Some things are free, but much more with Membership!

On 19/06/11 6:28 PM, John wrote:

Is it true that the iron smelt is on Thurs. only? That is my primary interest at the conference ...

The iron smelt by members of the Dark Ages Re-Creation Company will take place over the full day of Thursday 28, the opening day of CanIRON 8. The team will start the furnace build roughly 9 am, expects to be ready for the start of main sequence by noon, pulling the bloom roughly 4:30 - 5 pm.

This is a free, public outreach part of the conference. I'm expecting that I personally will be stuck running around organizing, but feature demonstrators Mike McCarthy and Jesus Hernandez are members of the "Early Iron Underground" and will be able (Mike especially) to lend a hand.

Of course you might expect that I should be plugging the full four day conference!

Jesus Hernandez, who works in the Japanese bladesmithing traditions, will be taking part of the DARC iron bloom and later demonstrating forging it down to a blade blank.


If you are interested in ancient historical methods, I think you will be interested in the (amazing) work of Jake Powning, who will be demonstrating Viking Age style pattern welding (twisted composite core), plus lecturing on his blend of Celtic and Norse designs.


There is a packed schedule of feature demonstrations, hands on workshops, lectures and panel sessions for paid registrations to CanIRON 8. One of the missions of the hosting organization, the Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association, is to inform and educate the general public about the 'art and mystery' of the blacksmith. For that reason we have included a full program of public outreach events.

Other aspects of CanIRON 8 which are being presented as FREE public access:

- Friday & Saturday (roughly 9-12 a + 1:30-4 p): Come see members of OABA, under David McCort, work on completing the Fergus Park Bench project.
- the Gallery is open daily from 1:30 - 4:30 p, including 'meet the artist' sessions
- our Auction takes place Saturday starting at 6:30 p, bid on original hand forged art pieces (plus smithing related items like tools and hands on courses)
- 'Hammer In' style demonstrations, Sunday 9 - 12 a, where members of OABA will present their skills using a range of forge equipments and working styles.
- Forging Competition, Sunday 1:30 - 4:30 p, always a lot of action and highjinks as teams of smiths (stuggle?) to make an object with limited materials and time.

For further information:

CanIRON 8 web site
Registration
Schedule

PUBLIC Auction - at CanIRON 8

- (of special interest to the Blacksmithing community)

CanIRON 8 will be hosting an auction, open FREE to the general public, on Saturday July 30, 6:30 - 9 pm.
The action will take place at Wellington County Sportsplex, Fergus Ontario.

We are seeking objects of all kinds to be sold at this auction:
- Individual value should be + $50
- Ideally items should be blacksmithing related : Tools / Forged pieces / other objects of interest
- Items DONATED to OABA will be sold to offset CanIRON's cost
- Individuals may contribute PERSONAL items for sale, subject to a 30% commission
- All sales will be 'cash and carry'
- For conference members, your registration is also your auction number

REMEMBER - With the general public in attendance, we expect prices for original hand forged work to be HIGH!�

Volunteers Needed!

Fellow Members,

As I write this there are just 46 days to the start of CanIron VIII.

For nearly two years a small group of people have put in countless volunteer hours on your behalf to organize this event. The hard work has been done for you. What we need now is for every member who is attending CanIron to help out and volunteer just a few hours of their time if they are able to. We need people to man the gates, help at the forging stations, sell tickets and especially for set up and take down. Every blacksmithing event relies on volunteers, some more than others. With this event we need more than the few who have already signed up. There are no special blacksmithing skills needed, just a willingness to help, so please get in touch with Dan Linkenheld dlinkenheld@ gmail.com or myself barbmick@xplornet.com.

Remember this is our event, no one can do it for us. It is us who will benefit from what we all put into it.

Thanks & be safe

Mick Smith