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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