Tal Harris: Traditional Iron Work
The primary goal of the demonstrations Tal will be doing is to get blacksmiths interested in traditional mechanical joinery, and to leave confident in the belief it can be accomplished efficiently without complicated or expensive tooling and equipment. All demos will cover in great detail the manual processes, simple tooling, application and planning aspects of the joinery, including but not limited to: tenons, rivets, collars, pass-through and forge welding. Branching scrolls and quatrefoils will also be covered.
Tal began blacksmithing in 1980 while attending Appalachian State University in North Carolina, and in 1982 he attended the Frank Turley School of Blacksmithing in Santa Fe for six weeks. He has also trained under Francis Whitaker, Clay Spencer, Peter Ross, and Tom Latane. He participated in special projects with Francis Whitaker at the 1994 and 1996 ABANA Conferences and he demonstrated at their 1998 Conference and has demonstrated at numerous other blacksmithing events. In 2000 he led two one-week workshops in Queensland, Australia.
Tal currently operates W. T. Harris Metalsmiths at his home in Waxhaw NC. In addition to blacksmithing, he also has 41 years experience working with a company that makes high performance metals, primarily nickel and titanium alloys for the aerospace industry.
Roy Adams: Baroque Style Elements
Roy Adams resides in Harrisville, Michigan with his wife and three children. Roy’s interest in blacksmithing began in childhood when he watched a blacksmith at his work at Carriage Hill Metropark. He began forging in 2008 after receiving an antique coal forge as a gift from his wife. Roy studied under prestigious blacksmiths such as Thomas Latane, Peter Ross, Clay Spencer, Douglas Pryor, and Wayne Apgar.
In 2012, Roy officially opened his business Christ Centered Ironworks and online store. Roy has taught blacksmithing classes at the Tejas Art Gallery, Southern Ohio Forge and Anvil club, Goshen Blacksmith Society, Blue Hell Studios, and Tiller’s International among other places. Additionally, he has done blacksmithing demonstrations at the Western Reserve Artist Blacksmith Association’s 2018 conference, Blacksmith Association of Missouri’s 2021 conference, Florida Artist Blacksmith Association’s 2022 conference, Upper Midwest Blacksmith Association’s 2022 conference, monthly demonstrations at Southern Ohio Forge and Anvil, Dayton’s Urban Nights and Arts Week, Taste of the Arts in Piqua, Preble County Art Association, and Boyscouts Summer Camp. In 2017, Roy received the Ohio Heritage Fellowship Award from the Ohio Arts Council.
Roy has a YouTube channel called, “Christ Centered Ironworks” where there are currently over 1,800 videos of forging tutorials for all skill levels in addition to videos to help blacksmiths start a business. Roy’s passions in blacksmithing run toward ornamental French baroque ironwork for the home and continuing to share and redistribute knowledge and awareness of the great craft of blacksmithing.