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[Capel Garmon Firedog]
Hans Schlosser blacksmith
News Update
07 August 2009
Classes postponed.
I am sorry to once again have to postpone these classes and seminars. I plan to offer these classes again but at this time I don't know when - due to heavy work load.
Get ready for the Capel Garmon firedog project
In the Kingdom of Calontir. Hands-on instructional workshops and teaching seminars will begin soon, to prepare a small group of new blacksmiths to forge a group project at the Lilies War 2009 - the Capel Garmon firedog. Class dates to be announced soon. Tentative date starts in October 2008. To learn more about the Capel Garmon firedog project go here: http://www.beautifuliron.com/Lilies_War_Project2009.htm . These events are open only to SCA members.
Class Schedule. To be announced. New SCA smiths that are interested in participating in this project and attending training should send email to Hans at the address at bottom of this page.
Traditional blacksmithing skills. Teaching events will offer hands-on classes and workshops to teach beginning blacksmiths the techniques used in making ornamental ironwork for residential and commercial customers. We will use traditional blacksmith methods to draw, taper, weld, punch, cut, bend, upset, pierce, rivet, and twist. Using the coal forge, anvil, tongs, blacksmiths hammers, vises, punches and chisels and special tooling. No arc-welders, no gas welders, no grinders or sanders, no gas forges, no bondo. If a smith wants to see how to forge good tools and good ironwork then this is the place to see it and learn it.
The blacksmith shop is undergoing renovation at this time. The building is approximately 21-feet square with an 8-foot ceiling. New upgrades will soon include medieval style forge(s) and bellows to help create a more authentic environment for study of the old methods. The blacksmith shop will be fully functional as a period medieval studio shop as well as having access to modern equipment and tooling for machine and mechanical work around the farm. Scroll down the page to see some photos of the shop.
Class size is limited. To be announced. Generally limited to 4 smithing students at one time (2 per fire) due to limited number of forges and space. With the addition of a new medieval style forge, we might have enough fires for as many as 6 students. More on this later.
Safety considerations. Eye protection is required for all smithing classes. We will provide safety glasses for those students who don't have their own. Gloves are not needed and will interfere with much of the blacksmith's work. Anyone using gloves will be allowed to use only loosely fitting welders gloves. Blacksmithing is dirty and dangerous work. You will get burned! That is the nature of this business.
August
26, 2008. These photos reflect the most recent equipment arrangement
in the shop. New photos will be added soon. Older photos of the shop are
at the bottom of this page.
Firedog
project for Lilies War.To forge a replica of the Capel Garmon Firedog as a group project at the Lilies War.
For more information on the project go to my Lilies War Projects page by clicking the link here: http://www.beautifuliron.com/Lilies_War_Project2009.htm
Aspiring new blacksmiths who wish to participate in forging the Capel Garmon Firedog must become proficient in all tasks of the medieval blacksmith, and by proficient I mean that smiths must be able to perform those tasks at the journeyman level. A series of classes and workshops will soon be offered to help new smiths learn the skills needed to make this firedog.
Iron
rose carving demonstration. October 5th, 2002. At this event, our team
of blacksmiths carved a wrought iron rose from a single bar of 1-1/2"
round steel, using traditional methods taught to European blacksmiths for
centuries. The event was filmed for an amateur video entitled Fire &
Roses.
Fire & Roses ~ Forging a Queen's Rose, is now available on DVD. More information can be found on the Ironrose page by clicking on the picture at left or follow this link: http://www.beautifuliron.com/ironrose.htm
Tongs
forging classes. The light tongs class has always been very popular
and we will continue to offer this class in the future. At left are some
of the light tongs from a recent tong making class. Every tong
demonstrated one step at a time in front of student smiths - demonstrated
in an 'I do, you do' format.
The light tongs class is often the first tongs making class for new smiths. The same principles are used later in the heavy tongs classes. Light tongs are much easier work than heavy tongs, so they make for a fast and easy way to learn the overall principles of tongs making.
This class is for serious students of blacksmithing only! Materials are inexpensive and total time is under 4 hours for most beginners. Students take their tongs home with them when finished.
Gargoyle
dagger classes. This is one of the most popular classes we
have ever had. We will continue to offer this class in the future. This
class is offered to beginners and experienced blacksmiths alike. At left
is a dagger from a recent class on forging flat style gargoyles.
Future classes will include a larger variety of gargoyle and animal heads based on examples from Swedish medieval ironwork.
Old photos of the shop
November
30th, 2005. The floor along the south side of the shop was torn out
and replaced with a roughly level surface. Much of the equipment and horse
related gear that once cluttered every available bench top, was moved to
another harness room. There is much more space available and some of the
trip hazards in the floor have been eliminated by the replacement of the
south floor. There is however still some equipment that needed to be
removed.
Old
photos of the blacksmith shop as it was during October 2005 -
shortly before repairing the floor on the south side of the shop. Most of
this equipment has been moved or upgraded. The reason that the air hammer
is seen so imposing in these photos is because there was little floor
space available in the shop at the time. Every available table and bench
was covered with tools and horse gear or something and the reduced work
space pushed everything and everyone (including the cameraman) closer
together.
Old
shop photos. Date of photos-spring and summer of 2000. Some of
this equipment has either been sold, removed, or rearranged.
More photos of the steel hoodless forge can be seen at http://www.beautifuliron.com/mysteel.htm and photos of the cast iron forge can be seen at http://www.beautifuliron.com/factory.htm.
Page updated 07 August, 2009
The goal of these teaching events is to train a pool of SCA blacksmiths with enough foundation skills to be able to participate in large blacksmithing projects at future SCA events. The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is a non-profit organization which studies and recreates medieval life. The shop of Hans Schlosser is located in the Kingdom of Calontir. These classes are not part of SCA. This webpage is part of a private website and is not an official website representing the Society for Creative Anachronism.
Page created during summer 2000
The URL for this page (for anyone viewing printed copies) is http://www.beautifuliron.com/class.htm