Date(s) - 09/09/2023
9:30 am - 10:30 am
We invite all NWBA Members to join our next Sand to Steel Challenge Meeting on September 9th at 9:30am via Zoom!
For this Challenge, NWBA Members are welcome to participate as individuals or work in teams to collect their own iron ore, smelt it into a bloom, consolidate that bloom into an ingot, then forge that ingot into any object they want. The forged items will be on display at our next Spring Conference in a “Sand to Steel” Gallery.
The Rules of this Challenge are as follows:
1. Extract your own ore like bog iron or magnetite – so long as it’s gathered directly from the earth and not just recycled from the scrap bin (we do not endorse underground mining, but we do have info on mining regulations in Oregon and Washington!)
2. Smelt your own bloom through the process of your choosing (which may require participants to design and build their own furnaces)
3. Consolidate the bloom (depending on bloom size, this might be easier as a team)
4. Forge any object you choose from the steel you smelted, and display it in our Sand to Steel Gallery at Spring Conference!
Our first Sand to Steel Meeting was held in July as an organizational meeting, to cover ways of collecting and smelting iron ore, constraints and regulations on harvesting minerals, resources to bolster participants’ work, and more. If you’d like to join the challenge, email webmaster@blacksmith.org and we’ll send you the info we’ve collected so far and connect you with other participants. Our next meeting will be held on September 9th at 9:30am via Zoom!
NWBA Members, check you email for the link to join this event! Not a Member? CLICK HERE to learn how you can join the NWBA and gain access to our wealth of online events focused on forging!
Location
Zoom Meeting