2004 Fall Hammer-In
Walt Scadden
For our Fall meeting we had Walt Scadden, from Manchester, Connecticut, as our demonstrator.
Our demo for the weekend was be about “Maritime Ironwork”. Walt Scadden has been studying and re-creating ship and boat hardware of the East Coast. His demo covered, among other subjects, the making of oar locks, a grapple, boat hook, marlin spikes anchor parts, and deck hardware. On Friday night Walt also presented a slide show on the building of the Schooner Amistad replica, as well as other ironwork.
Walt has been smithing for over 30 years. He studied at John C. Campbell Folk School and also with many notable smiths, including Manfred Bredohl from Germany, Francis Whitaker, and Ivan Bailey. In addition he has participated in programs in “Architectural Technology” and “Architectural Design” at Hartford State Technical Institute and the Rhode Island School of Design. He won the USS Steel Design Competition in 1985, and has demonstrated at many regional and several national conferences. His work covers quite a range, including the restoration of several Yellin pieces from Yale University, restoration of a 19th Century carousel, and the hardware for the Schooner Amistad replica. Walt has a shop in Manchester, Connecticut, and also teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Walt was very engaging and informative, and did a great demo. If you missed this meet keep your eyes open for him giving a demonstration and try to see him if you can.
For Saturday late afternoon, we had arranged a visit to the Empire State Railway Museum and a ride on the Catskill Mountain Railway.
The Railway Museum is located in Phoenicia in the old rail station, just off Route 28. We carpooled from the Campus, leaving at 4:30, to arrived at the station by 5pm, taking a ride to the next stop where we got off and toured the museum and yard. We then took a train rideback to the starting station, getting back in time for dinner.
Walt Scadden
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Maritime Hardware |
Walt and Jim Moran
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Walt and John Olsen |
Train Ride
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Wheel truck with rebuilt
car in rear of photo |
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