TuhonBill
07-09-2010, 12:12 AM
THE NEW ENGLAND BLADESMITHS GUILD
PRESENTS ITS
TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL BLADESMITHING SEMINAR
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
THROUGH
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010
FEATURING MANY OF THE COUNTRY’S FINEST BLADESMITHS AND RELATED ARTISTS INCLUDING:
RICK BARRETT – KEVIN CASHEN - ROB DEKELBAUM - DELBERT EALY
PETER GILL - DAVE MARTELL - BILL MCGRATH
ROGER PINNOCK - JERRY RADOS - JIM SISKA
J.D. SMITH - TIM ZOWADA
When Dan Maragni informed us he needed an extra year to polish another one of his excellent sword seminars to perfection, we realized that 2010 would be another one of our regular bladesmithing seminars. We also knew we had to come up with a program even though we thought we had a year to rest. If you find this information coming to you a little later than last year, it is only because we would not allow a schedule crunch to get in the way of producing the best bladesmithing seminar in the country.
This year this will start off on Friday night with Tim Zowada’s traditional introduction and orientation. Tim is the official “Grand Poobah” and grizzled veteran of the Ashokan seminar. With a lifelong illustrious career as a custom knife maker, his recent years have been devoted to taking the art of making straight razors to new heights. Friday night may be the best time to pick his brain before the seminar keeps him in constant motion. You can find more information about Tim’s work at www.tzknives.com (http://www.tzknives.com/)
Last year, Jerry Rados had an urgent issue come up, which kept him from attending the seminar. We wanted to insure that he would come this year, and give us insights on his award winning knife construction techniques. A veteran bladesmith and blacksmith, Jerry really needs no introduction, his is one of those names we have all heard for years, and his work with steel has a very well deserved reputation. You can see more of Jerry’s work at www.radosknives.com (http://www.radosknives.com/)
No blade style works harder than the kitchen knife, and yet it is so seldom represented at hammer-ins. This year, we have decided to address this shortcoming by learning from Dave Martell (www.japaneseknifesharpening.com (http://www.japaneseknifesharpening.com)) . For years, Dave has been researching and practicing the art of Japanese knife sharpening. Dave's studies have led to an understanding of how these knives are designed, constructed, repaired and sharpened. Dave will start out the Saturdays program with a discussion on kitchen cutlery design and use. Sunday he will wrap up the seminar with a talk on fine sharpening, at a level most of us can only aspire to.
There is always a long list of topics and demonstrators to go through in preparation for Ashokan. With the reputation that our seminar enjoys, there is seldom a shortage of the same. This year we finally managed to arrange for the return of one of the better known artists in the bladesmithing field. For those who missed J.D. Smith’s excellent talk on multi-bar Damascus and pattern development, we have him back this year to for even more on composites. In addition, he will also be showing us the techniques he uses to forge his blades to shape.
Delbert Ealy did such a fine job with his pattern welding lecture last year, we decided to have him back, in order to steal all of his secrets about mokume as well. If you haven’t seen the beautiful work Delbert has done with precious metal mokume, you can get a peek at http://www.mokume-jewelry.net (http://www.mokume-jewelry.net/). You can also see his outstanding work with Damascus steel at http://www.ealyknives.com (http://www.ealyknives.com/)
One thing we have always done at Ashokan is to keep our eyes our for rising stars in the steel hammering field. No, we mean real stars. These are guys with talent and a good head on their shoulders. They are not just somebody who knows the right people to get magazines to use up ink on them. We mean guys like Rob Dekelbaum. Rob has been coming to Ashokan for a while. He is now doing some great work in teaching and helping others get started. This year he is going to share with us how he goes about forging Damascus. You can find out more about what “Deker” has to share with us about pattern welding at http://www.patternwelding.info/
Last year our round table Q&A, on the ins and outs of the knife business, was much more of a success than we expected. The questions were great in both quantity and quality. This year we thought we would do ourselves a favor and take a look from the other side of the table. We want to see what knifemakers can learn from the most important people of all. They are the ones that keep us making knives with their support, interest and purchases. Two gentlemen immediately came to mind when thinking of knowledgeable and helpful knife enthusiasts- our friends Peter Gill and Roger Pinnock. Both Roger and Peter are a a priceless wealth of information, contributing reasoned input at many sites on the internet. Many beautiful knives would never have been seen if not for their efforts in sharing images. Their perspective, on this weird thing, we are all a part of, should be a must for any of us who want to share our work with more that our friends and family.
We spend so much of out time focused on the details of making edged toys, that we often neglect our education as to their use. This must not be ignored, if one is really intent on making highly functional tools. Even if one is not focused on the martial arts, or self defense aspect of knives, no other application uses knives in such a variety of ways to reveal comfortable and effective designs. If your interests are in the martial arts area, you don’t want silly hype gleaned from magazine fluff. You want the real thing. You want Bill McGrath. This is exactly why we continue to have Bill’s excellent, hands on workshops, and demonstrations, as a regular feature at Ashokan. You can learn more about the fascinating and effective art of Pekiti-Tirsia at www.pekiti.com (http://www.pekiti.com/)
Continuing the same idea of having a master to show us his art, we are happy to have Jim Siska show us how he achieves such beautiful blade grinds. Jim’s work is outstanding. He makes the task at the grinder look effortless. Yet those of us who have tried it, know it is far more difficult than it looks. Bladesmiths often make the dangerous mistake of treating grinding as an afterthought to hammer work, despite the fact that all blades must be shaped and polished after leaving the anvil. You can be the best hammer guy around but still ruin a blade within two minutes of turning on the grinder, if you don’t know what you are doing. One of the toughest skills to learn, in producing a blade, is proper grinding. We are fortunate enough to have somebody of Jim’s caliber to show us how it is done.
One of the most critical operations in producing a fine blade is the heat treatment. Every year we strive to find a new aspect to demonstrate. Due to the volume of information, and the amount of things that can go wrong, it has become the “hot potato” lecture that we like to toss to another guy as soon as we can (and then set back and enjoy watching them juggle the scorching handful). This year our victi… , or umm “honored guest” doing the heat treat lecture will be Rick Barrett. Rick has done this talk before, and is great to bring in for the ever popular traditional Japanese style hardening. There are many guys out there doing clayed quenches or Japanese swords but few do it as well, or as often, as Rick. Rick's skill and knowledge of this style, make him one of the best in the business of Japanese sword making. You can get a preview of his excellent work at www.barrettcustomknives.com (http://www.barrettcustomknives.com/)
As the seminar has grown, it has attracted more people who are just beginning this craft of knife making. Many of the attendees have never seen a blade forged, or ground. This year we are trying something new. During the evening open forge time, Kevin Cashen and Tim Zowada will be offering hands on, blade forging lessons at two of the forges. This is an opportunity to get some individual instruction from two guys who have been forging blades for a very long time.
For more info visit:
http://www.ashokanknifeseminar.com/index.htm
Regards,
Tuhon Bill McGrath
*
PRESENTS ITS
TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL BLADESMITHING SEMINAR
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
THROUGH
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010
FEATURING MANY OF THE COUNTRY’S FINEST BLADESMITHS AND RELATED ARTISTS INCLUDING:
RICK BARRETT – KEVIN CASHEN - ROB DEKELBAUM - DELBERT EALY
PETER GILL - DAVE MARTELL - BILL MCGRATH
ROGER PINNOCK - JERRY RADOS - JIM SISKA
J.D. SMITH - TIM ZOWADA
When Dan Maragni informed us he needed an extra year to polish another one of his excellent sword seminars to perfection, we realized that 2010 would be another one of our regular bladesmithing seminars. We also knew we had to come up with a program even though we thought we had a year to rest. If you find this information coming to you a little later than last year, it is only because we would not allow a schedule crunch to get in the way of producing the best bladesmithing seminar in the country.
This year this will start off on Friday night with Tim Zowada’s traditional introduction and orientation. Tim is the official “Grand Poobah” and grizzled veteran of the Ashokan seminar. With a lifelong illustrious career as a custom knife maker, his recent years have been devoted to taking the art of making straight razors to new heights. Friday night may be the best time to pick his brain before the seminar keeps him in constant motion. You can find more information about Tim’s work at www.tzknives.com (http://www.tzknives.com/)
Last year, Jerry Rados had an urgent issue come up, which kept him from attending the seminar. We wanted to insure that he would come this year, and give us insights on his award winning knife construction techniques. A veteran bladesmith and blacksmith, Jerry really needs no introduction, his is one of those names we have all heard for years, and his work with steel has a very well deserved reputation. You can see more of Jerry’s work at www.radosknives.com (http://www.radosknives.com/)
No blade style works harder than the kitchen knife, and yet it is so seldom represented at hammer-ins. This year, we have decided to address this shortcoming by learning from Dave Martell (www.japaneseknifesharpening.com (http://www.japaneseknifesharpening.com)) . For years, Dave has been researching and practicing the art of Japanese knife sharpening. Dave's studies have led to an understanding of how these knives are designed, constructed, repaired and sharpened. Dave will start out the Saturdays program with a discussion on kitchen cutlery design and use. Sunday he will wrap up the seminar with a talk on fine sharpening, at a level most of us can only aspire to.
There is always a long list of topics and demonstrators to go through in preparation for Ashokan. With the reputation that our seminar enjoys, there is seldom a shortage of the same. This year we finally managed to arrange for the return of one of the better known artists in the bladesmithing field. For those who missed J.D. Smith’s excellent talk on multi-bar Damascus and pattern development, we have him back this year to for even more on composites. In addition, he will also be showing us the techniques he uses to forge his blades to shape.
Delbert Ealy did such a fine job with his pattern welding lecture last year, we decided to have him back, in order to steal all of his secrets about mokume as well. If you haven’t seen the beautiful work Delbert has done with precious metal mokume, you can get a peek at http://www.mokume-jewelry.net (http://www.mokume-jewelry.net/). You can also see his outstanding work with Damascus steel at http://www.ealyknives.com (http://www.ealyknives.com/)
One thing we have always done at Ashokan is to keep our eyes our for rising stars in the steel hammering field. No, we mean real stars. These are guys with talent and a good head on their shoulders. They are not just somebody who knows the right people to get magazines to use up ink on them. We mean guys like Rob Dekelbaum. Rob has been coming to Ashokan for a while. He is now doing some great work in teaching and helping others get started. This year he is going to share with us how he goes about forging Damascus. You can find out more about what “Deker” has to share with us about pattern welding at http://www.patternwelding.info/
Last year our round table Q&A, on the ins and outs of the knife business, was much more of a success than we expected. The questions were great in both quantity and quality. This year we thought we would do ourselves a favor and take a look from the other side of the table. We want to see what knifemakers can learn from the most important people of all. They are the ones that keep us making knives with their support, interest and purchases. Two gentlemen immediately came to mind when thinking of knowledgeable and helpful knife enthusiasts- our friends Peter Gill and Roger Pinnock. Both Roger and Peter are a a priceless wealth of information, contributing reasoned input at many sites on the internet. Many beautiful knives would never have been seen if not for their efforts in sharing images. Their perspective, on this weird thing, we are all a part of, should be a must for any of us who want to share our work with more that our friends and family.
We spend so much of out time focused on the details of making edged toys, that we often neglect our education as to their use. This must not be ignored, if one is really intent on making highly functional tools. Even if one is not focused on the martial arts, or self defense aspect of knives, no other application uses knives in such a variety of ways to reveal comfortable and effective designs. If your interests are in the martial arts area, you don’t want silly hype gleaned from magazine fluff. You want the real thing. You want Bill McGrath. This is exactly why we continue to have Bill’s excellent, hands on workshops, and demonstrations, as a regular feature at Ashokan. You can learn more about the fascinating and effective art of Pekiti-Tirsia at www.pekiti.com (http://www.pekiti.com/)
Continuing the same idea of having a master to show us his art, we are happy to have Jim Siska show us how he achieves such beautiful blade grinds. Jim’s work is outstanding. He makes the task at the grinder look effortless. Yet those of us who have tried it, know it is far more difficult than it looks. Bladesmiths often make the dangerous mistake of treating grinding as an afterthought to hammer work, despite the fact that all blades must be shaped and polished after leaving the anvil. You can be the best hammer guy around but still ruin a blade within two minutes of turning on the grinder, if you don’t know what you are doing. One of the toughest skills to learn, in producing a blade, is proper grinding. We are fortunate enough to have somebody of Jim’s caliber to show us how it is done.
One of the most critical operations in producing a fine blade is the heat treatment. Every year we strive to find a new aspect to demonstrate. Due to the volume of information, and the amount of things that can go wrong, it has become the “hot potato” lecture that we like to toss to another guy as soon as we can (and then set back and enjoy watching them juggle the scorching handful). This year our victi… , or umm “honored guest” doing the heat treat lecture will be Rick Barrett. Rick has done this talk before, and is great to bring in for the ever popular traditional Japanese style hardening. There are many guys out there doing clayed quenches or Japanese swords but few do it as well, or as often, as Rick. Rick's skill and knowledge of this style, make him one of the best in the business of Japanese sword making. You can get a preview of his excellent work at www.barrettcustomknives.com (http://www.barrettcustomknives.com/)
As the seminar has grown, it has attracted more people who are just beginning this craft of knife making. Many of the attendees have never seen a blade forged, or ground. This year we are trying something new. During the evening open forge time, Kevin Cashen and Tim Zowada will be offering hands on, blade forging lessons at two of the forges. This is an opportunity to get some individual instruction from two guys who have been forging blades for a very long time.
For more info visit:
http://www.ashokanknifeseminar.com/index.htm
Regards,
Tuhon Bill McGrath
*