Hot Iron Muster 2000

Pictured at the Open Day:

Back, left to right:
Craig Drew, Graham Moyses, Adrian Hobba, Robert Schmidbauer, Colin Dray, Ingvar Masson, Paul Jones, Ron Poulton.

Front, left to right:
Tal Harris, Alan Ball

Hot Iron Muster 2000 - the Tale

The forges are cold, the anvils are silent, and the tools rest again in their racks. The quiet scene belies the enormous energy, enthusiasm and excitement that characterized the two weeks of intense blacksmithing in July for Hot Iron Muster 2000 at Logan Village, Queensland.

Workshop leader, Tal Harris from North Carolina, USA channelled these resources into the creation of the exquisite window grilles now a permanent showcase of blacksmith art for the local Community Craft Cottage. "An Australian workshop in traditional art smithing has been my dream since attending the 1998 ABANA conference" confided event organiser Alan Ball. "I was impressed by Tal's demonstration, and after spending a few days with him courtesy of the Conference Auction, was convinced that his style would appeal to an Aussie audience."

To revive and reinforce the true skill of the blacksmith of old, two different window grilles were designed by Kim Harris to be made by traditional methods incorporating a broad range of joinery techniques. "Creating an imposing public exhibit seemed the best way to raise the profile of blacksmithing as an artform. Being the first such project to be undertaken in Australia, these window grilles will be talked about for a long time", Alan said.

Hot Iron Muster 2000 fired up its forges on 10th July, with smiths travelling from all over south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales to participate. To highlight the relevance of blacksmithing as a contemporary art, Alan invited two students from the local Beaudesert High School to take part.

The design for the first week's workshop was a contemporary representation of a lyrebird, the symbol of Beaudesert Shire, the home of the Muster. With its radiant sun, base of scrolls and variety of twists, this grille tested the precision of angled tenon and riveted joints. The 1100 x 730 mm forge-welded frame had double fullared rows to add to its degree of difficulty. Other attachments were made with double-fullared collars and decorated rivet heads.

With a full-size drawing completed by Kim, Alan's eight forging stations soon became a hive of activity. As the particular strengths of the participants started to become apparent, the project was divided in sections and allocated to individuals or pairs. Throughout the job, Tal demonstrated unfamiliar procedures. "Righto!" became the catchcry as enthusiastic workers took up their challenges.

Due to the widespread interest created by the Muster, a public Open Day was held at the Community Centre in Logan Village on the weekend. A demonstration program featuring Tal, Adrian Hobba from Queensland and Doug Moseley from New South Wales, held the audience captive for several hours. Much in demand for information on their techniques, all demonstrators were happy to share ideas. The first of the grilles was on show along with the test pieces to illustrate how it all came together. Most of the participants were on hand to eagerly describe the processes and answer questions from the visitors. Several smiths brought examples of their work to further convey the versatility of blacksmith art.

The lyrebird grille was formally presented to representatives of the Community Centre Management Committee, the Craft Cottage, and the Shire Council. In praising the fine workmanship displayed in the grille, the recipients expressed awe at the detail of the components and the skill required to produce such an art piece. The perception that blacksmiths shod horses and sharpened crowbars was starting to fade.

The second week's grille was a more traditional design using a variety of scrolls, rosettes and quatrefoils with pass-throughs, lap-joints and a basket twist. Tenon and riveted joints were again featured with collars and decorated rivet heads. This time the 1500 x 900 mm frame was forge-welded in the two bottom corners, with the top ends finishing in open scrolls. Other components were joined to the frame with collars through slit and drifted openings.

A new set of seven eager participants joined three 'old-stagers' carrying on from the previous week. Containing more repetitive elements than the first grille, this design allowed most of the team to gain experience on most processes. Following Tal's demonstrations, the forges glowed as all tried out the new techniques. The supply of test pieces grew in the interests of getting the best possible example for the grille. "Everybody says that'll be close and pretty soon it isn't", Tal warned as his ruler consigned another part back to the forge.

With most of the forging complete by the last day, attention turned to the most complex elements - the basket twist and quatrefoils. After Tal's demonstration of the intricacies of the basket twist, his version was readily accepted for the grille. The quatrefoil team found the heavy 12x8 mm stock challenging at their first attempt at this complicated task, and their efforts convinced the rest of the group to practice this element at their later leisure. The final collars were hammered over by the evening, and the fires extinguished on a very successful Hot Iron Muster 2000. The question on everybody's lips - "When can we do this again?"

Instructor Tal Harris demonstrating techniques

Participants get the drift