[TheForge] Sacred cows are better eaten than catered to.

[Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer]

I'll second Ries on this.
I want to see the best blacksmiths doing  difficult or novel 
work...that's why i go.
I want to learn new stuff...and i've been to enough conferences 
and made enough of my own mistakes that that is getting harder to 
find. I want to see new tools in action, or old tools used in new 
ways. I'm too old to be a beginner gracefully any more.
A national conf needs to reflect the diversity of the 
members...and therefore needs really big power hammers...and 
little ones....and hand held ones....and home made ones and a few 
purists who only use hammers and anvils more than 300 years old 
while strictly powering their forges on the methane saved from 
their very own farts.
Like the nation..part of the strength of ABANANA is it's ( 
pardon) diversity....there's plenty of room for us all.
Unlike Ries, i'm still quite willing to sleep on the ground and 
not shower for a week. A conf more after the SCA model or, 
better, Burning Man, would be just fine with me....pete f
ries wrote:
> Well, I have to disagree.
> First, I have paid, on average about a thousand bucks, to go to 5 
> conferences. And if it was an all hand hammering show, I cant say I 
> would do that.
> And I think that a lot of the other people who actually do pay, and 
> attend, would feel the same way. There are numerous demos of hand 
> hammering, all over the country, all the time.
> me, I have no interest in most of em, and certainly wouldnt pay the 
> bucks, and take the time off, to see one- even if it was 5 days of Peter 
> Ross.
> 
> As far as ownership of power hammers, maybe I run with the wrong crowd, 
> but I would say most of the smiths I know have em. Big boys, too, and 
> often more than one.
> I wouldnt say they are infintesimal, at all.
> Here in the NWBA, an average meeting is 175 or 200 smiths, and I am sure 
> the power hammer ownership percentage is at least 50%.
> 
> At a national Abana conference, I dont know if its that high, but 
> certainly out of the 500 to 700 paid attendees, there are several 
> hundred power hammer owners there. I know I talk to a lot of em- like 
> the guy from Norway who has 5 Beche's.
> 
> Any smith who is serious about producing work, either buys or builds one 
> eventually.
> 
> And many of the techniques developed on power hammers, and demoed on 
> them, are then transfered to smithin magicians, fly presses, hydraulic 
> presses, and so on.
> 
> But the bottom line is the most interesting demonstrators are the guys 
> who live and breathe forging- these are the guys who have been pushing 
> the envelope for the last 40 years or so, and inventing all these new 
> ways of looking at hot metal, and they usually work with power. So to 
> see them demo, you need to give them the tools they need to show you.
> 
> And as far as who wants to see giant industrial machines operating-
> I DO!
> every day, and twice a day on weekends, please.
> 
> ries
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 15, 2007, at 11:13 AM, Kathy wrote:
> 
> What is the percentage of artist blacksmiths who have industrial power 
> hammers?
> How many ABANA members, or regional organization members have--or ever 
> plan to
> acquire--an industrial power hammer? If the percentage is as low as I 
> suspect,
> than why are these power hammers given such a high priority at blacksmith
> conferences?
> 
> The point I'm trying to make is that, if successful conferences on any 
> level are
> going to be put on, perhaps we should make sure that the amount of 
> consideration
> given to sacred cows conforms to their actual relevance in the lives of the
> hoped for audience. If the audience is going to be general, not many of 
> them
> will be able to operate an industrial power hammer in their garages. 
> Even the
> minority who live in the country aren't likely to invest in such 
> equipment. Now
> consider the infinitesimal few who have proved their interest in industrial
> hammers by going out and acquiring one. Given a choice between looking 
> at one
> more industrial brand, or a cleverly constructed home built hammer, 
> which do we
> suppose they'll want to see?
> 
> Every student who built a gas forge in my garage wanted an anvil right 
> away;
> every one of them wanted tongs and hand hammers. A few of them were even
> interested in powered exhaust systems. Just one of them wanted a power 
> hammer,
> and he is building it.
> 
> What makes a Big Show for the audience consists of the things they find
> entertaining, informative, and relevant to their own ambitions; not 
> great big
> shiny equipment that requires a full blown business to justify. Where 
> are the
> Heinz 57 different varieties of home-built power hammer at these shows? 
> I'll bet
> their owners could give chapter and verse as to what they take to 
> operate, and
> plenty of cooperation about setting up and operating them besides.
> 
> Perhaps industrial hammers should be relegated back to the status of 
> vendors,
> where they belong, instead of being catered to. It's just a thought; 
> something
> along the lines of "just how many super tents are really needed for a July
> conference in Seattle?"
> Mikey
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
> 
> 
> 
> Ries Niemi
> Industrial Artist
> http://www.riesniemi.com/
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
> 
> 
> 
>