Alan Longmire Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 In a historical first, Bowie has announced the dates for his legendary hammer-in more than two months in advance! This year it will be on October 10, 11, and 12. As always, it is free of charge. Limited camping is available if you don't mind hillsides and inquisitive dogs. The iron-in-the-hat is always epic (bring something yourself!), and a good time is guaranteed. 2918 Ellistown Road, Knoxville, Tennessee is the address, Ron "Bowie" Claiborne is the name. Call him at 865-660-1569 and bug him! I have not yet heard the list of demonstrators, but it's always good. I will attempt to think of something besides another tomahawk demo this time, I've only done those for the last twelve years in a row... If you're in driving distance it's well worth it! If it's your first time and you're undecided, look on this forum for past Bowie's Hammer-in threads and get a load of what you've been missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Spurgeon Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Hey, thats only 5 hrs from me. May have to look into attending! Thanks Alan James Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave. ~Mark Twain SageBrush BladeWorks (New website is in limbo...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennis mcadams Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Thanks for the post Alan. As of this Friday his place will be just a short hop from mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Green Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Darn, every year, that seems to fall on War of the Wings, weekend. Mark Green I have a way? Is that better then a plan? (cptn. Mal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCROB Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 2546 miles "Never Quit On Improving" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Kaschner Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Talked to Ron last night. We are in! Wouldn't miss this for the world. Looking forward to seeing everyone this October. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Price Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I've missed the last couple of these, I hope to be there this year. If I'm lucky, I'll bring a couple of my students too. They've only ever witnessed the chaos that is Fire & Brimstone. The Tidewater Forge Christopher Price, Bladesmith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Norris Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 (edited) Wife has given the go ahead as long as the rest of the fam can tag along and do other stuff, now to see about vacation time... Edited May 21, 2014 by B. Norris “All work is empty save when there is love, for work is love made visible.” Kahlil Gibran "It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them." - Alfred Adler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 The time is fast approaching, so remember to reserve a spot on your calendar! Anybody have any requests as to what you want me to demo? No smelting this year so we can actually watch the rest of the demos, we missed a whole day last time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEzell Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Multi-bar composite? Explosion pattern? The odds are very good I'll make it this year... I may even make something special for the iron-in-the-hat. George Ezell, bladesmith" How much useful knowledge is lost by the scattered forms in which it is ushered to the world! How many solitary students spend half their lives in making discoveries which had been perfected a century before their time, for want of a condensed exhibition of what is known."Buffonview some of my work RelicForge on facebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan O'Connor Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 The time is fast approaching, so remember to reserve a spot on your calendar! Anybody have any requests as to what you want me to demo? No smelting this year so we can actually watch the rest of the demos, we missed a whole day last time. May can make it. Do I need to make a reservation or something! Dan O'Connor https://nuclayer.com https://www.facebook.com/NuClayerSystems/ https://www.instagram.com/daniel.oconnor.twinoaks/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Price Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 The time is fast approaching, so remember to reserve a spot on your calendar! Anybody have any requests as to what you want me to demo? No smelting this year so we can actually watch the rest of the demos, we missed a whole day last time. Engraving, maybe, and the way you finish your wood (that special burnishing technique, iirc.) would be really nice to see in person. The Tidewater Forge Christopher Price, Bladesmith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Coe Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Danocon, No reservations needed, just get there in time to stake your tent on the flat spot. It is nice if you bring something for Iron In The Hat (but not required) and bring money to buy tickets. I get there Thursday to get set up and visit. Demonstrations start at 9:00. Oh, and bring your guitar. Chris, I have been looking for you for the past 3 years. I really hope you can make it this year. Wayne Coe Artist Blacksmith 729 Peters Ford Road Sunbright, Tennessee 706-273-8017waynecoe@highland.netwww.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 I thought of the multi-bar composite thing, since we'll have a press and a hammer to speed things up...I have never done an explosion pattern, I'll leave that for Bill Wiggins if he can show up this year. Chris, I did engraving one year, but it's just so hard for anyone to actually see what I'm doing on that tiny scale. Got a macro webcam and large-screen monitor we can set up? That's the only way I see it being practical. As for the wood, it's no secret or difficult thing to do. I just sand up to 400 grit, burnish with steel wool, raise the grain by wetting the surface and steaming off the water with a torch, go back to 220-320-400-wool, repeat until grain no longer raises. Final polish with Liburon brand #0000 wool, it's half again finer than most. I don't like to travel with my homemade ferric nitrate (aqua fortis), since you never know just how strong it is. I'd hate to spill it and get a hole through the truck bed a week or so later... Just kidding on that, kinda. I had to mix up a fresh batch last week. I have a jug I mixed up in 2001, 3 parts distilled water to one part HNO3 (60 degree Baume reagent grade), fully killed at the time. That is, dissolved steel in it until it wouldn't dissolve any more. The thing about acids, particularly Nitric acid, is that they tend to get stronger over time. Knowing this, I put on nitrile gloves, plastic apron, and face shield, poured a little in the jar and observed it. Right color, no fumes, so far so good. Just to be safe I dropped a shred of steel wool in to see how much it had strengthed over the last 13 years. FOOM! Big cloud of dark orange smoke and violent boiling. It had pretty much reverted to undiluted acid! So, I spent the next two afternoons feeding it little shreds of steel wool until it calmed down enough that it took a full 24 hours to eat a full wad, and only then added a little more distilled water. I need to add more though, it's a bit darker than I want it to be. Note to others: If you do this, always add acid to water, unless you like steam explosions and being surrounded by a fog of acid. Do not breathe the dark orange smoke unless you want to stop breathing permanently. Do not mix in plastic, as enough heat is generated to melt it when you add the steel wool. Do not add more than a shred at a time, lest you boil the solution away. This is assuming you can even still get nitric acid, which I don't think you can in the US. You can get dry ferric nitrate crystals and mix with water, but I have no experience with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan O'Connor Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Note to others: If you do this, always add acid to water, unless you like steam explosions and being surrounded by a fog of acid. Do not breathe the dark orange smoke unless you want to stop breathing permanently. Do not mix in plastic, as enough heat is generated to melt it when you add the steel wool. Do not add more than a shred at a time, lest you boil the solution away. This is assuming you can even still get nitric acid, which I don't think you can in the US. You can get dry ferric nitrate crystals and mix with water, but I have no experience with that. Right stuff? http://www.sciencecompany.com/Nitric-Acid-10-500ml-P6386.aspx Dan O'Connor https://nuclayer.com https://www.facebook.com/NuClayerSystems/ https://www.instagram.com/daniel.oconnor.twinoaks/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 That might work, or it might be too weak. I'd get the concentrate linked on the bottom of the page and dilute it 3:1 with distilled deionized water before adding the steel wool, but that's just what I'm used to. Back in 2000 I got a gallon of concentrate for $18... a little goes a long way, and let me repeat this stuff is DANGEROUS if you are not careful. As in, even diluted if not fully killed with steel it will still turn paper towels into nitrocellulose. Ask me how I discovered that. Luckily thd iron really slows the reaction. Keep some sodium carbonate (washing soda, much better than bicarbonate or baking soda) on hand at all times, it's about the only thing that will stop this stuff if you spill any unkilled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Price Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Danocon, No reservations needed, just get there in time to stake your tent on the flat spot. It is nice if you bring something for Iron In The Hat (but not required) and bring money to buy tickets. I get there Thursday to get set up and visit. Demonstrations start at 9:00. Oh, and bring your guitar. Chris, I have been looking for you for the past 3 years. I really hope you can make it this year. I sure hope to be there, everything is dependent on work right now, and whether or not I end up in a new position that might take me overseas on a schedule not yet decided. I've missed every other event I wanted to attend this year, after F&B, because of conflicts, I'd like to make this one happen. The Tidewater Forge Christopher Price, Bladesmith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin leonard Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 what is iron in the hat? http://bearclawknives.com/ my mentor and his friends once told me there os no problem that cant be solved with a fine cigar and a pot of coffee you know some people just need a sympathetic pat.....on the head........with sledge hammerSeven Points Forge by the Bay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Coe Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 People donate items, knives, tomahawks, tools, almost anything for a drawing. You can buy tickets for $1.00 a piece then place 1/2 of the ticket in the cup adjoining the item you want to win. Tickets are drawn and if your ticket is drawn you win the item. Just think, you might win one of Alan's Tomahawks for only a dollar. Wayne Coe Artist Blacksmith 729 Peters Ford Road Sunbright, Tennessee 706-273-8017waynecoe@highland.netwww.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin leonard Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 damn ok so when yall gonna hold something i can go to easily such as in texas but that prety cool i figured it was just steel billets or damuscus done on drawing http://bearclawknives.com/ my mentor and his friends once told me there os no problem that cant be solved with a fine cigar and a pot of coffee you know some people just need a sympathetic pat.....on the head........with sledge hammerSeven Points Forge by the Bay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrae Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 I'm going! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Price Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Looking like I'll be there too, with another overseas trip squeezed in the week before. Anyone wanna buy some lapis? The Tidewater Forge Christopher Price, Bladesmith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Coe Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 (edited) Bowie (Ron Claiborne) will be having his annual hammer-in October 10-12, October, 2014. It is at 2918 Ellistown Road, Knoxville, Tennessee If you need more information you can call him at 865-660-1569. There is camping on the grounds but you will probably want to get there Thursday afternoon so you can stake out the flat spot. Demonstrations will start by 9:00 Friday morning. Plan on being through with breakfast and ready to sit down by then because the demo will start promptly at 9:00. I will be showing and demonstrating my new Ribbon Burner Forge and showing how you can build your own. I will then weld up a billet using 3/4# pressure on the propane and will do the weld dry (no flux). we're counting on Bill Wiggins to demo a laminated blade (maybe he will use my billet), Jesus Hernandez is (I think) going to demo sword quenching, Alex Daniels will do something, and Alan Longmire will do something Mark is going to contact Ken Durham to show some of his magic. There is no charge to attend but bring money for Iron In The Hat tickets and maybe something to donate to the Iron In The Hat. There is always a very good Iron In The Hat with high quality knives and other desirable items. Motels and restaurants are close. Edited September 10, 2014 by Wayne Coe Wayne Coe Artist Blacksmith 729 Peters Ford Road Sunbright, Tennessee 706-273-8017waynecoe@highland.netwww.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 Is anyone planning on having some Parks 50 there? One of the demonstrators wanted to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEzell Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Is anyone planning on having some Parks 50 there? One of the demonstrators wanted to know. I could bring 5 gallons.... I'll need it back.... George Ezell, bladesmith" How much useful knowledge is lost by the scattered forms in which it is ushered to the world! How many solitary students spend half their lives in making discoveries which had been perfected a century before their time, for want of a condensed exhibition of what is known."Buffonview some of my work RelicForge on facebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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