Hahobas Boy Scout Camp, 2008
By Tracy Lauricella
In the summer of 2008, I had planned to spend a week at camp Hahobas with my son’s Boy Scout Troop. Hahobas is the same camp I attended as a boy, and I even staffed there for several years from age 14-17.
As I prepared to take my son off to Boy Scout Camp, I had an idea. After checking with the other adult leaders from the troop to ensure they could spare me during the day at camp. I phoned up the camp director and said, “How about if I bring my blacksmithing equipment up to camp and teach the metalwork merit badge for a week?” Needless to say, they were overjoyed to have me there.
Due to the short notice, we didn’t have any available building to work in or structures to set up, but the weather was great, so we built our “smithy” by just setting up equipment in a clearing next to the lake.
The “smithy” by the lake.
I taught metalworking to boys during the day and spent the evenings camping with the troop. Even though we were using somewhat modern equipment (my gas forge) there was something very appropriate about setting up in the shade under the trees. Longfellow’s poem was often quoted that summer.
Scouts working in the smithy, and studying “book work” at the picnic table.
A scout retrieving hot iron from the forge.
Getting serious about teaching at camp, 2009
The next year, I decided it was time to get serious about offering metalwork instruction at scout camp. I joined the camp program committee to help plan and implement improvements to the camp, and to start instituting a blacksmithing program in a more structured manner.
Over a series of different volunteer weekends we cleared some land and built a temporary structure- a 10x20 building with a tin roof and 4x4 posts to hold it up.
The smithy shelter.
All that fall & winter I gathered tools & equipment for camp. I built a few coal forges myself, using blowers I bought off Craigslist to power them. Anvils were mostly just lengths of railroad track, but they would suffice for scouts to use. I even traded some motorcycle parts to Larry Langdon in exchange for some post vises.
I had some vacation time saved up, since I had rolled my vacation over from the previous year. This gave me 5 weeks off work, so that summer I was able to teach blacksmithing for the entire camp season. I estimate we had around 100 boys come through the program that summer, and it was one of the highlights of camp.
Things got a little crowded in the smithy sometimes, but we managed.
I was able to get a helper that summer as well- a young man named Joe was my assistant part of the time. He worked about half the day with me in the smithy, and about half the day as a lifeguard down at the waterfront. It was interesting to see his skills improve over the 5 weeks of camp. By the end, he was instructing scouts in basic metalworking techniques all on his own.
Joe and I putting a groove in a square bar
We even experimented with making our own charcoal
Some class sessions were a little less crowded.
A scout works on a pair of tongs.
Doubling our space, 2010
In 2010, we cleared more land around our “smithy” building and used canvas tarps to extend the working area. While we couldn’t run forges underneath the tarps, it did provide cover from rain and sun for scouts to work, and gave us more space.
Scouts in the smithy.
I picked up another forge on Craigslist in the off season, as well as a few more tools. Someone also donated a massive slab of steel for us to use for a table. I welded legs onto it out and it became our table for the scouts to bang on when working. I even put a forge near it, and some scouts used the table for their anvil.
Moving the big table
Since I couldn’t take 5 weeks off work again, I was only at camp for two weeks that summer, but I taught another adult staff member, and another youth staff (<18) how to run the program in my absence. They did well, and the smithing program continued for all 5 weeks of camp. I didn’t get a count of how many boys came through the smithy that year, but I know it was more than the year before.
The big table under the tarp.
My assistant Herman helps a scout pick out some steel.
A permanent smithy! 2011
We’ve determined that the temporary building we made won’t suit our needs as we continue to grow, so we’re going to build a permanent building at camp to serve as the smithy, and to help continue the blacksmithing program for years to come. We were able to fund building construction partially through a grant from the National Order of the Arrow, but are still working on fundraisers to finish building construction. It’s our goal to have the building ready and usable before camp this summer. The new building will be quadruple the size of our original “temporary” shelter, and will be able to be secured so tools and equipment can be stored on-site, rather than having to haul them in each time. (as it is now, it takes us a whole weekend just to set up the smithy as we haul equipment out of storage).
The new smithy will not only help the summer camp program, but opens up new opportunities for scouts to use the smithy in the off season as well.
A plea for help: tools needed.
Right now the program is surviving through the efforts of some dedicated volunteers, using equipment I made or donated. We have one “real” anvil, and a half-dozen railroad tracks on stumps for the scouts to use for anvils. We have two post vises and one bench vise. We have 5 small coal forges (mostly homemade) , and I hope to bring my homemade gas forge up to camp again this year as well.
However, with the growing size of the program and the hope to expand to running weekend events in the off-season as well, we need more tools and equipment. Even small things like tongs or other hand tools are very valuable.
If you have any extra equipment (anvils, forges, hammers, tongs, vises, hardie tools, swages, etc.) that you would be willing to part with, please let me know. (I can see to it that you get a receipt from the council if you want to claim the value of the tool on your taxes as a charitable donation.)
Even if you don’t have extra tools to spare, please consider spending an evening making something to donate. Tongs and other tools are not difficult to make, but trying to produce enough tools for 20-30 boys to use takes some time.
Another plea for help: Funds.
As noted, we’re working to build a permanent smithy at camp, and while the grant from the national OA helps immensely, we’re not yet fully funded. Any donations to help the program would be welcome. If we exceed our goals and raise more than what is needed to build the building, any additional funds will go toward the program itself- for example to buy steel, coal, aprons, safety glasses, tools, etc.
I can be reached at John@JohnTheBlacksmith.US (The boys all know me as “John The Blacksmith”, as it’s easier for them to remember and say than “Tracy Lauricella” J )
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