new england our 32nd blacksmiths year 1978- to discover, to...

Winter 2010 page #1 New England Blacksmiths

VOL. 30 NO. 1

New England Blacksmiths

To discover, to help

Winter 2010 Edition

Our 32nd Year

1978- -2010

Visit us on line www.newenglandblacksmiths.org

The Largest, Most heavily used and Operationally Successful Green Coal Ever was only one small part of the tremendous Fall Meeting of the

New England Blacksmiths in Vermont. So many things going on and so well organized that it sets a new standard by which to measure all our future events! Pictures to reminisce, or drool over if you failed to get to Jim Fecteau’s in Huntington, can be found on pages 8 thru 15

On Page: 2 Contacts 3 President’s message & something “fishy” 4 NEB & ABANA forms 5 New Member info 6 Around New England Brentwood North

7 Honoring Tim Blanchard 8 thru 14 The Fall Meeting In pictures 15 Off-set tooling 16-17 Casement Window latches for Deer Isle Hostel 18 Fitchburg Forge-in

19 Pine wood derby anvil 20 Sad news from CT 21 Tailgate, NEB Items & Morrell’s “Whatsit”


Owen Bostrom- President (10) 99 Chase Hill RD Ashaway, RI 02804 Phone: 401-377-2611 [email protected] .Bob Menard– Vice President (10) 56 Warren Ave. Suite 106 Portland, ME 04103 Phone: 207-878-2217 [email protected] Jim Crothers- Secretary (10) 953 Tuckertown RD Wakefield, RI 02879 Phone [email protected] Leigh Morrell- Treasurer (10) 207 Greenfield Rd Colrain, MA 10340 Phone: 413-624-1200 [email protected] Karen Sims, Membership Chair. (10) 337 Rope Ferry Rd Waterford, CT 06385 860-442-3925 [email protected] Marc Godbout, NH Rep. (10) P.O. Box 1114 Derry, NH 03038 Phone 603-548-8771 [email protected] Taffy Case, NH Rep. (11) 1789 E. Madison Rd Madison, NH 03849 Phone: 603-367-8225 [email protected] Fred Mikkelsen - RI Rep & Editor (11) 23 Waterman Dr. N. Scituate, RI 02857-2036 phone: 401-647-3086 [email protected] John Nash- RI Rep. (10) 173 Fairfax DR Warwick, RI 02888 Phone: 401-781-0558 The New England Blacksmiths, an affiliate of the Art-ists-Blacksmith’s Association of North America, is devoted to the preservation and advancement of black-smithing. Letters to the editor, articles, technical tips, tools for sale, or other materials which furthers these ends, will be considered for publication in this newsletter.

Most recent Contact information for NEB officers and directors

Thanks to all Contributors to this issue:

Add your name to this list

Become a newsletter contributor!

Berne Broudy Jim Fecteau

Ed Grove Dean Lamontagne

Keith Leavitt Justin Mercier Leigh Morrell Karen Sims Ian Walker

Next newsletter deadline: March 15th, 2010

Sent in your dues yet? Richard Holman- ME Rep. (10) 195 Varney Mill Rd Windham, ME 04062 Phone: 207-892-9511

[email protected] Ed Grove- Me Rep. (11) 828 Haley Town Road Brownfield, ME 04010 Phone: 207-935-2262 [email protected]

Richard Spreda- VT Rep. (10) 55 B Mountain rd. Stowe VT 05672 Phone: 802.253.7251 "Richard Spreda" <[email protected]>

James Fecteau- VT Rep. (11) 1735 Main Rd. Huntington, VT 05462 Phone: 802-434-3871 [email protected] Bob Phillips- MA Rep. (11) P.O. Box 583 Westminster, MA 01473 Phone: 978-874-1367 [email protected] Dick Lempici- MA Rep. (10) 2 Lempici Rd Dudley, MA 01571 Phone: <[email protected]> Steve Melady- CT Rep. (11) 54 Cards Mill Rd Columbia, CT 06237 Phone: 860-228-2185 [email protected] Mark Kellogg- CT Rep. (10) 49 Midland Rd Windsor Locks, CT 06096 Phone: 860-627-0895 [email protected] Note: The number ( ) after each name denotes the

year of term expiration of that Board Member. The New England Blacksmiths disclaim any respon-sibility or liability for damages or injuries as a result of any design, construction, manufacture, use or other activity undertaken as a result of the use or application of information contained in the newslet-ter of the New England Blacksmiths.

My financial advisor suggested diversification as a way to best survive the current economic situation. So I took what money I had left- And buried a third of it stored in a mason jar in the back yard, hid a third in a tin box behind the furnace and tucked a third down in my coal pile. With work the way is, it will be a long time before I dig down to it!


January 2010 President’s Message: Fred Mikkelsen, our trusted editor, has again “suggested” that it is time to provide my thoughts on the status of NEB for the January Newsletter. Generally speaking, I think we are doing pretty well. The transition of the Treasurer position over to Leigh Morrell from Tim Blanchard seems to be going well. A few items have come up and after some digging have resulted in less concern than originally thought. For example, the coverage of our insurance was questioned. While we determined that we should take a longer look at the situation, what we currently have is exactly what we minimally did need. There were some minor hiccups in the fall meet finances, but all was resolved and we still had one heck of a meet and for the most part it was near break even on cost. I am sure that there will be info on the Fall meet in the deeper pages of this newsletter, but it was a real success. Jim Fecteau and the Green Mountain crew put on quite a show as well as supporting stuff. It is but another reminder that our bi-yearly meets set quite a mark for quality. The location, in northern Vermont, also introduced NEB to a lot of new people. The spring meet is slated for George Martell’s in Attleboro MA. The Southern Bunch, centered around South County Museum, will be helping set this up as well. It’s great that George and Dianna stepped up. I need to admit to some heavy arm twisting on George when he expressed some “interest”. I thought Di was going to have my head when she found out, but in the end agreed to go along. The Fall 2010 affair will either be in NH at Brentwood or in ME and coordinated by Bob Menard. I imagine the usual suspects will participate in helping Bob with that. I see evidence that the economy is beginning to show signs of recovery. I know many of you have not been fairing well in this so-called recession whether full time smiths or part timers who lost their day jobs. I hope 2010 works out better than the last year or two. Finally, a few words about me. In two days from penning this message, I will be retiring from my “day

job”. It will be quite a change. I first set foot on a submarine as a sailor in 1965 and I have been working in

one aspect or another regarding submarines ever since for not only our own, but for foreign Navies as well. It

will be interesting to see how I fill fifty plus hours of new free time in a week not to mention not having to

travel as I had been. Hopefully, it will be another adventure. Time will certainly tell where I head next. It

should be fun. Owen Bostrom, President

Editor notes: “I’ll bet Martha Bostrom has some ideas as to how Owen will be spending those 50 hours!”

Last issue featured a fish in large stock done by power hammer and fly press. This one

was done in 3/4”x 1/4”x 4” and by hand, but following the method described. I think it

came out well, but next time I’ll bend the piece a little, first then butcher. The lips were

done by punching on the back to gain the material. (like forming a horseshoe clip)

Fred Mikkelsen


New England Blacksmiths Membership Form: [Please check box for renewals or new] Dues are $20.00/yr (Canadian $32.00) payable January 1st of each year Send checks to: New England Blacksmiths Membership c/o Karen Sims-337 Rope Ferry Rd. Waterford, CT 06385 Please, Check New or Renewal

Name

Business name, if applicable

Address Phone ( )

City ___________________________ State__________ Zip___________ Fax ( )

E-mail

Occupation__________________________________________________ Year of birth

Check forging skill: ___Beginner ___Intermediate ___Advanced

Blacksmithing areas of interest

Check all that apply:

___Teach Blacksmithing ___Teach Related Metal-working Skills Which skills?

___Do Public Smithing Demos ___Demo Fee (Amount:_________) ___Require Travel $

___Would hold NEB Office ___ABANA Member

Where did you hear of us?

Comments:

Name _______________________________________________________________ Business Name (optional)_________________________________________________ Street _______________________________________________________________ City : _______________________State___Zip/PC:__________________________ Phone:____ ____ ____ E-mail__________________________________________ Country:__________________________________________________________ Fax:___ ___ ____ - Membership ID # ________________ (For renewals. Optional but very helpful) Membership Type:__ New or __ Renewal Total: $ Mail to: ABANA, 1 5754 Widewater Drive, Dumfries, VA 22025-1212 USA Please pay by Check, U.S. Money Order NEW a RENEWAL MEMBERSHIPS Regular (US, Mexico, Canada) One Year ___$55 / Two Years __$105 Senior Membership (65+, US, Mexico, Canada,) One Year__$50 / Two Years__$95 Full-time Student (US, Mexico, Canada) One Year __$45 / Two Years__$85 You can also join on-line at www.abana.org or by calling 703-680-1632.

New & Renewal Memberships


Around New England Rhode Island, The Southern Bunch

Jan. 23rd—at South County Museum Contact Jim Crothers 401-783-5400 Feb 27 @ SCM joint meeting with CBG Including the postponed Steak Fry March 27 @ SCM April 24th @ SCM

Connecticut Jan. 10th @ Mystic Seaport CBG Joint meeting with the Southern Bunch Contact Bill Scheer 860-536-0679 TBA @ Guilford CT Open house at the new teaching forge Guilford Craft Center Contact Bill Scheer

Massachusetts Jan. 16th 10:00 Planning meeting for the NEB Spring Meet @ Martell’s Metal Works Attleboro, MA Contact George 508-226-0136 or Fred 401-647-3086

Maine Brentwood North, Portland The Brentwood North program will be held on Feb. 27, 2010 at the Ball & Chain Forge in Portland Maine. The program will run from 9A to 4P. Coffee, breakfast goodies, and lunch will be provided. For those who have not experienced this pro-gram it is four 90 minute stations thru the day. Students complete a project at each station that they can take home. Every 90 minutes the entire group rotates clock wise to a new station and a new project. The cost of the day is $70.00 with all funds sup-porting the Brentwood Teaching Facility. Sign up early as there are only 8 spots on a first come first served basis. This 2 to 1 ratio gives the best learning environment. Payment up front guarantees your spot.

I am also soliciting instructors to help out this year. All you need is one 90 minute subject that you can share with others. You don't have to be a profes-sional or master. Many of us have something that can be shared in this type of program. This is a learning process for all especially the instructors. Join us for a day of serious blacksmithing. Contact Bob Menard Ball & Chain Forge 56 Warren Ave. Portland, Maine 04103 207-878-2217 [email protected]

New Hampshire Check the NEB website for the start-up of open forging at the NEB Teaching Center in Brentwood. It all depends on how deep the snow gets this Winter!

Spring Will come to New Hampshire!!


Tim Blanchard is well known to most of you as our dedicated treasurer of 10 years. That alone makes him the second longest holder of that post in the 31 year history of NEB. For all those years he was tireless, keeping track of the funds and budgets. He was hard working board member and adviser to a number of dif-ferent Presidents.

Tim joined NEB in 1990 but was not very active until he retired from his “day job” in 2000. That was when he really poured it on.

What is not as well known was his role in the Brentwood Teach-ing Center. He was one of the short list of members who built and equipped the timber frame. Tim was there from the beginning and was one of the original members of the Brentwood committee.

His meticulous attention to detail, generosity of time and spirit, and warm personality has been an inspiration to NEB members for 20 years. On October 24th of this year, this was officially rec-ognized by the Board of Directors representing the membership of New England Blacksmiths.

Over the Summer I solicited forged tokens from the directors and other members to create an award of rec-ognition for Tim. The call was answered generously and a number of beautiful items were submitted. All the donated items were affixed to a Brazilian cherry wood plaque. With a certain amount of subterfuge and with the considerable assistance of Debby Menard, Tim was trans-ported to my shop in Portland. That day there was an NEB sponsored class on the Hossfeld bender. Under the guise of getting a little shop time and seeing old friends Tim was surprised with a presentation of thanks and a beautiful example of work from his peers. From all of us in NEB, Thanks Tim. - Bob Menard, VP Contributions by: Owen Bostrom Fred Mikkelsen Keith Leavitt

Bob Menard Dick Gilbert Jim Crothers Dave Hageman Bob Gilbert


The Fun Starts Here Paul Moffitt mans the registration table. Karen Sims sells some new NEB merchandise at the far end.

John Fee & his wife came from NY and Dave Hammer all the way from VA to cook up a “possum” stew on Fri-day. It just so Happened that Fred wore his “T” shirt, from Clay’s Corner Store in Brasstown, NC proclaiming the good-ness of the “other” other white meat!

Brian Anderson brought his period forge and showed some “hawks” he’d made. This set-up was a great one, I expect to see copies, before too long.

“Jim Fecteau did a superb job of hosting the NEB meet, and his place is absolutely beautiful! Several acres of gorgeous stream-side property and a darn nice shop, too. His house, when the remodeling is finished, is going to be fantastic as well. His lovely wife Jessica must be some-thing of a saint to handle this all with such grace and good humor. Living in a camper while her house is torn up and then having a couple hun-dred hairy blacksmiths descend on the place en masse for three or four days would test anyone's patience, but she was a model of patience and calm during the whole thing. Continued on page 12


Friday night featured a demo of forging hollow material and creating the critters seen above. By Steve Bronstein of Blackthorne Forge http://www.blackthorneforge.com/. You should give working hollow materials a try, just remember to put some fiber glass wool in the hand end and never stick the hot end in the slack tub when the other end is pointed at you or anyone else! Can you say “steam cannon” boys and girls?

Below is just a small sampling of the tools for sale in the Tailgate section of the meet. Everything from large metal lathes, treadle hammers and even some stuff nobody could identify! Leigh Morrell’s Nathan Robertson’s Ralph Sproul’s


The featured event was Steve Parker’s power hammer forg-ing demonstration. The shop was filled to capacity and with 2 videographers filming the action, the signal was sent out to a large screen in the regis-tration tent so more could see what was happening. The DVD of the demo will be available some time in the future, stay tuned. Steve made the point of ex-plaining that these principals can be (should be) applied to hand forging, also.

Steve Parker, Power Hammer Master


Why would a guy that sells hammers want to teach you how to make your own?? Because, that’s the way blacksmiths are and Nathan L. Robertson is one of the best ! Saturday night he showed the way to a custom hammer with sweat equity on your part. Just like the ones shown at left.

To get the “facets” on the tool shown at the left, Steve used the “hand held” V block shown above. Actually the tool holder he had brought, did not clamp to Jim’s bottom die.


Bob Bordoux working on a blade under Jim’s 50# LG that was moved outside to make room for spectators in the shop. (Yes, they used a borrowed fork lift)

The “mess tent” and the camping area in the lower field. One might expect Julie Andrews to step out from behind a tent and start to sing, “The hills are alive with the sound of music-”

Below left, Whit Hanschka protects his place in the chow line. The “gentle slope” between the upper and lower levels is seen below, center.

Bob Bordoux used his ATV and we had golf carts too! Right, Derek Fecteau tries out his sled and

it worked!


By far, the busiest area on the acreage was the Green Coal Area. John D’Abate had the luxury of many excellent smiths who were willing to assist and mentor all who had the desire to “try their hand”. There were many! The NEB and GMBA made many new friends here and the NEB will try hard to make a similar arrangement available in all future meets.


From page 6

The green coal area, as Dave noted, was solidly packed with participants the entire meet, something I don't think I've ever seen before. Outstanding! Jim's daughter Charlotte was in there nonstop from almost dawn to well past bedtime on Saturday and back at it again on Sunday until the forges were taken down. I have a feeling she's going to be a real presence in Jim's shop from now on. Good for her! All the demonstrators were outstanding, and the NEB folks had some videographers that did a terri-fic job of filming and set up a big screen with live feed of the demos in the selling tent for those who couldn't fit in the shop. This is something that all groups should emulate.” Rich Waugh - Wed 16 Sep 2009

Charlotte Fecteau, with her mother’s good looks and her father’s daring attitude, she’ll go far in the world.

At left, Steve Gensheimer from NJ did an impromptu scroll demo and design pres-entation. His design firm works with all types of mate-rials, not just iron.

At Right, Chris Caswell brought out this great

sounding instrument and played the only “blues”

heard all weekend!

Below, Ed Grove presents the “Bud Oggier Award”, that he created, to your Editor. I was lost for words (an uncommon

situation for me to be in). It is all the more special, having come from his hand. Thanks to all involved. FWM


Quick Offset tool: Leigh Morrell Here is a handy, but quick, tool which is a real time saver for creat-ing offsets. I am not sure who I saw this from, but it is not new and the credit is due elsewhere. For this one I quickly grabbed two pieces of 3/16” X 1 ¼” off the rack for a 3/16 thickness offset,

set a space between the two just shy of the dimension of material to be offset, in this case also 3/16”, then weld up both sides. Then slightly offset both

bars to allow the forging material to pass between the bars created. Under the power hammer, this operation takes generally no more than two hits. I think the pictures are self explanatory. Make one up and try it out. If you have bean style keepers to make for thumb latches, make up the offsets first, then bean out the ends, making quick work of a keeper.

Fred adds: Such a tool could be used under a treadle hammer, too.

David Court once showed us a 3 leaved version for creating double off-sets using your vise. I think it looked something like this: The important thing is to remember to provide the clearances, that Leigh mentions, based on the material being formed. Insufficient clearances will act as a shear, cut into and weaken the material being offset. Close bends like this can be frustrating to a beginner but taking the time to make the proper tool will bring its own reward.

Otto Schmirler’s “Werk und Werkzeug des Kunstschmieds” shows large offsets being formed by special set tools. This book is one you should be “saving up for” because its color drawings explain so much of how decorative iron was created and is timeless in its easy to understand lessons.


Casement Window Latch by Ian Walker

After completing the door hardware for the hostel in Deer Isle, Maine, I began design work on the casement window latches. The hostel (Fig. 1) is a replica of First Period houses north of Boston so the hostel owner/builder, Dennis Carter, and I visited six houses to examine hardware, including the Parson Capen house in Topsfield and the Ironmaster's house, Saugus Ironworks. Both the Parson Capen house(1683) and the Ironmaster's house (circa 1680) were restored in the early 1900s. A pre-restoration photo of the Capen house shows double-hung windows, not casement windows, so the present day window hardware is probably not original. I've been un-able to ascertain whether the restoration latches on either house are true to the original latches.

The window latches in the two houses are the same style (Fig. 2). The latch is at-tached to a base plate by a tenon. I surmise that the completed latch was fastened to the window, the window pulled shut, the latch turned to strike the jamb and a vertical slot chiseled into the jamb. The hostel window latches need to be functional and user-friendly for guests. For this reason, Dennis and I thought long and hard before choosing the unfamiliar (to the public) ring latch for the front door (see the Fall 2009 newsletter, p. 7). Design Issues The window latch design in the Massachusetts houses looked straight forward, but a close examination revealed problems. Here are the problems and our solutions. Problem: Excessive wear to the window jamb, and the slot in the jamb, where the steel latch strikes and rubs against wood. Solution: For the hostel, add latch strike plates with the leading edges mounted flush with the front of the window jambs. Problem: Many windows do not close all the way, as evidenced by the wear in the jamb slots and the hooks and eyes installed to help close them tight. Solution: Install two latches on each window. Add strike plates with angled slots so that as the latch is turned it pulls the window closed. Also, make the latch base plates from 3/16-inch thick steel, thus increasing the bearing surface for the tenons and stability of the latch ring. Problem: Restoration latches in the Mass. houses were attached with clenched nails, and in some cases, small hex head lag screws. Clench nails were traditional, and permanent, as in "dead as a doornail." Screw threads were labori-ously filed by hand in the seventeenth century and were too expensive to have been used to attach house hardware. On the other hand, a skilled nail-maker could forge a nail in less than a minute. Solution: Despite their not being authentic, screws were our choice. Screws are readily available and forgiving, per-mitting hardware to be precisely placed and adjusted or removed as needed. Our solutions complicated the work. Not only did we double the number of latches, but the hostel latches were more exacting to make: I couldn't just forge the latches "close enough" and give them to Dennis to install and chisel slots in the jams. Because the strike plates were installed first (to the edge of the window jambs), the twenty four latches had to be forged and filed to precisely engage the slots in the jamb plates. In addition, Dennis made the windows from sal-vaged cypress boards and old glass, and while he did an excellent job, dimension variations in the hand-made windows necessitated additional custom work on each latch.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2


Forging the latches. Begin with a 1/2 x 1/4-inch bar a couple of feet long (for a handle). See Figs. 3 and 4 for the forging sequence. Upset the end of the bar to gain mass for the shoulder that bears of the back plate. The bar is then drawn out square, then forged round for a length of three inches and less than 1/4-inch in diameter. Note that the offsets at the ends of the round section are on opposite edges. After forging a number of these, you get a feel for how much of the original bar is needed to produce the drawn-out section. Precision isn't important, but uniformity is, given that two latches are installed on each window close enough for the eye to pick up size differences in the latches. To achieve inconspicuous forge welds, ta-per the scarfs to a feather edge. The Capen house latches are more successful in this than the latches in the Ironmaster's house. Note that the scarfs are on the opposite sides of the forging and that the width of the scarf conforms to the width of the material to which it will be forge welded -- the scarf is widest that overlaps the thickened section at the base of the latch. I made two tools -- one for each scarf pair -- that when placed over the hot bar, and struck using my treadle ham-mer, formed each scarf pair in one heat. A hand hammer would suffice. With the scarfs complete, the ring is formed and the scarfs aligned in preparation for forge welding. The ring has a smaller cross-section than the parts being welded so I fluxed the entire ring to reduce the chances that the ring would overheat and burn. I cut each welded ring from its "handle," and holding the ring in a pair of tongs I made for that purpose, forged the 1/4 inch diameter tenon that attaches the latch to the base plate and the "nose" that engages the slotted strike plate. After forming the tenons in a "blacksmith's helper" with tenoning dies, I chucked a counterbore into my drill press, and using the forged tenon as a pilot, milled the tenon and its shoulders. Counterboring the tenon shoulders and filing the underside of the "nose" permitted me to achieve the precision required for the closed latch to engage the top of the inclined slots in the strike plates. The back side of the hole for the tenon were slightly countersunk. I inserted the tenon into the base plate and used an

oxyacetylene torch as a heat source to aid in peening the tenon ends. I rotated the latch and the base plate as they cooled so that the latch would turn freely. Finally, I forged a dozen long hooks, or stays, to keep the windows open in a fixed position so that they would not blow in the wind. Figure 5 shows two latches and a hook on a hostel window. Postscript Readers who have spent countless hours at their anvils won't be surprised that in the process of perfecing the latch I tossed scores of rejects under the bench -- way under the bench. Thanks to the pile of rejects, and the 24 completed latches, I have the latch "down." Mastering something new gives me confidence and enthusiasm for the next challenge. If you are a beginning blacksmith, and struggling, I hope it makes your day to know that you aren't alone. Ian Walker, Stonington, ME

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5


Fitchburg Forge in 2009 the Students and teachers plus Bob Phillips do us Proud!! This event is always fun but the prize money is very good too! The City of Fitchburg, MA and especially the firm of Achla Designs put much effort into this yearly event. Let’s do more to support it next year.

Following we the winners of the festival held on Oct 17Th at the Riverfront Park: The raffle for Coco Key Water Park -pass for 4 with over-night accomodation went to Michael Ramos of Fitchburg, The two raffles raise close to our goal of $1,000 towards the expense of running the event.

The Trellis panel awards: First prize of $1,000.00 went to Joshua Swalec-Worester Second prize $300. 00 Neil Mansfiel - Ashland Two Merit Awards of $150.00 each went: Joe Lambert- NH Julian Gabel- Assabet Valley Vocational School These panels will soon be permanently affixed to the Trellis structure at the park for all to view. The Championship awards & Jackets for the three categories in the live competition were as follows Novice Division: Evans Smith -Assabet Valley Vocation School Intermediate Division: Scott Palmer of Hadley, Ma Professional Division: Carl West of Waltham Many other awards were distributed in each of the session of the competition. Totally to $5,000 value There are limited amount of T-shirt from the Blacksmith festival available for $15.00. They are dark chocolate with light gold logos for $15.00 each. email at [email protected] for request. With a big anvil drawing very smart.-Achla


And Just for the fun of it:

If a blacksmith made a pinewood derby car…. I wanted to compete in the annual Boy Scout Pinewood Derby Race. I looked around my shop for the most aerodynamic shape I could find….the shape of an anvil should be just right. Starting with a pine block I carved out the anvil shape. Using 3/8 round stock, filed out a hex shape cross peen hammerhead, with a ¼ inch wooden dowel for a handle. I pinned this to the anvil so it would not fall off at high speeds. The cut har-die fits in a square hardie hole. The tongs are finish nails hammered square riveted together with mechanic’s wire. Because the horn reaches over the starting pin on the racetrack I took another finish nail and cut it down the center with a hack saw. The ends were drawn out and rounded and then scrolled back. During the race my car placed in the middle of the pack. Dean Lamontagne

The Troll’s Hammer Forge & Fred Mikkelsen Wish you all a Happy & Healthy New Year

The shop at SCM is a busy place on the 4th Sat. of each month, stop by and visit!


Vandals devastate museum and volunteers WILLIMANTIC - Vandals heavily damaged buildings and equipment at the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum in Willimantic late Tuesday or early Wednesday (Nov. 3 or 4). Police are at the museum, off Bridge Street in downtown Willimantic, investigating. Heart-broken museum volunteers are cleaning up broken glass and making temporary repairs, said Dick Arnold, a volunteer. "I'm teary. This is absolutely incredible to me, how anybody could do such a stupid, senseless thing," Arnold said. "We worked thousands of hours on this place, then to have it trashed is just unbelievable to me." Windows were smashed on eight or nine pieces of equipment on the grounds outside the museum. In addition, windows were smashed on a building that housed equipment, and swastikas were painted on the locomotive inside. Museum officials are investigating what their insurance will cover. The damage was esti-mated at about $10,000. — David Owens Copyright © 2009, The Hartford Courant

"Went down to the museum this morning to survey the damage, here is what was found destroyed: (9) Roundhouse windows , custom made double pane windows. (1) Roundhouse Peak window large diameter double pane round window. Roundhouse Back Door window (16) support equipment windows and windshields (Backhoe, Hi-Rail trucks, Crane truck and Yard Truck) The crane truck took us almost 2 years to find a windshield that fit to replace the old cracked one previously, who knows how long it will take this time. Chemical fire extinguisher sprayed inside a member's Backhoe Paint “added” to 4 pieces of equipment Door to the Museum Store broken and pried open, Store ransacked and some interior damage." Regards, Rich Cizik MoW Foreman—Blacksmith Shop Co-Head Our Friends at the railroad museum need a hand and Roy Zurell made us aware of this outrage in this e-mail: “I know money is really

tight in my budget, but I will write another $20.00 "dues" check to NEB with a note directing it to CT Eastern RR Museum.” Roy Zurell

If you can and would like to help- You can donate directly to the CERM at:

Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum P.O. Box 665 Willamantic, CT 06226 “A friend in need is a friend in deed”


NEB Tail Gate Listings

NEB Stuff by Mail Get T-shirts, sweatshirts and other good stuff featuring our great logo By sending a check or money order made out to New England Blacksmiths

Mail to:Karen Sims 337 Rope Ferry Road Waterford CT 06385 [email protected] 860-442-3925 Please remember to tell us what you want, how many and what size. We will try to honor color selection, but color depends on stock at hand. Tell us your second and third color choices. Total your order and remember to add postage. Payment to: New England Blacksmiths. Please include your mailing address and phone number. NEB Denim Work Shirts are Back in Stock !!! Get this classy well made denim shirt featuring embroidered NEB Logo above the pocket Sizes, M, L, XL, XXL (notes sleeves do not have extra room - if you normally wear a Tall man's shirt do not order this shirt) Shirts are $18.00 each, postage $5.00 for 1 or 2 shirts, $7.00 for 3 shirts.

WANTED: Ideas and Sketches for new designs incorporating our Logo for our T shirts. Coming this Spring. Pocket T-shirts.

T-shirts Adult 100% cotton . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10.00 “ “ “ long sleeve . . $15.00 Kids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 6.00

Sweatshirts Adult crew neck . . . . . . . . . . . . . $18.00 Adult hooded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25.00

Others Patch, NEB logo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3.00 NEB caps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $12.00 Bumper Stickers & Hat Pins, too

What other items would you like to see offered in our NEB “store”? Call Karen or your state representative with your suggestions!

Hi Fred, Can you also include that we have a new batch of castings and include the pictures of them. I get requests for photos often. I don't think the prices have changed, but I will check with Leigh. Swage block $135.00 + $25.00 shipping, Fire pot $160.00 + $25.00 shipping, Cone $45.00 + $12.00 shipping. Bob Menard

Morrell’s Whatsit? Round Two: No correct answers last time

Is it a tool, a part of a tool? Measures 15” in length. If you know, or want to guess,

send your answer on a 3”x5” postcard, or email [email protected].

The winner will be drawn from the correct answers. The winner will receive either 20 iron-in-the-hat drawing tickets or a one-year membership to NEB! Look for the

answer and the winner in the next newsletter. Wholly sponsored by Morrell Metalsmiths, Ltd.

new england our 32nd blacksmiths year 1978- to discover, to...

Documents