John D. Harvey || Blacksmith

Artist blacksmith in Rhode Island

Successful Holiday Market at The Steel Yard (Providence, RI)

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On 19 December 2020, I was a vendor/exhibitor at The Steel Yard‘s “Holiday Art Market”, and it was really a great event held in very challenging times. All the pandemic precautions were in place: social distancing, mask wearing, hand sanitizer, and staggered entry of patrons to prevent crowding. Also, it was held outdoors, which in December in Rhode Island is a bit of a gamble.

Prepping items to sell at The Steel Yard’s Holiday Art Market 2020

With the exception of a few miscellaneous bits and bobs, about 90% of what I brought were bottle openers. It’s a smart seller’s choice given the holiday season. Bottle openers are good stocking stuffers and everyone has a beer lover in the family. I sold well over half of what I brought in for the sale.

I’ll also point out that the staggered entry of patrons to the sale worked out well (I think) for the sellers. Because of the steady, regulated flow of customers and no “rushes” or crowding, it was easy for me to chat with each buyer or individual group about the things I make and why I make them. I definitely feel like that helped me sell more items, and also talk to people about follow-on work in the months to come.

My table at the Holiday Art Market. (driftwood gifted by Laura White Carpenter)

The event was also very tiring for me. As a classic introvert, and someone who has been locked away by the pandemic, I’m very out of practice when it comes to talking in person to lots of people I don’t know. Though I had great fun and moved a lot of product, I was utterly drained by the end of it. That said, I was thrilled by some of the friends of mine who showed up to support my work and chat a bit. A highlight was meeting fellow “Fools with Tools Podcast” groupie, Nick Carruthers, a very fine woodworker here in Rhode Island. Nick and I have been online friends for quite a while now, but this was our first time seeing each other in “meatspace.”

Meeting Nick (a.k.a. The Grain Doctor) at The Steel Yard.

Anyway, I don’t sell at many in-person markets. Meaning, I sell at perhaps two physical venues each year, and the only one that’s open to the public is The Steel Yard’s “Holiday Art Market”. So, if you want to buy directly from me, then I’ll see you in December 2021 at The Steel Yard.

To finish, I want to thank all of The Steel Yard staff who put this event together. In the current crisis environment, it was a big logistical challenge with more moving parts as usual. I’m sure that all of the artists you support appreciate your efforts to advance the arts in these trying times.

Why The Steel Yard?

You probably see and hear me go on about The Steel Yard a lot and wonder why. Going back about 6 years ago, I was struggling with my Dad’s declining health and not coping very well. By chance, I found this blacksmithing episode of the BBC’s Mastercrafts TV series on YouTube. For whatever reason, it sparked something in me and it also occurred to me that this might be something that would help manage my anxiety.

So, I got on Google and quickly discovered that The Steel Yard offered a two-day beginner’s course and it was on the upcoming weekend (12 April 2014). I signed up immediately, not knowing anything about blacksmithing or The Steel Yard. Suffice it to say that I absolutely fell in love with it. I mean, I didn’t show any particular talent, but I loved it.

The very first thing I ever forged at the The Steel Yard in April 2014.

I took more classes at The Steel Yard, each building on the last. It was very good for managing my stress. That said, I was not able to blacksmith as much as I wanted, because helping my Dad as he slowly declined took up a lot of bandwidth. It wouldn’t be until Dad passed in late 2017 that my time blacksmithing went from perhaps once per month to a more dedicated schedule. And thankfully I had blacksmithing at that time in my life; I was a bit of a wreck in the months after my Dad left us.

In any case, at some point I decided to start volunteering at The Steel Yard. I got a good feeling from everyone I met there, and I just wanted to help. Long story short, the people there are my friends now and I think they’re all fantastic.

Anyway, if you like any of the stuff I make, then you can ultimately blame The Steel Yard. I would not be doing any of this if it were not for them. And by “blame” The Steel Yard, I mean “donate”. Click here to give them a bit of money. They deserve it.

Cthulhu-Inspired Pipe Stand

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Here is a Cthulhu-inspired pipe stand that now lives with a friend in England. If the term “Cthulhu” is new to you, it refers to a body of fantastical horror stories written by H.P. Lovecraft in the early 20th century (mostly in Providence, RI). If you’re still not familiar, then Google will fill in the gaps … there’s a lot out there.

This piece combines traditional forging, MIG welding, filing, the liberal use of an angle grinder, as well as more liberal quantities of panic, frustration, and late nights. I’m going to say that about 80% of what you see here is stuff I’ve never done before, or not done in this context or quantity (hence, the frustration, etc.).

The coloring was achieved using metal patinas from Sculpt Nouveau (@sculptnouveau). It’s a hair under a foot long, 6 inches tall, and about 5 inches deep.
 
I’m happy with it. But I think I’ll go back to bottle openers and chopsticks for a while…

Here’s a gallery of the finished product:

Here’s few images of how it looked before I added the patinas:

And here are some close-ups and during-assembly shots:

SHOP UPDATE! New GCS Drill Press, Post Vise, and other tools.

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Several additions to the new workshop! GCS Heavy Duty Benchtop Drill Press (14-inch, 12-speed), antique leg vise (to restore), Metabo 7-inch bench grinder, Drill Doctor drill bit sharpener, Columbian 3.5-inch swivel bench vise (to restore), and a drill gauge. Now I just need some benches and such to put them all on…

The leg vise was a generous gift from Bob at the Bison Forge Company (@bisonforgeco on Instagram). He also helped me get that drill press out of my car. If not for him, I’d be driving around with a drill press in the back indefinitely.

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Wrought Iron Cthulhu Tentacle Bottle Opener

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Here’s a special variation of my tentacle bottle opener made from a special material. This particular opener is made from wrought iron sourced from Providence, RI. It came from a derelict building that was built sometime in the late 1920s (possibly very early 1930s).

So, this iron would have been contemporary to the period in which H.P. Lovecraft wrote his more famous and tentacular Cthulhu mythos stories (“The Call of Cthulhu”, “At the Mountains of Madness”, “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, and The Shadow Out of Time”, etc.). So, considering the vintage and source of the metal, it’s got some heritage and history attached to it.

Also, this is the very first time that I’ve worked with wrought iron. It’s very different from mild steel and is in some ways a bit less forgiving. My first attempt failed badly. This second attempt turned out fine, but it took longer to etch than I expected. All that said, I’m happy with the grain exposed by the etch.

I have enough of this particular wrought iron to make two more of these. I already have plans for them… charity auctions.

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