It’s very rare when I get to record a podcast from anywhere but my shop; I’m usually speaking to a guest remotely from the comfort of my Jeep recording booth. I had the honor of teaching a weekend workshop at The Center for Metal Arts in Johnstown, PA and after having the pleasure of podcasting with CMA’s executive director Pat Quinn before, it seemed appropriate to bring a travel mic and get some new perspective. What a great opportunity!
We recorded early in the morning, right before I started teaching the second day of forging a ‘Turnstile Friction Folder’ workshop. Spending time with Pat and seeing his careful and purposeful approach for the direction for the school was exciting and overwhelming. The campus is an incredible place that was the former Cambria Iron Co., housing enormous 3000lb Chambersburg Utility hammers. We talked about Pat’s restoration and what they plan on doing with these massive hammers. The one currently restored hammer is worked with a 5 person team; the hammer is so difficult and expensive to run that a smaller hammer with identical controls was installed to practice the choreography of team forging on smaller scale models before moving up in scale. We also talked about Johnstown and the historic flood that carried houses away into the stone bridge within sight of the school; and what happened recently when the fire department told Pat that the river was going to flood again.I am so glad I got to see what Pat, Dan Neville and the CMA team are doing. Very exciting to see; especially how the history of Cambria Iron Co. is clearly influencing Pat’s work. I’m honored to be an instructor there and can’t wait to see what they creat next. Support CMA and by all means go to the Cambria Iron Conference September 17 and Watch The CMA team work with Zack Noble as they create a giant forged sculpture on the massive 3000lb Chambersburg.
