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Organized in 1978, the
Appalachian Blacksmiths Association is an affiliate of ABANA. We represent blacksmiths,
bladesmiths, and farriers in West Virginia and its surrounding states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky. To join the ABA, click on Appalachian Blacksmiths Association
© 2008 Nothing herein may be reproduced unless permission of the submitter and/or the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association is given.
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President's Message We had our annual meeting at Bob Elliott’s shop on February 9, 2008. As usual Bob and his family were excellent hosts. We followed the meeting with lunch, iron in the hat, and a short auction. Then Bob did some forging demos, including some clever dies for the power hammer. One highlight of the meeting was Dave Allen’s donation of Tee shirts for the club to sell. These are available in heather green or tan with our usual design, but are dated “1978- 2008” to commemorate the ABA’s 30th anniversary. Thanks Dave! Our income exceeded our expenses for the year. Boyd emphasized that it is due to good member participation with conferences, auctions, and iron in the hat drawings that we are able to keep our dues at $10.00 per year. Thank you to everyone who helped out last year! So far, we have 6 more events scheduled for this year starting with Ted Banning’s / Jeff McCready’s hammer-in and our Rice’s Landing joint hammer-in in April. If you can host a hammer in at your shop, let Dave know so he can get it listed in the newsletter. Our Spring conference in May is pretty well set up. I’ve received several recommendations for demonstrators for the Fall conference, and I’ll get to work on that. See you at Ted’s or Rice’s Landing,
Brian
Rice's LandingJoint Hammer-In with PAABA at Young’s Foundry & Machine Shop, by Dave Allen You never know what’s going to turn up in old family photo albums. My cousin, Paul Hornor, showed me an album belonging to our great uncle and aunt, Carl and Roberta (Allen) Hornor, which had many photos from the period 1890-1915.
Uncle Carl and Aunt ‘Berta’ had passed on before I was born, so this album of
family photos was especially pleasing to review. When I researched the G. W. Thomas, I first learned that the photo on this page was mass-produced and appears in other archives. The photo was taken of the ship’s maiden voyage near Jeffersonville, Indiana, across the river from Louisville. The G. W. Thomas was launched in 1901. From the photo, I would say the launch occurred in spring since the river is up. Since there were no locks and dams at the time, sternwheelers with their shallow draft were the workhorses on inland rivers. The Army Corps of Engineers began dredging sandbars on the Ohio River in 1824 and was maintaining the river’s channel in the early 1900s. But the modern lock and dam system didn’t get built until later. The G. W. Thomas worked the rivers around Pittsburgh according to one website. One archival photo shows the riverboat (then the Alicia) docked at Rice’s Landing. We do know that the G. W. Thomas pushed coal barges and worked the Monongahela River. Riverboats were the main customers of W. A. Young and Sons Foundry and Machine Shop at Rice’s Landing. Thus, I thought this trip (or cruise) down memory lane might be a good way to introduce you to Young’s shop if you haven’t been there.
Walking into Young’s shop is like walking back into time. The shop began
operation in 1900 and closed about 1967. At that time, the owners walked out,
closed the doors, and left the equipment intact and operable. There are
also mould patterns for riverboat parts, such as gear wheels, preserved in the
building. The upstairs room served as the company’s office and drafting
room where engineers drew up blueprints for the various parts that the shop
made. During its heyday, local boys must have spent time at the shop
because there is a sign warning the youngsters that they were not allowed
upstairs. The Appalachian Blacksmiths Association and the Pittsburgh Area Artist-Blacksmiths Association have held a joint hammer in at Rice’s Landing for the past twenty years as a way to raise money for the preservation of this unique shop. See page 3 for details on this year’s events. The life of a riverboat must have been a tough one if the G. W. Thomas was a typical boat. The G. W. Thomas was completely overhauled in 1912 and re-christened the Alicia. She cruised until 1918 when an ice jam sank her near Pittsburgh. One source places the Alicia on the Monongahela River in 1920. The photo here is dated Feb. 10, 1918 so it is most likely correct. We are fortunate that Young’s Foundry and Machine Shop is still high and dry.
Photo: The Alicia, formerly the G. W. Thomas, believed to be docked at Rice's
Landing, Pa (ca. 1920).
James Rumsey, Blacksmith/InventorThis article is available online at: James Rumsey
Appalachian Power HammersA blacksmith in Australia and a bladesmith in Oklahoma sent in photos of their power hammers built from "Rusty" plans. You can view more “Rusty” style power hammers in the Worldwide Gallery at the ABA website: http://www.appaltree.net/rusty/association/association.htm
By Dave Allen, Editor Well, it's been one heck of a thirty years!
Look to the right and you’ll see Paul Lacy, Jeff Fetty and Boyd Holtan in their
youth at Cedar Lakes back in the beginning days of the ABA. Look at these men
today and you’ll see how we’ve matured! One of our first chores was to help Cedar Lakes set up the blacksmith shop. The Dept. of Education purchased a shop in Preston County and had everything delivered to the Cedar Lakes shop where it sat in piles. To visit the shop today and see the forging stations, power hammers, tools and other equipment, you’d think the facility looked that way forever. But no, it took a lot of hard work. Although a young organization, then-president Pete Minier had ABA host the 1982 ABANA conference at Cedar Lakes. Alfred Habermann (Czechoslovakia) and Aachim Kuhn (East Germany) were the two international demonstrators who were allowed to leave the USSR and come to the USA. This was a ground-breaking event just getting these men out from behind the Iron Curtain. Pete Minier went on to edit ABANA’s Anvil’s Ring magazine. Joe Harris, another ABA president, served on ABANA’s board and was later elected to two terms as ABANA president in the mid-1990’s. Beginning in the late 1990’s, Bob Elliott, Mark Grubb and Ted Banning were all successful in having their rings chosen for ABANA ring competitions. And there was RUSTY—Jerry Allen’s very low cost power hammer. From Jerry’s plans, the ABA built two of these hammers and raffled them to raise funds. RUSTY also prompted me to design an ABA website in 1997. I figured that Jerry’s plans qualified as ‘original content’. Two weeks after posting the website, a blacksmith from Sweden wrote to order plans. Wow! Who would have thought that we’d have a global presence? The next 30 years should be easier. Unlike the 1970’s and 1980’s, we actually have a treasury now. And we have young blacksmiths coming on board.
We thank you guys who were founding members. It’s been fun.
Print and Publishing Information The Appalachian Blacksmiths Association Newsletter is composed and written by the Editor(s) except as noted. ABANA Blacksmith Affiliate Newsletter Editors may reprint material herein provided its use is for non-commercial, educational purposes and appropriate acknowledgements are given. For all others, the material printed herein may not be reproduced without permission of ABA and/or the submitter. The ABA, its officers, its members, contributors, editors and writers specifically disclaim any responsibility, or liability for any damage, or injury as a result of the use of any information published in the ABA Newsletter or demonstrated at an ABA meeting or conference. Every effort is made to insure the accuracy and safety of information provided but the use by our members and readers of any information published herein or provided at meetings is solely at the user’s own risk. The Appalachian Blacksmiths Association is a non-profit, WV corporation, formed under Sec. 501(c)3, and is an affiliate of the Artist Blacksmiths Association of North America.
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