BlacksmitHER Radio

By The BuRN Network - Metalworking podcasts

Victoria Patti interviews blacksmiths around the world. They talk about being an artist blacksmith, their professional blacksmith careers, becoming a blacksmith, and some blacksmith history. Check o... more

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How many episodes does BlacksmitHER Radio have?

The podcast currently has 174 episodes available.

BlacksmitHER Radio episodes:

May 18, 2015Episode #29 – Grant Haverstock “Welding is the gateway drug to Blacksmithing”
Grant Haverstock is a blacksmith who owns Firehouse Ironworks, a blacksmithing business in Nova Scotia, Canada. He forges ornamental architectural ironwork as well as teaches blacksmithing classes to the public, which is the only blacksmith training facility of it’s kind in Eastern Canada. Grant is also the president of the Cape Breton Blacksmithing Association (CBBA), a non-profit organization that has over 50 members. CBBA will be hosting CanIronX, the largest Canadian blacksmithing conference, in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada.
What We Talked About
Grant makes both architectural and sculptural pieces in his shop, his preference would be to have customers asking for sculptural gates that call for the traditional blacksmithing techniques, such as the organic twisting vines with forge welded leaves.
When I asked Grant what blacksmith he would like to spend a day with, he said Philip Simmons. Philip Simmons was a prolific blacksmith who spent 78 years producing work in the South, Charleston, South Carolina. He died on 2009. Grant has nominated Phillip several times for the ABANA Alex Bealer Award though he has never won it.
Grant was on the board of directors of ABANA for the year of 2013. He wanted to get ABANA to be more involved in the Canadian blacksmithing efforts while he was there.
Grant has a cool old belt driven rivet forge from the early 1900’s. He ended up buying it from a little old darling lady that still had it from when her husband was alive. She called Grant and asked if he would be interested in it.
When talking about computer ability, Grant is pretty good on the computer and with social media. He has help from his better half, Jessica, who owns a business that builds websites, Beach Pea Designs, www.beachpea.ca . She has built Grant’s website (http://firehouseironworks.com/), the Cape Breton Blacksmiths Association’s website (http://cbblacksmiths.com/) and the CanIronX website (www.canironx.ca).
Grant started as a hobby blacksmith back in the 1980’s. He finally ended up turning his hobby into a career in 2010 because he needed the creative outlet in what he was doing.
CanIronX is the largest Canadian blacksmithing event that is held every other year. This year Grant and the CBBA (Cape Breton Blacksmiths Association) is hosting the conference in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia on July 2nd through July 5th. The venue is a resort called the Inverary Resort, a waterfront property situated on the Bras d’Or Lake. The demonstration tents will be on the sandy beach of the lake. Lobster, beer and bonfires at night.
CanIronX will have 3 to 4 larger demo tents and 8 to 10 smaller ones for hands-on/teaching blacksmithing skills. Lorelei Simms will be teaching a beginners course for the youth.
The other demonstrators include Ian Hope-Simpson, Zeevik Gottleib, Uri Hofi, Mark Aspery and Albert Paley will be lecturing.
Grant mentions that the CBBA has worked out a promotional discount with Air Canada and West Jet for the conference, email them through the CanIron website to receive the promo code for the discount (but you have to be registered for the conference first).

A Big Thank You to today’s sponsor – Cape Breton Blacksmiths Association, http://cbblacksmiths.com/.

If you enjoyed this episode, I would love it if you would support the show by:
telling your friends.
sharing this episode using the social sharing buttons below.
subscribing to the show and leaving a rating and review in iTunes. Not sure how? Just follow these simple steps here or watch the short video tutorial, http://youtu.be/rq4OCyRGjHc?list=UUH3MfNZLXlKgionAs6kMT_Q
subscribing to the show in Stitcher, http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=54499&refid=stpr

Thanks so much for your support!
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38min
May 11, 2015Episode #28 – Don Hanson “Beginner Blacksmiths- Start with simple blacksmithing tools”
Don Hanson is a hobby blacksmith who lives in Colorado Springs, CO. He is a retired Fiber Optics Project Manager and has been blacksmithing since 2001. Don designs and forges architectural ironwork, home furnishings, and roses for a local festival called Territory Days.
What We Talked About
Don was introduced to blacksmithing at Colorado's historic Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Park. The foreman, Andy Morris, invited Don to join a beginner blacksmithing class there; after the first class, Don was hooked!
He continued his learning by taking two Mark Aspery classes.
Blacksmithing is not his only hobby. He also enjoys fishing, target shooting, and rebuilding street rod cars. He has a 1951 Ford pickup truck that he has completey rebuilt, there's a picture of it below.
Don likes to keep blacksmithing as a hobby because he didn’t want to come up with the business marketing and advertising plans required to run a sucessful business.
His projects got larger in size by making his own skillset and toolset larger.
The most informative advice Don has gotten was to "make your forged pieces as if the next person who sees it will be a better blacksmith that than you”.
A great tip from Don on collecting tools for your shop; ask everyone you know if they have any blacksmithing tools. Sometimes what they think are a pair of “pliers” turn out to actually be a very nice pair of tongs!
Don’s shop is very well equipped with the usual blacksmith tools; three anvils (250 lb Peter Wright, 160 lb Hay Budden, and a small 95 lb travelling anvil), layout table, treadle hammer, a good stock of steel and an air hammer the he built with a friend.
A very good way to perfect your skills and techniques is to volunteer as a period blacksmith
Don and his first teacher Andy Morris collaborated for nearly eight months on an entry gate for the Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site. There are over 100 collars in the piece (pictured below).
When Don demonstrates at an event, the crowd really loves to see a square piece of solid stock being twisted in the vise, with the mill scale falling off. There are always a bunch of “ooohs” and “ahhh’s”.
Don's advice to beginner blacksmiths: Proper safety is the most important thing to know. Most of the blacksmithing books touch on the best practices and safety tips of blacksmithing. Also, start with simple tools, not big complicated tools like a power hammer.
Don Hanson's Links:
Well, Don doesnt spend too much time at the computer, so he doesn't have any!
A Big Thank You to today’s sponsor – Nimba Anvils, www.nimbaanvils.com
If you enjoyed this episode, I would love it if you would support the show by:
telling your friends.
sharing this episode using the social sharing buttons below.
subscribing to the show and leaving a rating and review in iTunes. Not sure how? Just follow these simple steps here or watch the short video tutorial, http://youtu.be/rq4OCyRGjHc?list=UUH3MfNZLXlKgionAs6kMT_Q
subscribing to the show in Stitcher, http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=54499&refid=stpr

Thanks so much for your support!
...more
57min
May 11, 2015 **BlacksmitHER Buzz Bulletin** May 11, 2015

Today is MAy 11, 2015 and the most recent event is:
CanIronX - July 2 - 5, 2015, the Cape Breton Blacksmith Association is hosting the largest Canadian blacksmithing event in Nova Scotia, CA. Visit the website www.canironx.ca for details on the line-up of demonstrators, the accomodations and the registration page.
International Blacksmiths Day - May 23, 2015 -Every year on the 4th Saturday in May is International Blacksmith Day. This day is to celebrate all the blacksmiths in the world as well as to promote the craft by opening up your smithy and inviting visitors to come in and view the craft, maybe swing a hammer too!
What are you going to be doing on that day to celebrate blacksmithing?
Share it on BlackmithHER Facebook page.
Twitter – @blacksmithervic, #internationalblacksmithsday

Kampung Blacksmiths of Borneo - Villagers still pay the local blacksmith with the customary rice, fish or wild boar meat.

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7min
May 04, 2015A Quick 20 Questions with Don Hanson
This is a quick interview with Don Hanson to learn some tidbits about him in a short amount of time. Don Hanson is a hobby blacksmith who lives in Colorado Springs, CO. He is a retired Fiber Optics Project Manager and has been blacksmithing since 2001. Don designs and forges architectural ironwork, home furnishings, and roses for a local festival called Territory Days.

If you want to hear more from Don Hanson, you can listen to our in-depth interview, that will soon be available on the BlacksmitHER.com podcast page.

Don Hanson Tidbits in this Episode:
Don performs demonstrations every year at the Territory Days Festival in Old Colorado City. In the podcast, he talks about how demonstrating is valuable to perfecting your techniques.
·He has picked up many of his tongs at flea markets and modified them.
·His favorite tool a Clay Spencer designed treadle hammer that he built in a Rocky Mountain Smiths workshop.
·Don doesn’t listen to music while he works. He likes to listen to the equipment running so he can be aware of problems that may arise.
·He would love to spend a day working with and learning from Francis Whitaker; a very accomplished master blacksmith here in the US.
·A blacksmithing book Don recommends is the “New Edge of the Anvil”, which is available on the SkipJack/Astragal Press website here, http://www.chesterbookco.com/new_edge_anvil_AP-SJ092.htm

Don Hanson Links:

Well, he doesn’t have any - he spends very little time on the computer.

Thank you to today’s sponsor: Nimba Anvils, www.nimbaanvils.com

If you enjoyed this episode, I would love it if you would support the show by:
·telling your friends.
·sharing this episode using the social sharing buttons.
·subscribing to the show and rate and review in iTunes. Not sure how? Watch this short video tutorial http://youtu.be/rq4OCyRGjHc?list=UUH3MfNZLXlKgionAs6kMT_Q
·subscribing to the show in Stitcher, http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=54499&refid=stpr

Thanks so much for your support!
...more
32min
April 27, 2015**BlacksmitHER Buzz Bulletin - 10,000 downloads!**
This is a special BlacksmitHER Buzz bulletin to tell you that BlacksmitHER Radio has reached just over 10,000 downloads!!! A Big Thanks to all of you who are listening, I know there are listeners from all over the world; China, Russia, Belgium, UK, Australia, Brazil and more!
I truely love talking to blacksmiths and learning new bits of information with every conversation. Through the BlacksmitHER Radio podcast I'm hoping we can get to know each other better, to inspire each other with new ideas, and to create a tight-knit wordly blacksmithing community!
If you have any recommendations or suggestions of who you would like to be interviewed on the show, email [email protected].

If you enjoyed this episode, I would love it if you would support the show by:
telling your friends.
sharing this episode using the social sharing buttons below.
subscribing to the show and leaving a rating and review in iTunes. Not sure how? Just follow these simple steps here or watch the short video tutorial, http://youtu.be/rq4OCyRGjHc?list=UUH3MfNZLXlKgionAs6kMT_Q
subscribing to the show in Stitcher, http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=54499&refid=stpr

Thanks so much for your support!
...more
8min
April 20, 2015Episode #27 – Tobbe Malm “Iron Roses and Bolt Poetry”
Tobbe Malm is an artist blacksmith and photographer living and working in Oslo, Norway. He aspires to capture moments of time and emotions with his forged art. His business has been growing, and almost exploding with the help of the internet lately. He is known for the tremendous amount of effort he has spent on a collaborative project for the tragedy that happened in Oslo, Norway on July 22nd, 2011, the project is called “Iron Rose for Oslo”.

What We Talked About
Recently, Tobbe has been making sculptures that consist of bolts depicting human forms displaying emotions, and they are becoming viral on the internet around the world.
The story behind the bolts started a year ago, summer of 2014, at a German Blacksmithing Festival in Kolbermoor, when Tobbe was awarded the Alfred Habermann Memorial Prize for orchestrating the Iron Rose for Oslo Project. A collaborative project that involves 1300 roses forged from blacksmiths all over the world. At the festival, he wanted to forge something that was tied to the Iron Rose project, but something different than a rose. Enter the bolt design, they were designed to express human emotions, specifically, the feelings of the survivors that lost family members in the Oslo tragedy.
In 2011, Tobbe started an incredible collaborative project called the "Iron Rose for Oslo". He has collaborated with many blacksmiths around the world asking them to send him their forged roses to honor the victims of the tragedy that fell on a small summer camp for children in July of 2011. The Rose has become a potent symbol of compassion in Norway after the gruesome attack that claimed 77 lives.
What makes this “Iron Rose” project even more special is Tobbe’s willingness to invite the survivors into his shop and teach them how to make their own rose for the project. So far, he has taught around 150 survivors.
Tobbe has changed the design of the project and hopes to have it completed and installed by this summer (2015) in an old park in Oslo, Norway. He is still raising the money needed to build and install the new design. How much money does he need to raise? 5 million Norwegian Krones or $650,000 US dollars.
Tobbe also talks about how he approaches blacksmithing in the Norwegian culture, which is very traditional. He started blacksmithing by making knives at first and then it grew into making sculpture. One year later he started his blacksmithing business.
We talk about his computer ability, how he built his own website, and how it is helping grow his business.
His blacksmith shop has a gallery space to display his sculptural work as well as a workshop area. He rents his shop for $1300 a month.
We have a common interest in music, Gogol Bordello, check him out here, http://www.gogolbordello.com/music/

Guest Links

Tobbe Malm’s metal artwork website - http://www.jernmalm.com/

Personal Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/TobbeMalm?fref=ts

Metal Artwork Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TobbeMalmMetalArt?pnref=lhc

Iron Rose for Olso Facebook Community page - https://www.facebook.com/IronRoseForNorway/timeline

Roses for Oslo Website - http://jernrosen.no/

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/jernmalm/

Instagram – Tobbe_Malm_ Metalart
A Big Thank You to today’s sponsor – Nimba Anvils, www.nimbaanvils.com

If you enjoyed this episode, I would love it if you would support the show by:
telling your friends.
sharing this episode using the social sharing buttons below.
subscribing to the show and leaving a rating and review in iTunes. Not sure how? Just follow these simple steps here or watch the short video tutorial, http://youtu.be/rq4OCyRGjHc?list=UUH3MfNZLXlKgionAs6kMT_Q
subscribing to the show in Stitcher, http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=54499&refid=stpr

Thanks so much for your support!
...more
42min
April 13, 2015Episode #26 – Todd Daniel “Affiliate – the more you give, the more you get”
Todd Daniel is the executive director for NOMMA, the National Ornamental & Misc. Metals Association. His background is in journalism and his start within the NOMMA organization started in 1991 as the editor of the Fabricator Magazine.

What We Talked About
Todd talks about what NOMMA offers to metal working businesses and what the benefits are to belonging to the NOMMA membership. Introductory $100 off membership promo right now. Membership benefits are:
Fabricator Magazine
Annual Conference (discounted membership price)
Hands on Continuing Education Foundation workshops (discounted membership price)
Business education programs
Have 6 regional chapters : Pacific Northwest, Northeast, Chesapeake Bay, Florida, Gulf Coast, Upper Mid-west
Commercial Insurance program
Mentoring program
Vendor discount program
Technical affairs program
Round Table conference calls
Women’s Group
MetalFab is the annual convention they organize, this year it was in the beginning of April and around 400 members attended it in Pennsylvania. It is a mixture of educational sessions, vendor exhibits and the Top Job Gallery that shows entries in 17 different categories.
The Top Job winner receives a listing in Fabricator magazine and is featured on the website. Press releases are mailed to newspapers in the winning shop’s community. The entries for the Top Job Award are voted on by the members that are present at the convention. There is also a Top Job Jamboree that includes a slide show of the entries and each entrant has an opportunity to get on stage and talk about their entry.
Another part of the convention is a day full of shop tours in the area. This year they went to M Cohen and Sons (http://www.mcohenandsons.com/ ), local metal fabricators who had 8 demonstration stations for the tour. The second shop tour was at an Amish business that creates metal work completely off the grid.
You can see pictures of the convention here, https://www.flickr.com/photos/nomma/sets/

Guest Links

NOMMA’s website - http://www.nomma.org/

NOMMA’s Flicker account for convention pictures - https://www.flickr.com/photos/nomma/sets/

Promo code for $100 off first time membership is DM2-2014

A Big Thank You to today’s sponsor – Nimba Anvils, www.Nimbaanvils.com
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30min
April 10, 2015 **BlacksmitHER Buzz Bulletin** April 10 2015
It’s Blacksmithing season everyone and the smell of coal is in the air! This is the BlacksmitHER Buzz Bulletin. Where you will learn about the latest and most current blacksmithing events happening around the world.
The buzz bulletins will be released whenever I have events submitted by the organizers. If you have an event you would like to submit, send an email to [email protected] and I will send you the details I need for the press release.
Today is April 10, 2015 and the most recent submitted event is:
Event Name - HAMMERSTOCK 2015
Location - Gum Spring, VA
Date and Time – On Saturday, May 16th, 2015, 11am to 6pm
Event description - The Central Virginia Blacksmith Guild in conjunction with Grayhaven Winery will be hosting a festival dedicated to blacksmithing and wine tasting. It is a benefit for the Banton-Smith Center for Blacksmith and Metal Arts. The event will feature demonstrators, live music, arts and crafts vendors, wine tasting and food, and a raffle of handmade items.
The featured demonstrator will be Ellen Durkan, known for her “forged fashion” work designing metal dresses and accessories. You can see her work at http://www.ellendurkan.com/. There will also be demonstrators ranging from very traditional to very modern metalwork.
Music will be provided by the Wilkinson Family Band, Red States and Gemini Love.
Tickets are $10 in advance ($15 at the gate) and are available at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/hammerstock-2015-tickets-15485703155?aff=es2. If you would like more information about this topic, please visit the event website www.hammerstock.org, or contact Julian Cook at 814-769-9464 or email at [email protected].

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4min
April 06, 2015Episode #25 – Carley Eisenberg “Thursday is Hop Day”
Carley Eisenberg has a blacksmithing business called Iron Mountain Forge where she forges sculptural and functional artwork in Boone, NC. In February she was on the HGTV’s “Ellen’s Design Challenge” as a furniture designer contestant, the executive producer was Ellen DeGeneres. You can watch the series and see what Carley created on the show here on YouTube, here. Her beautiful designs kept her on the show for 3 weeks.

What We Talked About:
Carley was a wood worker for a long time and worked under Vivian Beer for two summers, http://www.vivianbeer.com/
Her start in metal was welding and then asked a friend to build her a gas forge and started to blacksmith on her own.
After a month of blacksmithing on her own, she applied for a job at Oak Hill Iron. The owner asked her to TIG weld two pieces of aluminum right on the spot and said “If you can TIG weld these two pieces together you have a job”. She ended up staying there for 10 months until she was asked to be on the Ellen Design Challenge show.
Carley started an Etsy page in 2010 first to sell her wood working pieces, such as cutting boards, then she started to add her blacksmithing pieces to sell. She has done quite well with Etsy having 171 sales since 2010. After the premiere of one of the Ellen’s Design Challenge Carley had 12 sales from her Etsy page within an hour!
Carley came up with a really cool technique while she was on the show, it involves sinking in the flat sides of square tubing and then twisting the tube, the result looks like a twisted ribbon. You can see it in Carley’s ribbon table pictured on this page.
Carley has been able to raise her hourly rate since being on the HGTV show from $65 to $100!
Her income mainstay in her business is making beer taps for the Appalachian Mountain Brewery in Boone NC, about 50 taps every week. The taps look like huge hops made of metal, pictured on this page.
Carley’s shop is in a co-op type building that houses 12 different artists, she pays $500/month
One of her blacksmithing highlights was taking a class from Clay Spencer at the John C Campbell Folk School, it was the advanced traditional joinery class that was a week long.
The “Ellen’s Design Challenge” was exactly that, a challenge! Designing a piece of furniture in a short amount of time, three nine hour days, was the most stressful part of the challenge. Unfortunately Carley was voted off the show with her 4th design of the show, which was a couch.
We talk about a subsection of her website called “Red Cloak Studios”, dedicated to art and furniture pieces that are designed from the original versions of different fables and fairytales. Carley talks about the symbolism behind her “Dear Rocking Chair” she made, it’s supposed to be the wolf cloaked as the grandmother, a nice old comfortable rocking chair enticing you to sit down. The chair took her 70 hours to make with over 100 plug welds in the whole piece.

Carley Eisenberg’s Links:

Website – http://www.carleyeisenberg.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/IronMountainForgeNC

Esty page - https://www.etsy.com/shop/IronMountainForge?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Twitter – @Carley_imf

A Big Thank You to today’s sponsor – NOMMA, www.nomma.org
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1h 3min
March 30, 2015 A Quick 20 Questions with Carley Eisenberg

This is a quick interview with Carley Eisenberg to learn some juicy tidbits about her in a short amount of time. Carley has a blacksmithing business called Iron Mountain Forge where she forges sculptural and functional artwork. She was on a HGTV show that aired in February called Ellen’s Design Challenge as a furniture designer contestant in a competition where the grand prize was $100,000.

If you like what you hear and want to hear more from Carley Eisenberg, you can listen to our in depth interview, that will soon be available on the BlacksmitHER.com podcast page.

What Juicy tidbits are they?

·What compliment does she get the most? Her attention to details.

·What can’t she help but spend money on? Her blacksmith candy store, the Blacksmithing Depot, with spring swages being the latest candy she likes!

·What blacksmith would she like to spend a day with? The very talented Tom Willoughby from Crowne Point Indiana.

Carley Eisenberg’s Links:

Website – http://www.carleyeisenberg.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/IronMountainForgeNC

Esty page - https://www.etsy.com/shop/IronMountainForge?ref=l2-shopheader-name
Thank you to today's sponsor, www.nomma.org
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22min

FAQs about BlacksmitHER Radio:

How many episodes does BlacksmitHER Radio have?

The podcast currently has 174 episodes available.