ABANA 2010 CONFERENCE

AgriCenter International, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

2nd to 5th June 2010

Programme:
Combine your trip to the ABANA conference with some Memphis sightseeing!
Visit Memphistravel for some ideas on Memphis Area Attractions.
Opening ceremonies will be on Wednesday 2nd June 2010.
Thursday through to Saturday will be full days of forging demo's and excitement ABANA style.
Saturday will conclude with a pay as you go Memphis BBQ banquet and the conference auction.
The theme of the conference is to be "ABANA's Greatest Hits" in keeping with Memphis' musical
heritage. The ticket price will turn the clock back at least 8 years...

The site is within a few miles of thousands of reasonably priced hotel rooms. Camping and RV
hook-ups and hot showers will be available on site.
Stay tuned for additional announcements.

The AgriCenter International is located at 7777 Walnut Grove Road, from I-240, on the east side of
Memphis, take Exit 13 and drive east on Walnut Grove Road approximately 4.2 miles to Farm Road
and turn south.

ABANA Conference Workshops / Teaching Stations:

Mark Aspery, Darryl Nelson and Gerald Boggs will be facilitating these Workshops at the "Green
Coal" teaching stations during the 2010 Conference in Memphis.
Mark Aspery works with both Darryl Nelson and Gerald Boggs on a regular basis, teaching twice a
year at Darryl's school in Washington State and teaching with Gerald at some of the craft schools in
the Eastern States on a somewhat regular basis. Gerald will be handling the fundamentals classes
and Darryl will be running the advanced classes. Mark Aspery will be manning the intermediate
section with a basic forge welding class and a tool-making class. Gerald's class will explore the
basic tenets of blacksmithing using leaf-making as a vehicle. Hammers, hammer swings and types
of blow along with tapers and spreading will get you well on your way as a beginning smith.
Gerald's attention to detail and a seemingly un-ending supply of patience and a healthy sense of
humour will be a boon to the new smith in this class. Darryl will focus on two-dimensional animal
heads and the related tooling for his classes. The steps used to complete and animal head in 2D
are very similar to Darryl's 3D heads but are a little easier to complete given the time frame that we
will be operating within. Darryl will be showing the larger three-dimensional heads during his
demonstration at the conference. Mark Aspery will be looking at forge-welding in the gas forge
making a flux spoon and a BBQ fork for his first class and tool-making for his second class. The
tool-making class will focus on a section of his tool-making demonstration given during the
conference. This will give some smiths a chance to try their hand at some of the things they may
have seen at the demo. If we have time, Mark might try to fit in an evening talk about basic heat
treatment and offer a practical demonstration for those interested.
ABANA has arranged to borrow 'BAM's' well-provisioned equipment trailer to make up a section of
the teaching station. Many thanks to Don Birdsall and the BAM board. We should have a mix of
gas and coal forges and upwards of a dozen anvils at the teaching station. Don't forget to bring
your personal safety equipment if you would like to participate in the classes.
We are planning to have some seating available at the teaching station for those that prefer to
watch but not participate.

I hope to see you at the conference, until then I wish you safe and productive forging.
Cheers,
Mark Aspery
School of Blacksmithing

Conference Registration

ABANA has bundled early registration and membership as a package deal offering reduced fees as
a great savings value! This offer expires at the end of December so take advantage of the savings
now!
Full ABANA 2010 Conference registration is only $235 for current ABANA members.
Call the Central Office (U.S.) on 703-680-1632 or go online to register
Download the Conference Registration Form and send it along with your payment
of and you are in. 
The web site is set up to take registrations online also.