Viking Age Blacksmithing DEMONSTRATION

Saturday June 11, Sunday June 12

Education Day - Monday June 13

Upper Canada Village - Morrisburg ON

Come join members of DARC at their encampment at this public festival:

I will be undertaking work with the Norse styled sand table forge:

Cancellation - Bladesmithing May 28 - 29

I just got notified one of the students has to cancel a booking for the course :

BASIC BLADESMITHING

MAY 28 - 29

This means a single place is now open - should anyone be able to arrange on this short notice.
For details on this program :

http://www.warehamforge.ca/TRAINING/bladecourse.html 

 

Please contact me ASAP if this interests you!

Who ARE those masked men??

So, Neil Peterson and I show up at the front registration area at last week's International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo...

Say What?

The central (dramatic) images are of the demonstration session sponsored by the Dark Ages ReCreation Company in 2015. That is me in the foreground, working the Aristotle Furnace, the second image showing Neil in the back working a Norse beadmaking furnace.

Now, the posters were produced by Discover Kalamazoo, which is the official promotional arm for the City of Kalamazoo. (thanks to them for giving us copies of the poster image)
Important to consider, this is not the ICMS itself.

The International Congress on Medieval Studies is a major event, now in its 51st year. It is primarily a literary based theme.
Neil and I have been sneaking in sideways with presentations from the material culture / experimental archaeology side. (Is this the DARC side?)

To put this into some kind of context, this year there were roughly 700 individual sessions at the Congress, only a handful of which relate directly to material culture. We were both surprised and flattered to see our 'more exciting' activities at ICMS used to represent the Congress. Along with undertaking both session presentations and formal (published!) papers over the last several years, we had mounted a large scale iron smelting demonstration in 2014. (This sponsored by AVISTA )

Plans are in formation for our 2017 year. Again DARC will be sponsoring a formal paper session. The intent is to give a demonstration of Early Medieval bronze casting, working again with AVISTA. In addition to this, we hope to provide a workshop that will allow conference attendees to create their own pewter 'pilgrim's badge' as a keepsake.

Spring IRON SMELT at Wareham

'Spring' Iron Smelt at the Wareham Forge

Sunday May 22

Rain or Shine (the smelting area has overhead cover).

Directions : see http://www.warehamforge.ca

Time : typical start at the furnace is roughly 9 AM, with bloom extraction expected roughly 4 - 6 PM.



Those wishing to get involved in the action (dirty jobs!) should wear work clothes, cotton / natural fiber, some kind of boot. Safety glasses will be provided here. Note that this is not specifically a teaching event (but everyone knows I will drone on reguardless).


Individuals are advised to bring lunch and snacks with them, as it is some distance to the closest food outlets here. (Flesherton, just north up highway 10, is recommended for those who want to 'eat out'.)
If anyone wants to break up their long distance travel, 'primitive' camping space can be provided in the yard. Please respond if this is your intent.

Parking is limited. Once the drive and front pull in are filled, I advise you park along Sideroad 41 - to the east side of the property. (Less traffic and a stop sign limits passing speeds) When you arrive, look for me at the smelting area to the rear of the property beside the pond.

Original build of the 'Production' Furance - it has since been shifted to a difference brick plinth.

This has been a very busy spring. The Icelandic series awaits a full above ground build, which time and materials does not allow for at this point. My intent is to return to the previously constructed 'production' furnace, which can be ready for use with minimal adjustment. As always, there are Charcoal Monkey positions available! There is a good supply of a number of rock based iron ores on hand (Limonite from Virginia). Some of this material has already been roasted, but breaking will be required. I also have a good supply of hammer scale for enrichment. Use of this material requires more attention to slag management, which is something we have largely not have to be overly careful of with the recent use of our analog mixes. (Return to a rock based ore will help me refresh my own skills in preparation for the Polish Symposium in September.) The hydraulic press is down for modifications, so any attempt at consoldation or cutting will have to be accomplished by hand.

 
I'd appreciate an email (info@warehamforge.ca) response from anyone intending to come, mainly so I have some idea just how many people to expect.