Organizing a Bladesmithing seminar.

K

Kevin R. Cashen

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Sep 9, 2003
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I have had a bit of a surprise, and a great honor, sprung upon me. I have been requested to organize the 23rd Annual New England Bladesmiths Guild Ashokan Seminar. This is a great opportunity for any folks out there to give some input on what they are most interested in this craft, and what they would like to see demonstrated or discussed at a seminar. This would also assist me in making my first time at the helm a success.

Ashokan has always been one of the best seminars in the country for a non-political atmosphere that offers really great, down to earth, factual information on the craft of the forged blade. I hope I can live up to this great tradition and do justice to one of my favorite gatherings.

What would you folks like to see, if you could choose some demonstrations, for one of the longest running Bladesmithing gatherings?

Your input would be greatly appreciated.
 
Kevin,
I will be of any help I can, including speaking. I have a lecture already to go. If you are interestedlet me know and I'll fill you in. For any others the seminar is usually held the third weekend in september. It is held in the northern new york about 10 miles from woodstock.
del
 
I would love to see a "Damascus for beginners" presentation. I've been to a few ABS hammer ins where the presentation was way over my head. I'm just starting to work with damascus and would love some more basic instruction.
Ed
 
anvilring said:
when would it be?? and where?? Maybe I can work it into a vacation!

regards, mitch
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My apologies to all for bringing up the topic and then vanishing. This is "Blade" show time of the year and I am elbows deep in very long damascus blades.


The Ashokan seminar will be September 17-19, it is always held at the beautiful Ashokan field campus of the State University of New York at new Paltz. This is tucked away in the Catskills on the Ashokan reservoir At Olivebridge, NY.

For location and scenery, this place is a dream vacation even if there were no seminar. Private lakes with waterfalls nestled between the mountains, endless hiking trails with wildlife (including whitetails that act like you are not there). Anybody who has ever attended will also tell you that the fantastic food is worth the trip.

There is bunkhouse lodging on site, and a nice motel very near- Reservoir Motel in Shokan N.Y.

Although it may sound new to you Ashokan is one of the oldest bladesmithing seminars in the country and was started by some of the original mastersmiths when the ABS was in its infancy. Over the years it has taken a slightly different course than that organization, but it is the one that I refuse to miss for great times and the best smithing information to be had.

I have the demonstrators lined up, but I wanted to tailor things more toward public demand so I asked for input before setting the final topics in stone.
 
delbert ealy said:
Kevin,
I will be of any help I can, including speaking. I have a lecture already to go. If you are interestedlet me know and I'll fill you in. For any others the seminar is usually held the third weekend in september. It is held in the northern new york about 10 miles from woodstock.
del
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Thank you Delbert, I will keep you in mind if I need you. At this time it is just the topics that I am fine tuning. The demonstrator list is looking very exciting.
 
happycat said:
I would love to see a "Damascus for beginners" presentation. I've been to a few ABS hammer ins where the presentation was way over my head. I'm just starting to work with damascus and would love some more basic instruction.
Ed
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There is always some kind of damascus demo at Ashokan, heck I have done a couple myself. I will see about what range of skill levels we can cover. thank you for the suggestion.
 
Demonstators in the past have included:

Phil Baldwin
Rick Barret
Kevin Cashen
Paul Champagne
John Clements
Larry Fuegen
Ken Guth
Chris Hatten
Rob Hudson
Lee Jones
Brian Lyttle
Dan Maragni
Randy Martin
Bill McGrath
Bill McHenry
Jim Siska
Jim Schmidt
John Smith
Tim Wright
Tim Zowada

and many others, these are just some of the more recent
 
That's not far away from me and I'll definitely try to be there. I have never been there before, however, and I'm curious about the format. Will it be inside a classroom or outside somewhere? Will there be short lectures, or long, comprehensive demonstrations?

Personally, I really enjoy watching skilled and experienced artisans ply their trade.

Regarding topics of discussion, I recently read an interesting article in the ABS journal by Dan Peterson, MS, that discussed austempering and the use salt tanks. I would imagine that this would be a popular and interesting topic for participants...
 
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