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Dedicated to the revival of the “King of Crafts”

Volume 17 Issue 05. May 2005

Production Day Report & Results by: Don Startin

Production Day #2, April 24th dawned sunny with cloudy periods with a nice gentle breeze. The coffee pot was soon to be bubbling. Present were: Clint, Willie, Raynier, Jake, Don, Keith, Ray, Sandy, Roger, Earl, Dennis, Skip, Norm, Jeremy, Neil, Richard, Ken and Wayne. And everybody got down to work. Congratulations to all participating members on the quantity and quality of the items produced. Ray for the delicious and sustaining hamburgers. Apologies to those who rallied round in the fall, you have not received full credit for your hard work and high quality production. A big thank you to Ken Dex-ter for making sure that all our stock and production was accounted. Sandy and Dennis for all the photos. Enormous thanks to Galen who made us two storage boxes for our salable items. At last, reasonable order.

(con’t pg 2)

COMING EVENTS May 13 - May 15th North West Blacksmith Associa-tion Spring Conference. Benton Country Fairgrounds, Corvallis, Oregon. Contact: Jerry Zygmuntowicz (514) 929-3773 email: debnjerz@comcast.net May 21 - May 23rd Luxton Pro Rodeo. Volunteers? May 28 - May 29th VIBA’s spring demo with Louie Raffloer of Black Dog Forge, Seattle. Pay at Door. Bring your own tools for Midnight Madness. May 29th NO VIBA Meeting due to our Spring Demo with Louie. June 26th VIBA Meeting starting at 11 AM July 10 - July 11 Langford Lavender Days, VIBA Demonstration. Please Volunteer. July 24th VIBA Picnic at Luxton Forge. Pot Luck and Ray Orchard cooking the spit BEAST! August 13 - August 14th Coombs Fair. More VIBA members to Volunteer for this Demo. August 19 - August 21st Vancouver Island Exhibi-tion in Nanaimo.

INDEX Prez. Report..............................................................2 Secretary’s Report.............................................4, 5, 8 Show & Tell..............................................................3 A Key Hanger...................................................4, 5, 6 Abana Chapter..........................................................6 Can Iron....................................................................9 Production Day.................................................1, 2, 7 Louie Raffloer Demo...............................................9 Buy & Sell...............................................................9 New VIBA Members...............................................2 Beginner’s Blacksmithing Classes...........................8 Membership Renewal............................................10 Armistice Day........................................................10

Splendid Job VIBA! - Some fine items were produced by all on Production Day(s). Let’s give a mountain of thanks to Don Startin for his endless efforts. I am very pleased to see the numbers of members coming out to participate and would like to note the high quality of items being produced. Now would be a good time to start marking off your calendars for up and coming fairs. We will need as many VIBA volunteers as possible. It would be really nice to see some of our new members join the demonstration crew. Louie Raffloer of Black Dog Forge in Seattle will be here May 28 & 29. Give him a VIBA welcome and join in for Midnight Madness. Camping is permitted at the fairgrounds for this event. Bring your own refreshments and be prepared to enjoy yourself. The more the merrier. Please pay for the event at the door. Remember that our VIBA Forge at Luxton fairgrounds is now open two nights a week for our paid up warriors. Monday and Wednesday’s from 6:30 to 9ish. The club is their for your per-sonal learning and socializing. In closing, I would like to howl out three VIBA cheers for Clint Mont-gomery for his duties as our secretary. Thanks Clint!

2005 - Executive President: Keith Kupitz 478-4095

Vice Pres.: Charlie Low 479-6712 Secretary: Clint Montgomery 360-6910

Treasurer: Norm Norby 478-3589 Librarian: Skip Kennedy 478-8172

Editors: Sandy Sydnam & Dennis Gillett Publishing Info: "Forge" is published monthly by and for members of the Vancouver Is-land Blacksmith Assoc. General Correspondence for VIBA: 1040 Marwood Ave, Victoria, BC, V9C 3C4. (or directly to appro-priate executive member) Per-mission granted for reproduc-tion of any part of "Forge" pro-vided credit is given to the origi-nal source, and the item is not marked 'copyright' or specifi-cally stated to be for the sole use of "Forge". Unless otherwise stated, the editors are the authors of all material. Disclaimer No-tice: "Forge" makes every effort to ensure accuracy of the infor-mation contained therein, but the executive officers & general membership of the Vancouver Island Blacksmith Association including the editors, specifically disclaim any responsibility or liability for damages or injuries as a result of any construction design, use or application of in-formation contained in this newsletter. The use of any infor-mation is solely at the user's own risk.

Submissions & Contributions Submissions to “Forge” can be made at any monthly meeting or by snail mail to:

VIBA - The Editors 1040 Marwood Avenue

Victoria, BC Canada V9C 3C4

OR Email: sydnam@telus.net Email: dgillett@shaw.ca

OR Fax: (250) 642-7055

President’s Report By: Keith Kupitz

Production Days Report & Results

(con’t from page 1) 12 Heart Hooks by Derek................$96. 6 Dinner Bells by Ken & Charlie.....90. 3 Towel Rail by Willie.....................45. 1 Twisted Dinner Bell by Charlie....20. 1 Toasting Fork by Charlie................5. 1 Heart Hook by Clint.......................8. 1 Candle Holder by Clint.................20. 2 Hooks by Keith...............................6. 2 Flowers by Jake.............................60. 2 Bottle Openers by Jake.................20. 2 Leaf Hooks by Sandy....................20. 8 Heart Hooks by Derek..................48. 2 Hooks by Derek..............................5. 6 Leaf Hooks by Roger..................120. 1 Dinner Gong by Charlie................15. 5 Betty Lamps by Keith...................25. 2 Hooks by Keith...............................4. 1 RH Steak Turner..........................3.50 1 Plant Holder by Skip....................25. 1 Paper Towel Holder by Skip.........25. 1 Hook by Skip.................................5. 2 Hooks by ?(mystery)...................... 5. 11 Bowls by Glen & Larry.............132. 1 Heart Hook by Ken.........................2. 1 Heart Plant Marker by Ken............5. 1 Sheep Head Poker by Jake...........30. 1 Sheep Head Fork by Jake..............35. 2 Paper Holders by Raynier.............30. 1 Hook by Glen..................................3. 3 Lawn Drink Stands by Dennis......24. 1 Toilet Roll Holder by Jake............15. 4 Plate Holders by Willie.................60. 1 Candle Holder by Clint................20. + Stock from previous year............242. GRAND TOTAL $1,268.50

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Derek Morrison (250) 656-3078 Emerson Belland (250) 370-0526 Phillip Clark (250) 727-2763

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Show and Tell photo’s by: S.Sydnam & D.Gillett

Roger’s heart hook, jig and cement chisel for decorative screw hole.

Skip’s Plant Hook & Towel Bar

Willie’s Time Teller

Sandy’s Plant Hanger

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KEY HANGER WITH RUNNING SCROLLWORK by: Jake James

Secretary’s Report by: Clint Montgomery

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VIBA meeting minutes April 24, 2005 At 11:15 am President Keith called the meeting to order. Keith motioned that the previ-ous minutes be accepted as posted, seconded by don Startin and the motion was carried. Show & Tell Raynier Pipke brought a nice claw hammer and an ingenious steel hook rule that he had forged. Roger Ferland brought several very nice heart hooks of a “new” design and the jig that he uses to make them. Treasurer’s report Norm relayed the status of the clubs bank account and reported that all is well! Old Business Further to discussions from pre-vious meetings, a motion was made by Keith that a $1200.00 donation be made to the Metchosin Farmers Institute in appreciation of their support of the Vancouver Island Black-smiths Association. Norm sec-onded this motion and the mo-tion was carried. The previous discussion of re-searching the ABANA scholar-

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(con’t) Key Hanger with Running Scrollwork

ship program for Jake Kool-man and Cammie Harbottle prompted a motion from Keith Kupitz. The motion stated that because the ABANA scholarship require-ments had not been met and we do not have our own scholarship fund there would be no funds available to assist with their schooling in Europe. The motion was sec-onded by Clint and passed. New Business Sandy gave a reminder that the deadline for submissions to the newsletter will be 5 days from the day of our monthly meeting. Sandy brought forth a request that we attend Camp Bernard for the Boys Scouts “Wolf Howling” on May 28th, 2005 to put on a demonstration. It was determined that we would have to respectfully decline as this date coincides with our spring demonstration being put on by Louie Raffloer, May 28th and 29th at the Lux-ton Forge. We have received correspon-dence from Brian Ross with regard to the newly formed club in Burnaby, which is called the Burnaby Village Museum. They have acquired 35 members including to la-dies. Congratulations! Many thanks go out to Don Starin for his efforts and or-ganization with the Produc-tion Days. Thank you Don!

Secretary’s Report (con’t from page 4)

ABANA Affiliate Liaison Letter April, 2005 Hello! This month I would like to introduce Wayne Coe, president of the Alex Bealer Blacksmith Associa-tion. Wayne has some very good ideas for promoting blacksmithing. Take it away Wayne. ABANA Publicity Com-mittee At the ABANA Board meet-ing in Richmond, Kentucky a committee was formed with the intent of getting more shows on television which feature blacksmith-ing. The committee mem-bers are Dan Nauman, Elizabeth Brim, LeeAnn Mitchell and Wayne Coe. I notice that there is an abundance of woodworking, quilting, gardening, paint-ing, etc. shows on public television. Even on the home improvement and home construction shows, Do It Yourself (DIY) and Home and Garden (HGTV), rarely is there any mention of iron work or the work that blacksmiths can and do provide. I have also noticed that on RFDTV, a cable and satellite network, there are a number of farm/human in-terest shows that could, and on occasion do feature blacksmiths (Texas Country Reporter, Georgia Farm Monitor, Louisiana Agricul-ture, American Backroads, California Country, Prairie Farm Report, Dakota Lands, as well as others).

I feel that the job of this committee is multi-faceted, to show the public that blacksmithing is alive and well, that it might be some-thing that they would be interested in doing and how to get involved in a local group, what blacksmiths can do for them, and who they can go to in order to get those special items that they want. LeeAnn is looking into the possibility of obtaining grants so that ABANA can get periodic shows made and presented to the various networks. This is a request to each affiliate to designate a com-mittee to approach net-works, local channels, show producers, and others to let them know what events are going on in their area and who individual blacksmiths are who might be suitable for exposure on their shows. It is obvious that the producers of these shows will be more interested in information from individu-als in their local areas rather than some unknown person from Georgia. Please desig-nate these committees and then get that information to Dave Mudge, as ABANA Affiliate Liaison and board member and to LeeAnn as a member of the Publicity Committee. We, as members of ABANA and the blacksmithing com-munity will be doing our-selves and the blacksmithing community a great service by pursuing these goals. Sincerely, Wayne Coe coe_wayne@ellijay.com Dave Mudge Affiliate Liaison Member Services Division Chairman Internet Commit-tee 985.735.0049 / dave-mudge@abana.org

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(con’t) Key Hanger with Running Scrollwork

Production Day Events photo’s by: S.Sydnam & D.Gillett

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Secretary’s Report

(con’t from page 5) Ken asked that we designate some time to finish cleaning up the old coal storage area. Skip gave a reminder that our next meeting is the same weekend as the Louie Raf-floer demo and that on the Saturday night the pizza will be at the Luxton Forge fol-lowed by a Midnight Mad-ness. Lets see a great turnout, as this will be hands on with Louie Raffloer and promises to be a lot of fun! There will be free camping onsite (no hookups) for those who would like to burn the fire at both ends and don’t want to drive home!!! CanIron VI Committee re-port Ron Greg has provided us with answers to the ques-tions Neil posed about pre-vious CanIron’s. This input will help us immensely in planning to host this event in 2007. Keith motioned for adjourn-ment at 11:41am, Clint sec-onded and the meeting was adjourned.

VIBA’s BEGINNERS BLACKSMITH CLASSES

Instructors: Neil Gustafson & Raynier Pipke

photos by: S. Sydnam

“I’ve enjoyed and learned so much, this is my third time through Neil’s class, this could be the best deal in blacksmithing anywhere!”

Dave Winestock

Lurn Lots, Untie Nots. Mak Way, New Hey. Too Soon, All Dun. Soo Sad, Bin Fun. Ciao fur now, Neil

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Buy and Sell For sale a LeClair-like Floor Loom with 45 inch Reed –Call Ken Dexter with offers (250) 727-9791 Rawhide wanted. 2 ft x 2 ft would be most desirable. Don Startin (250) 477-5507 Cable Cutters. Morse Starrett #2. Guil-lotine style. (250) 722-3967 Manual pipe threader. Rigid R12 NPT, 6 heads, 1/2” - 2”w/ratchet & handle. $550. (250) 746-6689 B&D 14” metal cut off saw $40. (250) 797-1229 Bench Grinder w/ wire wheel & stone wheel. Perfect working order $25. obo. (250) 756-7544 Tom Tongs, all sizes. Balanced Ham-mers. Sandy (250) 642-7225 Compressor 2hp,220 volt. 15 gal. tank. $275. (250) 655-6420 Industrial Compressor, 5hp. $1250. obo. (250) 701-5657

CANIRON VI by: Neil Gustafson

I think that means Caniron, Vancouver Island, (without the ironing board). We need to come up with a name for a theme, a goofy thought I had was, “GO WEST YOUNG MAN”. That could be, go west until your feet get wet and then back up 13 miles. By the time you have backed up a different road than the #1, your feet should be dry. We have been talking with the Metchosin Farmers Institute about using the Luxton Fairgrounds and they have approved it in principle. The next thing to try collecting thoughts on is, WHO. As in who would we like to have as demonstrators. I have spoken to the Western Wheelwright Association, Stan Teige who said that they have a scheduled meeting for end of May. Stan will find out if WWA is inter-ested in participating. I don’t really have anything else to report on yet, but there will be a pile of help needed further down the pipe.

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Vancouver Island Blacksmith Association Membership Application Name: ______________________________ Address: ____________________________ City: __________ Prov./State: __________ Post/Zip Code: _______________________ Email: ______________________________ Phone: (_____) _______________________ Fax: (_____) _________________________ Are you a: New Member [ ] Renewal [ ] [ ] Regular Membership $30.00 Annually [ ] Contributory Member $100.00 Annually Make cheques or money orders payable to: Vancouver Island Blacksmith Assoc. (VIBA)

1040 Marwood Avenue Victoria, BC CANADA

V9C 3C4

Artist Blacksmiths Assoc. of North America Membership Application

Name: ________________________________ Address: ______________________________ City: ______________ State/Prov.: _______ Zip/Postal Code: _______________________ Phone: (_____) ________________________ Fax: (_____) __________________________ [ ] Full Time Student……….........….$35./year [ ] Regular Membership….........…….$45./year [ ] Senior Citizen (age 65+)…........…$40./year [ ] Overseas Surface Mail….......……$60./year [ ] Oversea Air Mail............................$80./year [ ] Contributory Membership............$100./year [ ] Public Library Subscription...........$35./year

Credit Card Payment Card No. _______________________

[ ] Visa [ ] Mastercard Expiry Date: ____________________ Signature: ______________________ by Phone: (706) 310-1030 by Fax: (706) 769-7147 Mail: ABANA, P.O. Box 816, Farmington,GA,USA.306380816

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Armistice Day - November 11th, 1922 by: Patrick J. Nelson (Clayton, California) In VIBA’S November (1999) newsletter, an article was published on Armistice Day. I still find it fascinating that I recall the Bugle call lyrics as taught to me by my father who was in the Quartermaster Corps of the Army in WW1. He could play these Bugle calls on the piano. This one I always remember. In 1944, I was then 15, my father started Nelson Iron Works. Last year I had discovered that I had worked for 60 years in the trade. We did all sorts of fabrication and miscellaneous iron work. Needless to say I enjoyed all of it. Dad retired at 90 and lived to be 100 years old. I retired at 60 and started to be a supplier for metal shops in the San Francisco area, selling mostly material for Julius B, Wagner Lawler, then joined NOMMA in 1959. I attended more than 25 conventions and joined California Blacksmiths around 1980.

The words to the bugle call for soldiers to go feed their horses goes like this: Come on to the stable, All those who are able, and water your horses, and give them some corn. For if you don’t do it, You’ll surely will rue it, as the Col. will know it, as sure as you’re born. But If you want the tune of the Bugle call I’ll have to sing it over the phone!

REMINDER - This will be the last edition of ‘FORGE’ you will be receiving unless your dues are paid up. Renewal is due in January of each year.