Blacksmiths' Hammer-in with the Adirondack Blacksmiths - NYSDB

The first Blacksmith's Hammer-In meeting for the Adirondack Chapter of the NYSDB was at The River Forge, and was hosted by Marty Snye.  It was a good get together.  Marty has a great shop.

A Hammer-In is a teaching meeting for Blacksmiths.  You bring your own hammer and come on in!  The Adirondack Chapter is a part of the New York State Designer Blacksmiths.  Both are educational organizations that seek to preserve and teach the skills of Blacksmithing.  A number of demonstrations and projects were done throughout the day.  I demonstrated some traditional forge welded items made with the coal forge, hammer, and anvil.

Work was done on the old South Bend Lathe.  A repair gear blank for a hand crank forge blower was turned from copper bar stock.  Old tools are still good tools if you can make the replacement parts yourself!

A young member finished a project started at a previous meeting.  He had forged and filed a knife blade blank from an old file.  At this meeting he hardened it in oil and then drew the temper with a torch.  Look at the range of temper colors in the iridescent sheen on the steel.

A meeting is also a social event that not only gives people a chance to teach and learn, but also a chance to catch up.

Marty's English Mouse hole Forge Anvil is probably around 160 years old.  It looks ready for a lot more work!

It was a fun meeting.  If you are interested in learning more about Blacksmithing look for the ABANA chapter organization near you!