With regrets Eirik Larsen has had to cancel the meet at his house in September. We’ll be looking for another location. We also got an update from Frank Smith, his new shop is still being built and he’s unable to give us an inaugural date for his shop at this time.
Stephen P.
Fantastic! One of many words that could have been used for yesterday’s meet. Nader was imparting methods that he used in Iran, Tom Grady was his usual hand in the fire kind of guy, JP Paradis and Dave Armshaw did a great teaching job for improving welding technique. Jerry was a fantastic host with his preparation and helping everyone. And to top it off lunch! Miriam outdid herself with the lobster sandwiches, chowder and what can I say about the desert, mmmmmmh. The Levy’s place is a beautiful location on the water just a short drive from Peggy’s cove and the weather was great this weekend past. Jerry wasn’t taking any chances this year he setup an awning in front of his shop in case it rained. Weighing down the awning was a famly of pigs. Apparently there’s been some breeding program going on here since there was only one of them last year. MBA? Maritime Breeders Association?
There were a little over 20 people attending this year and it made for a cozier feeling in the shop while people were demonstrating. Nader led things off with with tong making, Tehran style, they’re heavier and longer than the light tongs demoed by Ruben in May.
Of note was the order of steps he took, the reins were created first and jaws last. The ends of the reins were different, the top rein has a ball on the end and the bottom rein is hooked down. 
Instead of upsetting the end of the top rein a piece of stock with a hole drilled through is placed on hot and formed into a ball. A slight crimp is stamped close to the end of the top rein so the stock will lock onto the rein when the ball is formed. Instead of a ring to hold the reins together Nader uses a sliding clamp, which is useful for a whole range of tongs. 
It’s a 2 piece clamp, the standing part looks like a J and provides the bottom jaw of the clamp. The sliding part has a hooked end which is the top jaw and is perpendicular to the standing part. The slide has a loose slot in it that rides on the standing part. When the clamp is applied to the reins and tension comes on to the sliding part, the loose slot pitches up and will jamb against the standing part. 
Very simple and a great piece of work. You can also make it your own with flourishes on the top of the standing part and the non working end of the sliding part. Though you can’t get too crazy since you want slide your hand over it as well.
Tony brought in a beautiful pillar and gate that he’s building for a entrance to a cemetery.
He also worked with Nader for making a new sliding clamp. 
After lunch for those who could manage to walk away from the dinner table 
there were open forges and lessons in improving welding technique. JP and Dave worked with several of the members to improve welding techniques and how to setup with gas/wire or just flux-core. 
Apparently grinding down the welds is not the only way to improve the look of your weld. It looked like Wayne J. was fabricating a new fire pot with his lessons.
Luke Ritchie has come up with a quick and cheap way of making some light weight tongs. Princess Auto had a sale on light nippers. He welded longer reins onto the handles and he made a set of custom jaws to weld onto the nipper jaws. 
In my goal of reducing fuel costs and setup/takedown times I made a new portable forge. Fits in the car but it’s not exactly meant for long heavy stock. 
At the end of the day, we were well fed in knowledge and food. 
Scott Hamlin announced that he’ll be able to host the meet in August on the 17th. So look for the invitation to be emailed or check the MBA website for updates.
Stephen P.
As some of you know, there is no ABANA conference this year. The Northeast Blacksmiths Association was to host it, but what they’ve decided to do is carry on with one anyways. The Atlantic Coast Blacksmith Conference will be held September 4th to the 7th in Olivebridge, NY. It’s a cooperative venture with the Northeast Blacksmiths Association, New England Blacksmiths Association and the Blacksmith Guild of Central Maryland.
I asked earlier in the year if anyone was interested in driving to the conference and so far 4 people of expressed interest. Well there’s more information now including bookings and who the demonstrators are.
So take a look at the Atlantic Conference link and decide if you would like to go as well.
It’s about 1,000km to Olivebridge from Sussex, NB, so add an extra 350km for departing from Halifax. Here’s the map to Olivebridge.
Send an email to ROAD TRIP! if you’re interested. The close of early bird registration is happening 01 August.
Stephen P.
Good Morning All,
I have contacted Christine from the South Shore
Exhibition July 25 and 26. She said that she would love to
have the association back this year for what ever time
we could give them. I said that I would need to find
out the support we have for this project prior to
being able to commit.
I will assist in the putting up (Friday) and
if need be the dismantling of it (Saturday evening). I will also be able
to give a day ( Friday, July 25) for demonstrating.
We should have at least two forges I still have mine
available but If there were two ,that would be ideal. We will still need to rent a
uhaul for storing equipment Friday night. Well the ball has started, lets see if we have enough
support to keep it rolling.
Scott Hamlin
If you are interested and available to help with a Maritime Blacksmiths Association public
demonstration on July 25 and/or 26, please contact Scott scotianironworks@yahoo.ca to let him know before July 18.
Lloyd N. got the quote back for a printed version of the Spring Newsletter and we’ll be printing it out in the next little while.
Sunday, May 25th, Ruben Irons hosted the association at Irons Forge. Some blacksmiths and farriers may recognize it as the old Atlantic Farrier School. Ruben has worked at various forges and recently opened his own forge. Looking through his shop shows the versatility of this artist blacksmith. His work is both whimsical and practical.
Ruben did a demonstration on tong making. He walked us through the 3 major steps, forming the jaws, hinge and reins. After making the pair of tongs he checked the fit of the tongs together.
After ensuring the fit of the tongs it was on to hot punching the holes for the rivet. But before riveting the tongs he rough formed the jaws to hold about 1/2″ stock.
Ruben uses round stock cut to length for his rivets and the tongs are hot riveted. After the riveting he reheated the tongs to low-yellow heat and adjusted the fit of the rivet. He also worked the reins to check that they swiveled without catching or being too loose a fit.
While the tongs are still hot he placed a piece of round stock in the jaws and the put the tongs into the vice. Using another piece of stock as a spacer Ruben adjusted the fit of the reins to fit his hand comfortably. By having the reins spread out they’ll hang easily in the rack and the reins will be up and down and not hanging like a pair of sheer legs. And they can be hung over the horn of the anvil so they’ll be close at hand when working.
With the fit complete one of the jaws had to be trimmed to size and then filed. Et voila a pair of tongs ready to go to work.
There are several articles on the web or in books for making tongs, but having them demonstrated up close and personnel helps to reinforce what has been read. Thanks Ruben for a great demonstration and playing host to us once again. We look forward to being at your shop again next year.
For an online example for making tongs go to Anvilfire’s iForge pages and look at the 3 Versions of Tongs .