It is with deep regret that I must inform everyone we have to cancel our Geichner Memorial  Hammer-Inn for 2021. With the spread of the Corona virus as well as the new travel restrictions placed on us, there is just no practical way to host such an event at this time. In the coming days we will be putting a plan in action to hold a virtual Or skype meeting on Saturday evening January 9, 2021. Details on how to log on will be located in the newsletter & placed on all of our social media. I encourage everyone who is a member of MASA to spread the word to those who regularly attend, who may not be members. I would hate for them to make an unnecessary trip. Anyone who has already paid for this event, your registration can be applied to next year’s event, or we will destroy the check. Send me an email with your decision. With the current price of postage & the state of the Post Office, I don’t recommend mailing the checks back. That being said, don’t forget to send in your annual dues. This will ensure you get the newsletter on time.

During our virtual meeting we plan on having a short business meeting to discuss upcoming events locally, as well as the ABANA event in April in Johnstown, Pa. I certainly hope by the time we have the joint meeting in Furnace Town in March, this Corona mess is behind us. I hope everyone stays safe during what should be the last phase of this epidemic. Having spoken to several of our members & friends from around the country, it’s interesting how this has affected the blacksmithing community. While craft fairs & art shows have all been canceled, some smiths have done well with on line sales. Some smiths have done well with in person teaching. I am also hearing tool sales are through the roof as hobbyists are working from home. If you are having trouble with a project, don’t be afraid to reach out to one of the officers or directors of this organization that lives near you. We are here to help.

Happy New year!

Eric Harvey  President MASA

Hello everyone,

This year’s demonstrator will be Fred Crist.  Fred is an internationally recognized blacksmith, creating custom architectural work for a variety of private and commercial clients. Fred Crist also creates contemporary sculpture and photography shown in galleries around the world.  You can check out his work at: https://www.facristmetalsmith.com/statement

The event will be held again at Eric’s shop, located at:

8341 Black Dog Alley, Easton, MD 21601 – (410) 822-2418 

The event dates are: January 8 – 10, 2021, with the main demo starting Saturday at 9am.  Auction and display items welcome, no iron in the hat.  Cost is $60 as before and click here for the registration form.

****Please note the COVID-19 protocols on the second sheet of the registration form

Hope to see everyone there who is able to make it.  But until then, stay safe and forge on.

Update: We have worked out the details for this year’s Tuckahoe Hammer-in.  Our demonstrator this year will be Carson Sams of Carson’s Customs LLC.  The event will be one day only, on Saturday September 12 at the Tuckahoe steam and gas grounds.  We have some new protocols related to the COVID-19 weirdness.  Please see the registration form link below for details.  Looking forward to seeing everyone.

MASA Tuckahoe registration form 2020

Hello everyone,

This year’s demonstrator will be Atticus McFadden-Keesling of AMK-Ironworks.  You can check out his work at: https://www.amkironworks.org

We are announcing some big changes this year to the Gichner Hammer-in.  This year to event will be held at Eric’s shop, located at:

8341 Black Dog Alley, Easton, MD 21601 – (410) 822-2418 

The event dates are: January 10 – 12, 2020, with the main demo starting Saturday at 9am.  Auction and display items welcome, no iron in the hat.  Cost is $60 as before and click here for the registration form.

We are pleased to announce details for the 2019 September Hammer-in. The event will be held on September 7 – 8 and, as always, it will be held at the Tuckahoe Steam & Gas facility, north of Easton, MD off of rt 50.  This year we are honored to have Jennifer Horn of Daisy Hill Forge demonstrating for us.  Jennifer Horn is a Certified Journeyman Farrier (CJF) and Accredited Professional Farrier (APF) beside being an Artistic Blacksmith. In addition to her career as a horseshoer she is also a highly creative Artist-Blacksmith. The skills Jennifer has employed in her horseshoeing business have allowed her to branch into artistic blacksmithing where she enjoys working with hot steel to create fun, beautiful and functional works for many clients, her family and her friends.  Click here for the registration form and details.

MASA is proud to announce our first Shop-Hop Hammer-in to he held on May 11, 2019. The Shop-Hop is a low key hammer-in held at a local member’s shop and intended to be part demo, part hands on practice and part open sharing of whatever projects you’ve been working on.  The event is open to anyone – current members, potential members and the person who just discovered that people still hit iron with hammers.  The event will start off with a demonstration by Dave Collier and then transition to open forging.  There will be no iron in the hat and no auction.  Feel free to bring display items if you wish.  There is no official registration fee, but please bring $5 to throw in the pot for lunch.

Broken Hammer Forge is a blacksmith school facility so there are 6 student work stations where people will be welcome to tinker and play.  There are also power hammers and a hydraulic press so if you have a project you’re working on that could use some mechanical help bring it with you.  If anyone is working on any projects and you’re stumped as how to proceed, bring it with you.

Our plan is to begin holding more of these smaller local shop events to provide a low key setting where members can bounce project ideas off each other and for local members to get to know each other better.  We will be looking for people willing to host future events throughout the year.

There is no official registration for this event since there is no fee but please RSVP so we will know how many to plan for.

RSVP: davcollier@gmail.com or 410-482-7863

Date: May 11, 2019

Time: 9:00 am until 4ish

Location:

Broken Hammer Forge

16343 Oakland rd

Henderson, MD 21640

The 2019 joint MASA / Furnace Town Hammer-in is set for March 30 – 31.  The demonstrator this year will be Leigh Morell of Morell Metalsmiths.  This year’s event will be themed “All Things Kitchen”.  Items that will be demonstrated will include cooking utensils, fork, spatula, spoon, ladle, utensil rack, toasting tongs, bottle opener, butter/ cheese knife, forge welded herb hook, etc.  As always it will be held at the Furnace Town forge in Snowhill, MD.  Click here for registration form.

Dan’s Pasture Party is back on for 2019.  Its set for February 23.  Click here for registration information.

Good morning everyone. We have our demonstrator for the 2019 Bill Gichner Hammer-in. Terry Sheridan from Ontario, Canada. The event will be held on January 11 – 13. Click here for the registration form.  Check out some of Terry’s work at the following link: http://thebarnstudio.ca/gallery/album/blacksmithing-hand-forged/terry-sheridan-at-the-forge

We are sad to announce the cancellation of the Mid-Atlantic Smiths Association’s  Metalsmith Conference, scheduled for September 8-9, 2018, at the Tuckahoe Steam & Gas Association in Easton.  The reason for the cancellation is simply because we were not able to line up a demonstrator. Instead of trying to cobble together a halfhearted show with very little notice, we have decided to regroup stronger for next year.  We will have the Bill Gichner Memorial Hammer-in event in January, as always and also the joint Furnace Town event March 30 – 31. The good news is that we have a demonstrator lined up for the 2019 Tuckahoe Metalsmith Conference.  Next year Jennifer Horn from Daisy Hill Forge will be demonstrating.  For anyone who was able to attend the ABANA Conference in June, she demonstrated in the farrier tent.  We deeply apologize for the turn of events. We look forward to seeing everyone in January and next year at Tuckahoe.