~ For Immediate Release ~
Monday, January 22, 2018
Contact:
Robert Schmick, PhD, Museum Director
Tel: 205-4849, Email: rpschmick1@aol.com
Irv Marsters. President, Board of Directors
Tel: (207) 745-4426, Email: irv@bangorlettershop.com
Learning to Create with Red Hot Steel and Iron in the Greater Bangor Area
19th Century Curran Homestead Village’s Six Week Beginning Blacksmith Course Begins Tuesday, March 13
19th Century Curran Homestead Village at Fields Pond
Starting Tuesday, March 13, 6-9PM and limited to ages 15 and above, 19th Century Curran Homestead Village, 372 Field’s Pond Road, Orrington will offer a basic six-week introductory blacksmithing course Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6 to 9pm. It is limited to six participants.
In announcing the course, Curran Homestead Village Museum Director, Robert Schmick, said “our exceptional instructor Dwight King of Orrington will once again share his knowledge and hands-on approach to teaching this traditional art. The class has been popular among both men and women throughout the region, and many have sought it out for many reasons, including exposure to another form of artistic expression, a skill for utilitarian applications, or as a complement to welding, among other reasons. This beginner’s course will introduce participants to traditional blacksmithing methods using coal-fired forges, hand tools, and shop equipment. Each participant will come away with new found skills and an amazing variety of products of his/her work that evidence experience with creating utilitarian objects and an attention to artistic details.
“Many students claim they have always had a great appreciation for the hand made and the ability to satisfy their own needs through their own industry. Certainly, the creative output of our last beginning blacksmithing class embodies this. Many have sought learning experiences beyond the six weeks and met for additional projects and contributions to the museum’s programs. We thoroughly invite this; we want people to utilize our facilities. King and several students from our last blacksmithing class will do a weekend together at the museum’s Knife Making Class in Newfield, our York County campus,” said Dr. Schmick. “Never stop learning, when you rest, you rust!” is instructor King’s mantra, as he continually brings new material to his class syllabus. The Curran Museum seeks to develop its facilities and a community of students of the craft exploring it in all its applications in follow up intermediate and master classes in the near future; this includes knife and blade smithing at Fields Pond, Orrington in 2018. Contact them, if you are interested.
The class under King’s instruction runs the full gamut of functional, handcrafted items for the beginner with forays into ornamental botanical forms particular to King’s own talents. The course curriculum includes: safety, materials and tools of the trade, fire starting and maintenance, heating the work, hammer blows and hammer control, measuring and marking, tapering to a square point, drawing out metal, forging square to octagonal and round, bending, twisting, forging a basic S-hook, a drive hook, screw-in/nail-in hooks, making a chisel, a punch, a drift, punching holes, flattening and spreading, forging a spoon, simple leaves, nails, rivets, tool handles, door handles, scrolls, preparing for welding, forge welding a ring, butt hinge and riveting as well as working on personal projects.
No experience needed. Practice studio offered each Saturday. Leather shoes, cotton or wool clothing (no man-made fiber), bring a pair of work gloves. Safety glasses and a 2lb cross pein hammer required.Tuition is $395, which includes materials and a copy of Lorelei Sims’ The Backyard Blacksmith, a great reference resource. A 2lb. plus straight/cross pein hammer is required. Pay to register. First come, first serve by cash, check payable to “The Curran Homestead”, or credit card (MasterCard or Visa only). Contact us at 745-4426 or 205-4849, or by Email: thecurranhomestead@gmail.com.Curran Homestead Village is a 501c(3) non-profit corporation dedicated to hands-on, experiential learning. It uses the lessons of the past for the challenges of today and the future especially our school’s science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics learning objectives.
Sincerely,
Robert Schmick, PhD
Museum Director
Curran Homestead Village at Fields Pond & Newfield
372 Fields Pond Rd.
P.O. Box 107
Orrington, Maine 04474
(207) 205-4849
Email: thecurranhomestead@gmail.com
Website: curranhomestead.org
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