CFI 3rd Annual Winter Blacksmithing Conference
Saturday, December 7, Noon to 5pm
At The Hive® at 2904 E Sprague Avenue
In Studio E and the adjoining patio
FREE EVENT FOR PAID MEMBERS!
2024 has been a big year for the club! We are very excited to invite you all to our 3rd annual Winter Blacksmithing Conference. Part member meeting, part educational programming, part social, and part fundraiser, it is a great opportunity to meet other smiths and learn more about the craft. We will have presentations, forging activities, merch, food, raffles, and Steve McGrew’s extensive blacksmithing library on-site to peruse during the event! This is a FREE event for CFI members!
Sign up for membership ($25 individual, $45 household) HERE. If you came to last year’s conference, it is time to renew your membership, please use the same link as above.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
(Subject to change)
12:00 – 5:00 All conference: Steve’s Blacksmithing Library, CFI Merch Table, Refreshments
1:00 – 5:00 FREE RAFFLE! Every attendee will get a raffle ticket and we will draw names every hour for exciting prizes, including a swage block from Holland Anvil, club merch, and goodies from Alcobra Metal!
12:00 – 4:00 Club Chain Forging Activity. Forge a 3 – 4” link in the club’s chain, which once long enough will serve as a partition at demos. Keep it simple or add some flair and add it to the chain!
12:30 Welcome, 2024 in Review & 2025 in Preview presented by Mallory Battista, CFI President
1:00 Raffle, and Tales from the 50th Anniversary ABANA Conference presented by Rob Laycock of Reluctant Lightning Forge and Will Branson of Athol Ironworks
2:00 Raffle, and Makers’ Mindset presented by David Kailey of Morgan-Jade Ironworks
3:00 Raffle, and How to Enter/Exhibiting at the Spokane County Interstate Fair presented by CFI members
3:30 Critique Circle: Bring your ironwork for feedback and to inspire others, or just look at what others have made and discuss processes and areas of improvement. If you’ve got items from the fair, bring your ribbons and notes from the judges to share, so others can learn from your entries, too.
4:00 Raffle, and Member Meeting. Open to all CFI members and a great way to help steer the direction of the club moving forward
5:00 Final raffle, and Conference Closes
Gift certificates will be available at the conference for a handful of blacksmithing classes in the new year, just in time for the holidays! These classes can fill up fast, and conference goers get the first chance to register. Club merch available will include CFI stickers, shirts, and hats!
We hope you can come out and enjoy this gathering with us and help fuel CFI to keep working toward its mission of supporting and spreading the craft of blacksmithing in our community!
1-YEAR MEMBERSHIP & CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
If you would like to attend the conference but are financially unable to support the club with dues at this time, please email our Scholarship Chair, Melissa, at scholarships@columbiafireandiron.org. It is important to us that everyone be able to access the blacksmithing education that we offer, so we are working to provide a few scholarship spots at our events on an as-needed basis.
CFI is a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit and is entirely volunteer run. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!