MAY
For you convenience all efforts will be made to monitor and update the enrollment of the Summer Session workshops noting 2 and then 1 space left.
To all you early birds looking to plan your get away to Maine for a Summer workshop, ALL of the 2008 Summer Session is now on line and available for enrollment. There are some very exciting workshops next year and as you know with our dedication to quality instruction in only accepting 6 students mean workshops can fill quickly. Some of next years workshops are breaking new ground for the school in areas we have never offered workshops in before, some very exciting new workshop themes.
The school has developed a very nice Beginners Blacksmithing Tool Kit for those of you who intend on beginning your collection for this craft. All of the tools in the kit are hand forged here at the school from alloy steels when necessary. The kit would make a great gift and if you do not have the time to take our Tool Forging class then its a great value. We can also make custom substitutions for a small price upgrade.
Need Coal to forge ? We have coal !! If you need coal give us a call. High quality, low smoke, low sulfur, low clinker, 50 lb. bags for $13.00 each, we get our coal from Williams Coal in Braintree MA, they have raised their prices ($10.95) each and with our shipping cost we MUST do the same. Located at the Auburn location only, call 207-777-3375 to arrange pick ups.
The Al Pratt Memorial Scholarship fund will award two scholarships per year, one to our welding program and one to our blacksmithing program. The Welding Scholarship will award three full length classes approximately 110 hours of instruction, an auto change helmet and good leather welding jacket. The blacksmithing scholarship will award three full length workshops of their choice as well as a $500.00 stipend toward travel and accommodations. The workshops can be summer or winter and are up to the winner to choose. I am quite excited to see the opportunity available to an individual to be given up to fifteen days of professional instruction,over 120 hours, at our facility. Full details and a down-loadable application are available through our Scholarships page. Next deadline is February 1, 2009.
Through a generous grant we have begun construction on a new concept, a Mobile Weld Training Center. We are constantly aware of the needs of the welding industry throughout New England, it has become obvious that our training needs to be as flexible as possible to accommodate the needs of various manufactures and companies. As such, we are building a 300+ square foot Mobile Weld Training Center for remote training. This endeavor will be fully self sustaining of power and welding gas needs. It will be capable of training up to eight students at a time for hands on welding and safety training as well as trade theory and classroom discussion. See images and details for the Mobile Weld Training Center
Old News
The Al Pratt Memorial Scholarship fund will award two scholarships per year, one to our welding program and one to our blacksmithing program. The Welding Scholarship will award three full length classes approximately 110 hours of instruction, an auto change helmet and good leather welding jacket. The blacksmithing scholarship will award three full length workshops of their choice as well as a $500.00 stipend toward travel and accommodations. The workshops can be summer or winter and are up to the winner to choose. I am quite excited to see the opportunity available to an individual to be given up to fifteen days of professional instruction,over 120 hours, at our facility. Full details and a down-loadable application are available through our Scholarships page.
In May of 2007 we had our first metal art show entitled “Metal; the Art of Force”, it was a great success and was the springboard to launch a new venue for us which is our virtual art gallery apart of our new website. The Albiston Gallery has been designed to showcase metal artist and their work as a means of giving some free advertising to all of us who are trying to make it at what we love. Between these two projects, we have developed the resources to introduce the Al Pratt Memorial Scholarship Fund.
At the beginning of July, the board of Directors met with Taylor Engineering to begin designing the expansion of the school. Establishing a budget and layout to propose to the city of Auburn is our first task. At this point we are looking to add between 2,000 to 3,000 square feet to the existing shop building and tearing down the old building that now houses our classroom, offices and library. As we are discussing all of the options available to us for utilizing this space, the following areas to be addressed are: adding 6 bunk rooms available for out of town students, an instructors bunk room suite, a handicap accessible bunk room, his and hers shower and toilet facilities, a kitchen for your dining needs, a classroom and adjoined library, new offices, a small art gallery and the kicker, adding over 1,100 square feet the shop floor, almost half again the existing shop floor, WOW. It is going to be rough having remote offices for a while and retrofitting the existing spaces. The forging area will have two spaces added and expand into a larger area. The welding area will add two welding booths and expand in to a larger space as well with a clean room for certification testing. We are in need of donations to help this come together. These additions of space and facilities will benefit everyone, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the school, thank you.
Need Coal to forge ? We have coal !! If you need coal give us a call. High quality, low smoke, low sulfur, low clinker, 50 lb. bags for $12.00, we get our coal from Williams Coal in Braintree MA, they have raised their prices and with our shipping cost we must do the same. Located at the Auburn location only, call 207-777-3375 to arrange pick ups.
DO YOU NEED A PLACE TO WORK??
USE OUR FACILITY!! (In Auburn Maine) Two days a month are set aside for open forge time. A small hourly fee ($35.00/hr.) allows you to have full use of the school's facility. Based on your skills, you will have access to coal and gas forges, treadle hammer, power hammers, welders, torches, plasma cutters and all the hand tools you'd ever need. For dates and arrangement details call Dereck Glaser at 207-777-3375
After a considerable amount of time and energy, the school has officially become a 501 C-3 non-profit organization. We needed to do this for the obvious reasons but it also now allows us to offer more than we could before as far as developing scholarship programs, apprenticeships, fundraisers and obviously to accept any of your generous contributions as a tax deduction to you. If you are interested in making a tax deductible donation of any kind( cash or product) please contact Dereck Glaser, the Director at dglaser@newenglandschoolofmetalwork.com