[TheForge] ABANA cook-out

[Chris Worsley]

Mike,
Many thanks to you and the others who have offered answers to my note 
about the conference. I am sure that all those on the list, like myself, 
who did not make the trip to Seattle are appreciating your reports.

Ries - Thanks also for the info on the little Anyang. My view through 
the webcam was more skewed than I thought, and I did not realize it was 
as big as the 33 pounder.
If the 33 is a "tabletop" model, the 15 must be a laptop, eh?  

Chris


Mike Porter wrote:

>Chris,
>I was there, but working with the grounds crew and pretty tired most of the
>time, so this will only be an over-view.
>
>In the first place there were at least 1,000 people attending, but without
>any sense of crowding thanks to the huge location. The exception to this
>would be during moments of peak interest during demos; after all, only so
>many people can swarm around a demonstrator at any given time.
>
>The weather was fine for the most part; just a little drizzle on one day,
>and sunny (low to mid seventies) with a cooling breeze off lake Washington
>for the most part. 
>
>The auction display was huge and showed very nice metal sculpture pieces
>with a lot of variety.
>
>There were classes, large and small; all well attended. People seemed to be
>pretty well satisfied with what they learned. I gave one of the small
>classes and was surprised by the overflow (about double the people we had
>seats for). The class started fifteen minutes early and ran two hours
>instead of the single hour planned for. BTW, many thanks to Dan Brewer for
>his assistance in answering peoples questions; there were just too many for
>one person to handle.
>
>The demonstrations were plentiful and went on for hours; people seemed to be
>quite satisfied with them too.
>
>There was a so-called beer garden area right next to the water, with seating
>under a monstrously large tent as well as outdoor seating. There was live
>entertainment at night, including a band and Polynesian dancers, none of
>which I stayed around for (tired old men need their sleep). Someone else can
>fill you in on that. How good the beer was I don't know, but the coffee was
>merely acceptable by Seattle standards.
>
>People came from everywhere, but I enjoyed the Aussies most. They gave
>excellent demos, and had a great sense of humor. Probably, the ring project
>made the nicest auction item; wouldn't be surprised to find it featured in
>The Anvil's Ring.
>
>My favorite demonstrations were:
>A demonstration of clay marking on Japanese swords
>
>Raising and sinking with an air-hammer
>
>Assembly of the ring project
>
>There were more anvils displayed than in Kentucky. Nimba provided anvils for
>all the demonstrators who wished to use them; they seemed to be very
>popular.
>
>There were, of course, air hammers galore, which have zero interest for me
>
>There was a pretty interesting chasing hammer set-up with a low priced DVD
>how-to instruction manual for sale
>
>Swan provided very nice propane forges, brought all the way from the UK,
>which were efficient, powerful, without dragon's breath, and loaded with
>safety features; I considered them to be excellent in every way (except for
>their fancy paint jobs, which cannot be expected to survive hard use). The
>ABANA coal forges seemed to be used a lot less than in Kentucky.
>
>Networking is probably the least mentioned and most important aspect of
>these conferences. I had the pleasure of meeting Doug Endrud, one of the
>readers I'd corresponded with and who's equipment is featured in the photos
>at the back of Gas Burners (second printing). I also had the chance to meet
>James Binnion, a metal artist who shares (important) equipment interests of
>mine as well as a mutual friend. Dan and I got to spend time during the day
>with Phlip, although I was too tired to make the cook-out. No doubt others
>with more time made even more satisfying contacts. 
>
>In other words, the 2006 conference was a huge success; It was bigger,
>better, and a lot more comfortable than the 2004 Kentucky conference; the
>on-site toilet facilities were also FAR superior.
>
>The only disappointment was the tailgate area, which was under attended,
>being a long way for many of the regulars to haul their stuff. However we
>did see "just the cutest" little table-top hammer there, which Dan and I
>promptly memorized; an improved version could be very handy for small work.
>Mikey
>
> 
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
>[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of xlch58 at swbell.net
>Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 4:32 PM
>To: Sponsored by ABANA
>Subject: Re: [TheForge] ABANA cook-out
>
>Chris Worsley wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Is anyone going to say anything in detail about the conference other 
>>than a few comments on the BBQ?
>>Seems like a waste of  TheForge.
>>Maybe no one watched any demos or saw anything new, just ate oysters 
>>and drank beer.
>>
>>Chris
>>AZ
>>    
>>