THE NEW ENGLAND BLADESMITHS GUILD

PRESENTS ITS

TWENTY‑SEVENTH ANNUAL BLADESMITHING SEMINAR

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19

THROUGH

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2008

 

FEATURING MANY OF THE WORLD'S FINEST BLADESMITHS AND RELATED ARTISTS INCLUDING:

 

KEVIN CASHEN - DON FOGG – BURT FOSTER

ROMAN LANDES - BRIAN LYTTLE - DAN MARAGNI - BILL McGRATH   

JAKE POWNING - JIM SISKA - TIM ZOWADA  

 

The New England Bladesmiths Guild’s seminar at Ashokan is one of the oldest and most prestigious hammer-ins in America. While inspiring many other groups and individual artist it has still maintained a unique and different style with quality information that is second to none.  This year is no exception, as we have spent the last eight months assembling a lineup of demonstrators to live up to this tradition.

Tim Zowada will start things off on Friday with an introduction and a warm welcome to all attendees.  This is kind of the orientation part of the weekend when we touch on what we will be seeing and the way things are organized and work at Ashokan. Tim may also answer questions as to what he has been up to for the past year while helping organize the event.

Dan Maragni is a custom maker with the unique perspective of also working for years with the production end of things.  Dan has had an interesting year exploring new areas in the industry and will share them with us in his entertainingly to the point style.

Saturday morning those who have yet to see Brian Lyttle’s exquisite engraving and wire inlay work are in for a real treat as Brain shows us exactly how he does it. Brian’s way with words is guaranteed to make any of his demonstrations fun enough for any knifemaker to pick it up and get started in this valuable technique of knife embellishment.  Then later in the day Brian will show us some of his methods for grinding the perfect short sword.  Brian’s blades are masterful in their design and beauty and will make you want to get any tips you can from him.  

One of the most sought after demonstrators in the world of bladesmithing is Don Fogg.  Don was one of the founders of the New England Bladesmiths Guild and we are happy to have him back whenever we can.  Few people can match Don with a hammer on hot steel and his forgings are smoother and cleaner that many peoples blades after they are ground.  Saturday morning Don will share some of his methods for achieving this. After dinner Don has some special techniques up his sleeve for a different damascus demo that we are all looking forward to.

Jake Powning does some fantastic work with casting fittings using the lost wax technique.  Jake is one really nice guy with a lot of talent who has agreed to show us how to design your own guards and parts out of wax and then pour molten metal into the resulting molds to make works of art that are also great blade furniture.  

Burt Foster has been busy lately due to his demand around the country as a demonstrator; his style and deep understanding of the subjects make him a natural.  We are happy to have Burt back this year to talk about the fascinating intricacies of what happens when you get good enough to weld stainless steel to high carbon alloys in a san mai blade.  The blades are beautiful in form and function, but offer some very unique studies in the materials themselves.  Later in the day Burt will share his insights on general heat treating show you how it is done. 

The banner at the top of this page was changed from “the country’s finest bladesmiths” to “the world’s finest bladesmiths” in consideration of the fact that with the internet and other tools we are continually expanding our discussion groups, and this year Ashokan will go international in an exciting new way.  Not only is knifemaker and author Roman Landes one of the best in the world, but he will actually be joining us from Germany.  When scheduling conflicts kept us from getting him to physically join us Roman suggested the next best thing, so in a first ever for Ashokan we will have him answer your questions in a “webinar” that will bring bladesmiths on two different continents together in a whole new way.  Roman’s book “Messerklingen und Stahl” clearly demonstrates his immense knowledge of knife steels and how they behave in blades.  

 Bill McGrath is our answer man for what to do with the finished knives in the most serious of circumstances.  Bill’s skill with a blade makes him the guy you would want next to you in a dark alley in any of the roughest areas in the world when all you have is a pocket knife.  This year he will show how to get the most out of a pen knife in a life and death situation.  Too many modern “tactical” knives are simply designed on paper with the styles being strictly a visual thing; this is a knifemakers golden opportunity to get insight into actual self defense knife use from somebody who really knows his stuff.

Ever had problems getting that smooth straight grind on your blades, we got the guy who can sort that out for you with no problem. One of the best grinders in the business is Jim Siska, if you have ever seen his hollow ground blades you will want to pay close attention to whatever he can show you.  We are very pleased to have this excellent craftsman as one of our regulars.

On Sunday morning Kevin Cashen will return with some solid facts in his never ending quest to overcome the myths and misinformation that the mainstream of knifemaking is riddled with.  

Twenty Seventh  Annual New England Bladesmiths Guild Ashokan Seminar

2008

Twenty Seventh Annual New England Bladesmiths Guild Ashokan Seminar 2008

Friday, September 19
6:00-7:00 Buffet Dinner

7:00-7:15 Introduction - Tim Zowada                                                                                       Lecture
7:15 - 8:00 New Adventures in Commercial Knife Manufacturing- Dan Maragni                        Lecture
8:00-? Videos

Saturday, September 20
8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast

9:00 - 10:00 Basic Engraving/Wire Inlay - Brian Lyttle                                                              Lecture
10:00 - 11:00 Blade Forging - Don Fogg                                                                                  Pavilion
11:00 - 12:00 Lost Wax Casting - Jake Powning                                                                      Blacksmith Shop
12:00 - 1:00 Stainless San Mai - Burt Foster                                                                             Pavilion

1:00 - 2:00 Lunch

2:00 - 3:00 Knife Blades and Steel - Roman Landes                                                                Lecture
3:00 - 4:00 Grinding Short Swords - Brian Lyttle                                                                      Pavilion
4:00 - 5:00 Using a Small Pen Knife for Self Defense - Bill McGrath                                         Pavilion
5:00 - 6:00 Hollow Grinding and Blade Finishing- Jim Siska                                                      Pavilion

6:00 - 7:00 Dinner

7:00 - 8:30 Making Damascus - Don Fogg                                                                               Pavilion
8:30 - 9:30 Heat Treatment - Burt Foster                                                                                  Pavilion
9:30 - ? Open Forge                                                                                                                 Pavilion

Sunday, September 21
8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast

 

9:00 - 10:30 The Shocking Truth About Commonly Accepted Facts
                     That Are Totally False -  Kevin Cashen                                                                Lecture

10:30 - 12:30 Knife Display and Show                                                                                     Dining Hall

12:30 - 1:30 Lunch