NEB Spring Meet, 2008 !
The Images!
Pictures in chronological order.
Friday arriving around 1:45 in the afternoon on friday Bob Menard was directing people to help get things set up
Owen and Bob strung up some extension cables for the power tools
The first of many forges getting set up at the pavilion
A really nice twisting jig, which we didnt use.
The two portable forges from the shop down the hill were rolled up and Bob's really nice propane forge setup as well
Setting up yet another forge cart, there were plans to get a whole lot of work done in a short time
Bob's really nice propane forge, weighs a ton but it's built like a tank
Probably the slickest portable leg vise mount idea I've seen, using a volleyball net poll base
The prototype of the benches that were going to be made. This one used half round iron slats, we would be using wooden slats
Making a 2nd copy of one of the bending jigs for the bench
The propane forge up and running, it's suprisingly very quiet
The big stand alone welding setup that was brought
People setting up camp behind the pavilion while more equipment was unloaded and setup
Owen, Bob, and Ralph discussing the plan for the next day
Bob and Ralph use one of hte scrolling jigs, which helped make sure that the scrolls were all very consistant
Even with the metal at proper heat, there's a lot of torque made by bending it around the scrolling jig, but that volleyball net base worked great and steady
Checking the scroll for flatness against the jig and tweaking it where needed
Making a leg piece bend against the jig for the layout piece
John smoothing out a forged heavy wall pipe candle stand with an angle grinder
Supper time!
A modest crowd gathering for supper, Iron in the hat and auction items getting put on the tables along the side of the function hall
The side layout of the bench
Getting set up for the evening slide shows
Everyone watching the first presentation
Whit presenting as it got later in the evening
Carl Close presenting some of the awsome work that he had done and describing some of the methods used
Early saturday morning, just before 7am, with almost no one up yet
A very nifty forged tree section on the show and tell table
The centerpiece design and finished example for the railing project
People milling around with coffee, juice, and some excelent sweat breads for breakfast
I forgot to get a clear picture of it, but to the left of Mark in this picture you can see leaning against an anvil a huge section of tapered twisted iron, from somewhere around 1.75 inches tapered to 1 inch and twisted together, made at George Martell's shop, very impressive.
Trailer parking for the multiple people who all brought complete forging setups
Mark starting the first forge up for the day, in the foreground is his 2 burner propane forge with a neat hot air recycler and pre-heater
Planning the twist pattern layout for the railing
Lots of people arriving and getting assignments for tasks to get the day's work done
A better picture of the same
Gary Reed heats up a short section of bar to be twisted to get the twist count right for all the rest
Steve Smith starting the first twist of the day
Great care was taken to make sure that the twists were a consistant length
Jack Daniel showing off his Flip video recorder, it looks like a digital camera but it actually is a completely self contained low resolution (I.E. Youtube quality) digital camcorder with USB interface. Quite nifty!
Assabet Valley Tech came with their metal working program students
Starting some of the leaves for the center pieces
Heating pipes to be made into the cat o' nine tail segments, note the rags stuck in the end of the pipes for safety
Mark Kellog and Courtney Mead tapering bench segments to prepare for scrolling
Courtney doing his best power hammer impersonation
Taffy tending the fire and making sure that nothing gets burnt while more segments are tapered
Keith Clark fullers down some pipe
Some pieces made by the folks at the Assabet Valley Tech program
A pair of dice
A really nice looking book with copper lettering
The Brentwood facility and greencoal area, the tent beside it was to become the welding station
This one got blurred
an un-blurry picture of the green coal area inside the shop
Nick and XXXX (69 in the auction) working on some hooks, Regina in the background also working on one
Regina listening to forging tips
The tailgating area, most of the best stuff went wicked fast this time
A whole bunch of single twist segments twisted and straightened
Les Ossit straightening one of the double twist segments
Almost all of the twisted bannister segments for the railing were finished before lunch
The Assabet Valley folks fabricating up some sign hangers
Punching and drifting the center bannisters
This post vise was skidding around too much while scrolling so while Ralph held the end to the jig Mark was doing a little dance while they supported the I-beam to keep it from spinning away from the torque.
Starting another scroll, vise grips worked great to hold the stock to the jig
Dance Mark, dance !
The scrolls need to be flattened down after being run around the jig. When done fast the whole scroll and flattening and straightening any twist could be done in one heat per side
A really nice foot pedal operated oxy-propane torch setup
More twisting
Lunch! Hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad and lots of cookies
The line went all the way around the wall and out the door for lunch.
A bench vise mounted to a large angle iron plate with a hardy shaft for mounting on an anvil
Ralph using the layout to explain how the leg and back pieces need to be drilled for the slats
Scrolling the other side of the support pieces. I am definately going to make myself some scrolling jigs the next time I need to make more htan one scroll for something. The amount of time saved in making perfect repeatable results is huge
Mark flattening out the 2nd sideas the next bar come out of the forge behind him to get scrolled
A picture of one of the scrolling jigs out of the vise
A few showers, at times quite heavy, darkened the day, Marc Godbout steps under the pavilion to get out of the rain
Bob Bordeaux works on forging out some coil spring for a knife blade
John instructing some people on forging, two making tongs, and one making a hook
Rosco taking a nap
Drawing out the reins for a pair of tongs
Setting up, trimming and final fitting the bannisters for the railings down at the welding area
Regina learning how to forge a leaf
Having a person sledge for you makes drawing out the reins for tongs much faster
Renata was visiting all the way from out in the bay area of Callifornia
The sun finally came out again in the afternoon and everything was still quite bussy up at the pavilion
Some fire dancing practice by one of the Assabet students, she was quite good!
Nick marks some back pieces against the layout for drilling holes
Keith and John Clark
One of the nice forge carets that people were using, a very nice design that makes for a great traveling demo setup
Nick and Dave chatting just before supper
Supper ! Mmmm, steak and baked potatoes
The NEB 30th birthday cake
Owen kicking off the after-supper meeting with some thanks and congratulations
Bob and Richard doing Iron in the Hat drawings. Bob generously allowed the use of his own hat. I think his big smile was because this was where he just about ended the iron in the hat early by driving Richard from the building with a natural gas leak.
Richard auctioning off a pair of candlesticks
Auctioning off a dinnerbell / wind chime (balanced so that it'll ring itself if you hang it from the center)
Auctioning off a very nice blacksmith knife that Ian Eddy made and donated
People clearing out for the night after the auction finished, and settling their tabs
My mom, who's house I stayed at instead of camping out for the meet
Early sunday morning, you can see the forge I picked up from Ed Cannon in the back of my silver pickup here.
Not only is he a master smith, but he's a master cheff too! Bob cooking buttermilk pancakes sunday morning.
The last picture was blurry, so here's a much better one
Breakfast! Buttermilk pancakes, real maple syrup, and sausage links. You can get a good sense of just how tall Nick really is as he's standing here towering over everyone else
Firing up the forges sunday morning to finish up the projects started the day before
Mark matching up some parts for sign hangers and seeing what parts need to be finished
Chip forging out some leaves for the centerpiece of the railings
The really nice post drill on this forge setup
Jack and Carl drilling the holes in the back supports
Nicely scrolled and bent pieces having left their mark on the grass where they were set to cool
A good picture of the air grate and firepot on one of the portable forge setups
Working on more leaves
Mark working on a scroll for a sign hanger
Lots of work was going on in the welding area sunday morning
Welding in some of the bannisters
Regina and XXXX (#69 in the auction) hard at work in the green coal area
crazy pose
Drilling to a larger diameter hole the holes in the leg supports
Forging out his first taper to make a hook
Regina with the letter opener she forged... having blinked!
Making sure she didnt blink for the camera
Whit welding the cat o' nine tail segments to the stem segments
The rail sections almost ready for the top railings to be afixed
Wire brushing off the welded up cat o' nine tails stems and cleaning up the welds so that they cant be seen with an anglegrinder
Jack cleaning up some welds on a sign hanger
Les Osit forging out a footing for a sign hanger while Gene tends the fire
A much smaller crowd was still around for the sunday morning work, though a good number were down at the welding area next to green coal
John Nash and half of Dick next to the last truck with stuff left over for tailgating
Using the foot pedal controlled oxy-propane torch to heat up stock in localized places
Carl Close matching up leaves and cat o' nine tail segments