Last weekend I took a drive to Studio DeLucca - I went for a couple of reasons.
First, Khobe and I had sent a few emails back and forth because she was interested in how to make a fire brick forge, that I learned to make while up at metals week. We had discussed me bringing the forge to her studio and showing her how to carve the fire bricks, bind them together and then set up a torch as the heat source. But we never set an actual date to get together and so that leads to the second reason...
Secondly, I was hoping to take the 2 day workshop given by NC Black, at Studio DeLucca, but due to scheduling and dollars I could not. Then Khobe told me there was going to be a demo on Friday night, prior to the workshop. I planned to get to work early on Friday so I could leave early and have more than enought time to drive to Long Beach. I had put the forge in the car because I figured, after the demo, I could meet with Khobe and pass on the informaiton. Sure enough there were too many things to be done and I ended up working late and could not get to the Studio on Friday night. I emailed Khobe asking if it was ok, with her, for me to come by on Sunday, see what was being taught and show her the forge, and she said yes and that leads to the third reason....
Thirdly , I had wanted to take the class with NC Black because I was interested in their hammers (which ties in with the title of this post). If I am raising small scale hollow ware, you need small scale tools - stakes and hammers; I have the stakes [The Fretz Miniatures] and I am now gathering the hammers. Khobe said that NCB would have hammers to purchase. Since I did not take the class, attending the demo would be my chance to see these hammers and get them into my hands. As you can see, my plans were not working out to this point.
Sunday I got up early (despite the time change) made coffee, did the email and then got ready to drive to Long Beach; and I was out of the house by 10:00 am and I arrived at the Studio by 11:30 am.
Meeting Khobe was great and I was able to pull up a chair and watch everyone work. After about 45 minutes, I met with Andrea and we talked hammers: how she makes them; current suppliers; finding old ones; and how many she has, which is a lot. I ended up purchasing 4 hammers: The C (140 gram head) , mini-C (68 gram head) , K (15 gram head) and special K (uncertain of head weight but less than 15, maybe around 10 grams).
I also spent some time talking to Les who liked my shoes (hey Les, I have those orange shoes on today!!!) we chatted about various things: his path to learning engraving; my path to learning raising; how he and Andrea travel around the country with their hammers and teach classes.
After lunch, I opened up the box with forge and talked Khobe, Andrea, and Les through the process of making the forge - which they wanted to make in the next few days so they could make some tools. I hung out for a while longer and then headed home around 3:30 pm, having had a great day.
Head over to the Pictures area and on the Tools of the Craft page, you can see pictures of my new hammers.
Yes, I now have a hammer fetish! I think it was always there but now it is really visible.
First, Khobe and I had sent a few emails back and forth because she was interested in how to make a fire brick forge, that I learned to make while up at metals week. We had discussed me bringing the forge to her studio and showing her how to carve the fire bricks, bind them together and then set up a torch as the heat source. But we never set an actual date to get together and so that leads to the second reason...
Secondly, I was hoping to take the 2 day workshop given by NC Black, at Studio DeLucca, but due to scheduling and dollars I could not. Then Khobe told me there was going to be a demo on Friday night, prior to the workshop. I planned to get to work early on Friday so I could leave early and have more than enought time to drive to Long Beach. I had put the forge in the car because I figured, after the demo, I could meet with Khobe and pass on the informaiton. Sure enough there were too many things to be done and I ended up working late and could not get to the Studio on Friday night. I emailed Khobe asking if it was ok, with her, for me to come by on Sunday, see what was being taught and show her the forge, and she said yes and that leads to the third reason....
Thirdly , I had wanted to take the class with NC Black because I was interested in their hammers (which ties in with the title of this post). If I am raising small scale hollow ware, you need small scale tools - stakes and hammers; I have the stakes [The Fretz Miniatures] and I am now gathering the hammers. Khobe said that NCB would have hammers to purchase. Since I did not take the class, attending the demo would be my chance to see these hammers and get them into my hands. As you can see, my plans were not working out to this point.
Sunday I got up early (despite the time change) made coffee, did the email and then got ready to drive to Long Beach; and I was out of the house by 10:00 am and I arrived at the Studio by 11:30 am.
Meeting Khobe was great and I was able to pull up a chair and watch everyone work. After about 45 minutes, I met with Andrea and we talked hammers: how she makes them; current suppliers; finding old ones; and how many she has, which is a lot. I ended up purchasing 4 hammers: The C (140 gram head) , mini-C (68 gram head) , K (15 gram head) and special K (uncertain of head weight but less than 15, maybe around 10 grams).
I also spent some time talking to Les who liked my shoes (hey Les, I have those orange shoes on today!!!) we chatted about various things: his path to learning engraving; my path to learning raising; how he and Andrea travel around the country with their hammers and teach classes.
After lunch, I opened up the box with forge and talked Khobe, Andrea, and Les through the process of making the forge - which they wanted to make in the next few days so they could make some tools. I hung out for a while longer and then headed home around 3:30 pm, having had a great day.
Head over to the Pictures area and on the Tools of the Craft page, you can see pictures of my new hammers.
Yes, I now have a hammer fetish! I think it was always there but now it is really visible.
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