The Great Plains Blacksmith Association began in October of 1988, as a group of amateur and professional blacksmiths who wanted to preserve and promote the craft of blacksmithing. Blacksmithing is neither a dead or dying art as many are prone to believe and it is our objective to teach the public, as much as possible, how alive and important the craft is and has been to our society.

In preparation for our 20th Anniversary in October of 2007 the Board of Directors decided that it was appropiate to engage other persons interested in all types of metalworking. Blacksmithing is alive and well and the educational focus on that art will continue unchanged. The Board of Directors has decided that a different name would be a natural progression for our group.

There are many other artists and metal working enthousiasts in the central part of our Nation that engage in metal arts and metal crafts of all types. The membership of the GPBA reflects these varied interests and several members were polled to see if they would like to see other topics in addition to our normal empasis on blacksmithing.

We are confident that the name change will enable the group to expand our areas of interest to include any other form of metal working. Knifemaking, foundry and metal casting, jewelry, machining, fabricating and any other metal artisans and workers are encouragaed to attend our meetings, send articles in for the newsletter, educate other members about their particular type of metalwork and generally enjoy the benefits that a group environmrnt provides.

We are activly seeking demonstrations in all areas of metal working and hope that you will not only come out and hear the anvil ring but bring along some of your unique metal crafting interests as well.

Here are some photos of the type of work that Bob will be demonstrating. This will be an excellent learning experience for those of us with smaller shops to get some guidance on producing Colonial Lighting. Bob has an extensive background in this type of forgework and comes highly recommended from some of the best names in blacksmithing. The focus will be on hand techniques using the basic tools of blacksmithing.

The cost for the Conference will be $60, there will be a lunch included on Saturday. On Friday evening after 5PM Bob will be on hand at the Haysville shop for questions and answers. I don't think you will find a better teacher or a better Conference than this one.

Bob Alexander---is a resident of rural DeSoto, Mo. He has been blacksmithing for 17 years and has operated a full-time shop for 14 years, offering clients work from colonial to contemporary. Bob has studied with Clay Spencer, Doug Hendrickson, Jerry Darnell, Tom Clark, Uri Hofi, and Joe Miller, and he has completed classes in contemporary machine shop. He is a member of several blacksmith associations and loves to teach the art of blacksmithing at locations including the Folk School and the New England school of Metalsmithing.

We need input on a new name for the newsletter. I can't promise anything but there may be a prize this as well. Well? Any ideas? Let a Board Member know your idea and we will take it from there. Generally the guidelines for the logo mentioned above will apply here as well.

This is coming together, if you are interested you need to contact Larry Evans. He is the Chariman for this project. We expect to have a price list put together shortly. It looks like the workshop will happen after the first of the year.

Check out our newsletter link. You will find a map to the next meeting in the newsletter!

Download the Latest and Greatest Fire's Edge Newsletter! To download a copy of the newsletter, right click this link, choose "Save target As" or "Save Link As" and select a convenient location on your hard drive. Downloading allows you to reference the newsletter quickly and to see all the photos in color!

We would like to invite you to any of our meetings, which are held on the first Saturday of each month. The meetings are held at the Haysville Shop unless otherwise noted here or in the newsletter.

The meetings will vary from slide presentations, lectures and hands-on demonstrations, to informal gatherings only for the sake of visiting with each other about the craft and possibility to exchange thoughts and ideas. Hammer-Ins may be scheduled throughout the year, which will be held on weekends.

Membership dues to the Great Plains Blacksmith Association, a not for profit organization, and the Central States Metal Artisans, are
$20.00 a year per mailing address.

Here is a link to our friends to the south at the Saltfork Craftsmen website. Be sure to check out their events. They hold a Conference in October which is top notch.