It would be best to have the permission of anyone you wish to place in nomination.

Demonstrations coming up in the fall include:

George Ohr Festival, Sat-Sun October 1st & 2nd.
Bush Tractor Pull, Sat November 5
26th Annual Scottish Games and Celtic Festival, Sat-Sun November 12th & 13th

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Click any photo below to manually sequence through the gallery.
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: Carbide reamer

: Using a carbide reamer as a Sen

: Retangular punch for forming the tang slot in the knife guard

: Guard grinding jig

: Silver guard held by jig

: Diagram of handle drilling jig

: Marking drilling lines on the handle

: Cutting tang slot after drilling

: Tang slot cutting tool

: Slot cutter

: Full view of tool

: Sliding handle on tang

: Checking handle fit on hidden tang

: Using a slotted wooden drift to set the silver guard on the tang

: (another view)

: Placing blade in the jig after applying epoxy to tang

: Handle in place before clamping

: Clamping blade

: Handle clamp jig

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Discoveries

Did this creature crawl out of the bayou behind Buddy’s shop? See Sid Gale's Gator.

Chuck recommends the article Of Iron & Stagecraft by Trenton Ty, in The Iron Trillium, a publication of the Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association.

Let renowned metal artist Valentin Yotkov introduce you to the ancient art of Ornamental Chasing And Repoussé: The Magic of Sculpting in Metal.

This excerpt from his upcoming book is an excellent primer on adding Repoussé and Chased items to your work.

Check out Tim LeMien's creative restoration of an antique fire pot.

Check out our unique collection of Period Sketches, Paintings and Photos depicting blacksmithing throughout history.

Discover The Legend of The Iron Worker and King Solomon and the extraordinary metal engraving by John Sartain depicting the blacksmith who challenged the great artisans at the dedication banquet of the Temple of Jerusalem.

Browse our collection of Vintage Art styled after the classic American poem, The Village Blacksmith, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Check out our ABANA page for links to current ABANA News Topics and sections of the ABANA website most relevant to GCBA members.

Gulf Coast Blacksmith Association