Jul 17, 2017
Today I have Bob Menard, owner of the Ball and Chain Forge,
which is mainly a custom architectural blacksmith shop in Portland
Maine. He has been in business since 1990. He is also the
editor of the NEB’s quarterly newsletter. Today we talk about
his beginnings, production work, 180 lb plant hooks, what the ….and
collaborative artwork projects. Bob also gives us some golden
nuggets about business insurance for blacksmiths.
Today’s episode sponsorship provided on behalf of New England
Blacksmiths, the ABANA affiliate serving Connecticut,
Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island.
Check us out at
http://www.newenglandblacksmiths.org/
In fact they have an event comping up called the Age of Iron at
Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield, MA it’s happening the 1st
weekend in August, 5th and 6th for the whole weekend.
And here’s an insider’s tip for my listeners, any visitor
that says they are there for the "Blacksmithing demonstrations", or
for the "Age of Iron" will get the discounted group rate for
admission to the village, this includes all exhibits, not
just the Blacksmithing demo. For more details of this event go to
their website www.hancockshakervillage.org
For further details contact Cindy Dickinson at the village, she’s
the education director cdickinson@hancockshakervillage.org
or DM @HayBudden on Twitter or Instagram, Stephen Conner.
What We Talked About
- Bob grew up with horses as a child and was always fascinated
with the farrier that came over to shoe the horses, mainly the fact
that he could produce a fire on the back of his truck. Then in high
school, as a sophomore, there was an Early American History class
where Bob and 30 other students built a log cabin settlement on the
school grounds. During the construction of this cabin, Bob
volunteered to learn how to make some of the hardware needed by
using the industrial arts department’s anvil, a gas fired blast
furnace and 2 books by Alex Bealer and Alex Weygers, The Complete
Blacksmith.
- Bob started to sell his forged wares very soon after learning
the trade, in fact, he sold the second piece he ever made to his
high school’s cafeteria manager. Bob continued to grow his business
for 15 years and then discovered the New England Blacksmith’s group
and ABANA.
- Bob started selling trinkets at a local shop called “The Candle
and Mug”, he developed a line of pieces that were candle centric.
Bob still has his notes from these early designs.
- In Bob’s shop today, they are making custom architectural
ironwork, such as gates, fencing, railings etc.
- Art fabrication is another lucrative income for his shop, this
is when an artist comes to him with their sculpture design and
hires them to fabricate it.
- Bob talks about business insurance for blacksmiths due to two
recent blacksmith shop fires. He advises having your equipment
properly insured for the value of it in today’s dollars.
- Bob teaches a few classes through the NEB teaching facility and
at other well-known craft schools, such as the Adirondack Folk
School.
- Mokume Gane is another focused technique that Bob has been
studying and is now teaching students.
Guest Links
A Big Thank You to today’s sponsor – New England
Blacksmiths
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