Metal Fabrication Studio July Updates

Hey, all you Metal Fabbers! Here’s your July edition of the Metal-Fab newsletter.

We have several items for you to be aware of, including some foundry and forge Open Studio events, bladesmithing classes, and ongoing community service projects.

Summer Youth: Make A Pet Classes
But before we get to those topics, we want to call for donations of old stainless steel tableware. The kids use bits and pieces of steel to construct all manner of whimsical creations. Old forks, spoons, and knives make great fodder for their whimsy. So, if you’ve any unwanted stainless sitting in drawers or boxes, please consider dropping that stuff off at BARN. If you do it soon, the kids will put it to good use in one of the nine classes going on through the second week of August.

Foundry Guided Open Studio and Classes
We want to let you all know that the foundry team has a guided Open Studio coming up on Saturday, Sept. 7. These are super fun events where molds are made and molten bronze is poured. Registration and prior experience are required. Check out our foundry classes, where you can gain the experience needed for open studios. If anyone wants to observe others having fun making bronze castings, please contact David at metal.programming@BainbridgeBARN.org.

Forge Open Studios and Classes
Next is a general announcement about forge open studios, which we hold on the concrete apron outside BARN’s Welding and Sheet Metal shop. Our next Open Studio is on Aug. 3, from noon to 3 PM. Recent smithing experience is required to attend these events. You can check off that requirement by attending one of these classes:

• Forge a Hori Hori Garden Tool, Saturday, July 27, 10 AM – 4 PM
  Make your own hori hori, one of the most useful gardening tools you can use, and learn blacksmithing skills. Learn more >
• Forge an Herb Chopper, Thursday, Aug. 1, 10 AM – 4 PM
  Build your blade-smithing skills by making this kitchen essential: the herb chopper. Learn more >
• Forge a Set of Gardening Tools, Saturday, Aug. 24, 10 AM – 4 PM
  If you enjoy gardening and appreciate good tools, then imagine using a set of gardening tools you created at the forge with a hammer and tongs. This class will guide you, step by step, so you can do just that while learning basic blacksmithing skills. Learn more >

Community Service Projects
Metal-Fab usually has one or more community service projects in the works, but one of the more challenging and rewarding is repairing the prayer wheel that normally resides in the Hall’s Hill Lookout and Labyrinth Park near Blakely Harbor.

Created by artist Tom Jay of Chimacum, the prayer wheel is a 300-pound bronze sculpture, a clapper mechanism, and a bell that rings every nine rotations of the wheel. After being damaged a few years ago, it has made its way to the Machine Shop for repair. These images show the prayer wheel, as installed in the park, a 3D image of the prayer wheel assembly, the broken “spider” that originally held the mechanics of the wheel, and the part we’ll be machining from aluminum (light gray part that holds the bronze drive gears and clapper).

Our aim is to have everything ready to be reinstalled by summer’s end.