Hot Iron Muster 2007

Being such a popular aspect of blacksmithing, Architectural Ironwork with a particular emphasis on traditional joinery was the focus for Hot Iron Muster 2007. Now in its eighth year, organiser Alan Ball has developed the “Muster” into a unique skills development opportunity for Australian blacksmithing enthusiasts. For 6 days each year, his smithy in Logan Village just outside Brisbane takes on an international air with a guest blacksmith providing hands-on instruction and an insight into overseas events.

2007 Instructor Dan’l Moore really clocked up his ‘instructor’ miles, demonstrating at events in three countries in just three weeks. After a conference in his home state of Montana USA, he was the guest demonstrator at an event in British Columbia, Canada. With just enough time to get home and repack his toolbox, he jumped on a plane for Australia and was firing up the forge for Hot Iron Muster by the next weekend. Since learning his craft at the famous Samuel Yellin Metalworkers in Philadelphia, Dan’l has run his own ornamental ironwork shop, specializing in custom-designed and hand-forged work. With such a strong background in architectural ironwork from large-scale commercial projects to interior furnishings, he was well placed to share his expertise in the finer points of traditional forging that can really distinguish a craftsman’s work.

Enthusiastic smiths travelled from far and wide for the Sunday Demonstration Day which traditionally launches the annual “Muster”.Queensland turned on some early summer weather, so the audience was more than happy to be watching Dan’l do all the work. His demonstration centred on the forging of a wall bracket approx 550mm x 550mm using traditional joinery methods. (Being a cold-climate dweller, Dan’l designed this bracket as a fireplace crane which mounts to the wall of the hearth and can be swung out over the fire.) Using 20mm square bar, he worked through and explained the various processes. As the project took shape, some of the techniques covered were the heel joint, riveting, collaring, and forming tenons. The edges of all the bars were hammered to enhance the hand-worked appearance, and for an extra decorative feature, a pineapple twist became the centrepiece for the cross bar. The mounting hinges were also punched, slit and forged from 20mm square bar. Along the way, Dan’l shared several ideas on how small modifications to tooling can make tasks quicker and easier.

So the scene was set for the eager participants in the following week-long workshop. Three states were represented with students from Melbourne, Sydney, and regional NSW joining ‘locals’ from around SE Queensland. As the means of incorporating a variety of different elements and traditional joinery techniques, each person was to forge a 600mm x 600mm decorative grille.

Although everyone was keen to get to the forge, the all-important design phase saw the group gathered with notebooks and pencils instead of hammers on Monday morning. Dan’l stepped through a simple way to get started with design by writing up lists of possible project items (eg candelabra, fireplace tools), styles (Art Deco, Contemporary, Traditional etc), forging techniques (forge welding, upsetting, pass throughs etc) and materials (flat bar, square bar, steel, bronze and so on). The idea is then to simply to choose one or more items from each list for your project – you might decide to make fireplace tools in a contemporary style from square steel bar using upsetting and forge welding techniques. Further fine tuning of the design examines the aesthetic balance of the composition and imparts your individual style. The “What if …?” question comes into play here as you work through the effects of simple changes - perhaps working your square bar on the diamond instead of the flat. The possibilities are endless, and the point was well made.

As a starting point for the grille project, Dan’l had drawn up a frame with offset joinery at the corners, and divided into quadrants. One quarter panel was filled with a c-scroll collared rosette, and one with a square mini-grille pattern featuring double-offsets and lap joins. The remaining panels offered scope for individual design. Alan & Dan’l had pre-made the tooling to be used under the treadle hammer for the offsets in the 25x12mm flat bar frame. The internal divider in 12mm square bar was then forged with a double offset in the centre and lap joins to the outer frame. The hive of industry over the next few days was interspersed with demonstrations by Dan’l on the particular techniques to be employed.

Mid-week saw the BBQ fired up for a relaxing social night. Of course aspects of blacksmithing remained the main topic of conversation. Dan’l showed a presentation of his own work, as well as some of the projects that he worked on during his time at the prestigious Samuel Yellin Metalworkers. We were also treated to an insight into his musical talents with a recorded performance of his band “The Tropical Montana Marimba Ensemble”.

The grilles gradually took shape as the days passed. As each person was working up his individual design within the common framework, Dan’l and Alan were kept busy giving advice and assistance with each new element being forged. As a special surprise at the lunch break on the last day, Dan’l announced that the afternoon session would incorporate a mystery forging challenge. He divided the group into pairs, presented each pair with a wrapped parcel of steel and gave them 2 hours to forge whatever they liked using at least some of each piece of steel. With everybody galvanised into immediate action, the parcels were swiftly unwrapped to reveal about 400mm of angle 25x25x5, 300mm of flat bar 25x10, and 250mm of 12mm round bar. The pairs scattered to start working out their designs and strategies for completing the project in the allocated time. The short time frame made everyone concentrate on putting concepts together with no opportunity to agonise over the choices. At the end of the 2 hours, an astonishing variety of items was presented – from abstract sculptures to practical items like a wall bracket and ingenious ladle set – even a perfectly balanced propeller.

It was a fitting culmination of the week’s work, with all the elements of design, measuring, cutting, forging and assembly brought together in one adrenalin-fuelled effort. The fires were extinguished for another unique Hot Iron Muster, but further fuel had been added to the internal fires of the participating smiths.

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