Today's meeting was held at Aggressive Metalworks in Guilderland, hosted by Mike Cataldo. As expected, Mike gave a spectacular power hammer demonstration. He explained the different types of power hammers, and went into great depth on tooling and dies used with them. Especially useful was his demonstration on the use of a "saddle" which is a simple but clever quick release devise used for holding various type of fullers. He also demonstrated making a ball on the end of a half inch square bar, and demonstrated an angled fullering tool that is used for beveling hatchets and axe heads. We were also entertained with forge welding a 1080 carbon steel plate onto a forged mini anvil Mike made out of a 2"x2" square rod. Mike's generously equipped shop allowed for a lot of open forge opportunities using his many anvils and several folks took advantage. As always, this was a great event at Aggressive Metalworks, and we all thank Mike for his hospitality and sharing his skills at teaching, which are impressive.

Novembers meeting will be on simple and quick forged items that can make a good Christmas gift. If anyone has anything they would like to demonstrate, let Jim or Jack know. See the schedule for what Jim has in mind for November.

Good hammering!

Paul Crosby