http://www.nysha.org/calendar/entry_detail.asp?descr=321&Date=10/2005&Category=all
EARLY IRON Blacksmith Symposium to be held at The Farmers' Museum,
Cooperstown, NY
Friday, October 7, 2005
10:00 a.m. at The Farmers' Museum
Admission: $150.00 for the three day event, which includes breakfast
and lunch each day. One day
tickets are $75. Any specific lecture can be attended for $5.
The second annual "pre-industrial iron symposium" will be hosted by
The Farmers' Museum of
Cooperstown, NY. This three day event will bring together
professionals and enthusiasts from around
the country to participate in activities, demonstrations and lectures
related to the production of
bloomery iron. New York State was once a leading iron and ironwork
producer in the United States, and
specifically bloomery iron played an important role in both the
state and country's economies. The
symposium will commence on Saturday, October 7, with the lighting of
a charcoal fire. On the second
day, professional blacksmiths will fire up a smelter, culminating in
the third day when demonstrators
will fashion an artifact from the iron made the previous days.
Lectures and demonstrations pertaining
to the making and use of early iron will be ongoing. The final
schedule will be available in September.
Call Karen Wyckoff at (607) 547-1410 or toll-free (888) 547-1450 for
registration and details.
*******
Plans for this year are to break as many of the participants as
possible into teams of 4 - 6 individuals.
Under the direction of experienced iron smelters Lee Sauder / Skip
Williams / Mike McCarthy / Darrell Markewitz these teams will build
and then fire their own 'Flue Tyle' type small experimental smelter.
This furnace was developed by the 'Gange aux Fer' at SmeltFest in
February. Test fired a number of times, this smelter built around a
standard clay flue tile can consistently produce blooms in the 20 lb
plus range, yet is simple and fast to build.
Our intent is for each of the leaders to supervise two working teams
- for a total of eight smelters being fired at the same time!
Certainly a North American, if not a world, FIRST.
Interested individuals are encouraged to pre register, as there are
sure to be more participants at the conference than there are
openings on the smelt teams. First registered - first assigned to a
smelt team.
Individuals are also encouraged to BRING YOUR LOCAL ORE. If you can
bring enough to supply a smelt, we hope to experiment with a number
of regional ore types. Typically 30 - 60 lbs of your ore (dry) is
required for a smelt (depending on type and purity).
JOIN US!
Darrell
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