[TheForge] Re: Pure Iron Truck Specials.

[Phlip]

----- Original Message -----
From: <MRScherm@aol.com>
To: <theforge@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2002 1:20 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Re: Pure Iron Truck Specials.


> In a message dated 8/21/2002 11:43:14 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> avida@nautilusgroup.com writes:
>
>
> > Mike,
> > I'm wondering, did your marketing extend beyond the ABANA community?
>
> I'm not sure what exactly you mean by beyond ABANA; if you mean to all
> blacksmiths regardless of affiliation, or do you mean "other than
> blacksmiths"?  We tried several publications, all blacksmith related, and
> attended meets from Maine to Arizona and up through Ohio (SOFA) etc.  I'm
not
> sure if you call these ABANA meets or not.  As far as selling the Pure
Iron
> for "non-blacksmithing" use, we have sold some for magnetic applications
due
> to the fast response of pure iron and low residual magnetism, but it was
all
> bits and pieces and not at all worth the effort.  So, did you have another
> market in mind?
> Mike Schermerhorn
> Pure Iron Spokesman
> Art & Metal Co.

Mike, I was discussing this at Pennsic, with other smiths, and I think there
is a consensus that the marketing was not optimal. I think you hoped for too
much, with too little effective effort (notice I'm not saying you didn't put
a lot of effort into it, it's just that I think it was not necessarily
directed as effectively as it might have been).

I think you need to look beyond your intended usages, essentially for the
home smith, and think how this might be of interest for other applications.
The magnetic thing was a start, but who else might use it?

One answer is recreationists. There are quite a number of Historical
reenactment organizations out there, who'd be quite thrilled to get pure
iron for some of their reenactment specialties, and I'm not just talking
about SCA. Most folks from SCA tend to be quiet on this List because they
don't want to overpower those of you who aren't. I tend to know who they are
because I'm open about my involvement, but there's only so much PI I can
use, particularly since my forge has been cold for a while. OTOH, beyond
SCA, there are a lot of early groups who could and would use PI- the Roman
Legions, for example, or the Byzantine mercs- in fact, most reenactment
groups from before the US Civil War would have uses for it.

One problem I discovered, when I stopped by to buy some, is that there
wasn't stock in the one size I needed- it was advertised as being there on
the website just before I left, but it wasn't there, yet I also found some
stock that wasn't advertised in another size. And, I had a Hell of a time
finding the place because the Pure Iron sign was down, and no one had
mentioned that the main sign said Titanium.

I think Pure Iron can be made a viable product, but it's going to take some
thinking and effective advertising- it's enough of a specialty product that
it just isn't going to jump off the shelves.

Phlip