Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Welcome! We hope that you enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribe purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribe purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Thank you for signing in! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Please purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.
Sorry, no promotional deals were found matching that code.
Promotional Rates were found for your code.
Business DirectoryToday's Ads Classifieds Jobs Items for Sale Yard SalesReal EstateYour Local Autos
Picture a thick, 10-foot-tall G-clamp, fixed to the floor in a way that has the clamping screw oriented upward. Now in place of the screw, envision a piston capable of striking the clamping base or jaw with 3,000 pounds of force.
That’s a rough description of the industrial hammers that can be found within the Cambria Iron Company National Historic Landmark in Johnstown. For generations, these hammers enabled blacksmiths to create custom parts and tools needed to operate a steel plant that eventually extended for 17 miles along the Conemaugh and Little Conemaugh rivers and employed 20,000 people.
Proof of the hammers’ importance to mill operations can be seen in the fact that the Cambria Blacksmith Shop is the oldest building remaining within the landmark complex, dating to 1869. Yet it was among the last buildings to end operations when the Johnstown plant closed in the early 1990s.
Fast-forward about 25 years and these power hammers proved their worth once again by attracting the Center for Metal Arts (CMA) to Johnstown. Directed by Patrick Quinn, the Center seeks to encourage the creation of metal arts through the application and rediscovery of traditional forging technics.
Students from across the country and around the world come to Johnstown to learn basic and advanced technics of blacksmithing. As a result, this industrial craft is preserved – as is the Cambria Iron National Historic Landmark.
The CMA is now operating a four-building campus: Forging classes take place in what originally was a pattern shop; the Rolling Mill Office building now houses galleries, classrooms and offices; a guard station is being developed into the “Iron Street Grill” selling take-out foods; and, most importantly, the original Blacksmith Shop and its large industrial hammers are being restored to operating condition.
Heritage and art are being joined through the forging of hot metal, and the public soon will have an opportunity to experience it. For on Saturday, September 17, the CMA is hosting its second annual Cambria Iron Conference.
Dozens of artist-blacksmiths will be attending from as far away as Texas and Canada. Participants will be able to witness demonstrations of metal spinning and forging – and the creation of a large-scale work of art by featured demonstrator Zack Noble, using the refurbished 3,000-pound Chambersburg power hammer.
Artist-blacksmiths were invited to enter submissions for a juried conference exhibition, “from Core to Surface,” which will display works by 23 artists at 102 Iron Street. A special exhibition of Zack Noble’s artwork will displayed at ArtHouse 6, which is off campus at 126 Walnut Street in Downtown Johnstown.
This year, the public also will be able to experience much of the conference through 45- to 60-minute tours. Their tours will show bits of all three demonstrations, including the floor-shaking operation of the Chambersburg hammer in the Blacksmith Shop.
Members of the public also will learn some of the history of the Cambria Ironworks, will see the pattern shop and the exhibition gallery in the Rolling Mill Office building, and will be able to grab lunch at the Iron Street Grill – a former mill-gate guard house – from noon to 1:00 p.m.
Seven tours for the public are scheduled. To register for one of them, visit CenterForMetalArts.org and click on Conference.
The Center for Metal Arts concentrates on forging, creativity, education and historical preservation. Here the boundaries between traditional craft and creative art, industrial heritage and historic preservation, forging technique and individual expression, all get heated, hammered and formed into something new.
That massive G-clamp-shaped hammer has become an artist’s brush, creating unique expressions with each 3,000-pound stroke.
Industrial blacksmiths back in the day probably never considered their work to be art or imagined their tools being put to use in this way. But my guess is that they would’ve felt right at home at this Cambria Iron Conference.
To respond to this column – or read other columns by Dave Hurst – visit www.hurstmediaworks.com.
Your comment has been submitted.
There was a problem reporting this.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.
A few clouds. Low 54F. Winds light and variable..
A few clouds. Low 54F. Winds light and variable.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Get late-breaking news soon after it happens.
Get news updates each day.