The Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association
Promoting the work and trade of blacksmithing, both traditional and modern.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Following the October AGM, Beau Beckett of Beckett’s Blacksmithing has accepted the position of 2nd Vice President, taking over from Bob Young.
Per a vote held at the AGM, OABA will be transitioning to a single membership renewal date of Sept 1st for all members in 2027. Sept 1st was chosen as it is in line with our fiscal year. This will simplify tracking renewals and expiries immensely. Members will also have the option to renew for 1 year at a current price of $45 or 3 years at a price of $120. More details to follow.
Upcoming events
When: November 14 2026
Where: Thak Ironworks, Floradale ON
The Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association is a group of professional and part time blacksmiths, as well as others who are interested in the field. Some members have a great deal of experience, while others have only a little. All are welcome. You do not need to be a member to attend your first meeting. If you enjoy the experience, you can choose to become a member at that time.
For the public
We seek to promote the work and trade of blacksmithing, both traditional and modern, as a high quality, creative craft and affordable art form which has a growing place in modern society.
For an example of some of what we have to offer, please peruse our Gallery. For those looking to hire a blacksmith, please read Hiring a Blacksmith.
For our Membership
We seek to promote an exchange of creative ideas, provide an opportunity for teaching and learning about specific techniques of blacksmithing.
How to join:
OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP!
Under the Members Login/Logout drop down menu (in the upper right corner of this page) choose Register. Fill out your information and choose your payment method. This will set up your website account which will give you access to our Membership Pages including the current and archived Iron Trillium issues as well as a few bonus articles.
If new registrations are paid by Paypal or E-transfer we require a follow up email to be sent to treasurer@ontarioblacksmiths.ca with your name, address, and phone number and email address.
If you choose the Manual/Offline option, send your name, address and a cheque for $45.00, payable to the Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association, to our membership chair Boyd Page at:
347 St. Andrews Street Cambridge, ON, N1S 1P4
NOTE: Please make sure to make the cheque out to ‘Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association’, not to OABA or Boyd Page.
Demonstrations
Through demonstrations and practice the basics of blacksmithing are learned.
Membership
Members are drawn from all those interested in all types of iron work, whether full time professional or weekend hobbyist.
Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association
The Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association seeks to promote the work and trade of blacksmithing, both traditional and modern.
More Events are Planned
Iron In The Hat. What is it?
When you come out to our meetings you’ll have the chance to participate in our fundraiser – “Iron In The Hat”. Here’s how it works: Members are all encouraged to bring an item for Iron In The Hat. It should be blacksmithing or at least metalworking related. Tools, books, scrap metal, safety gear, something you forged yourself are all good examples. The items are gathered together on a table. Everyone has a chance to look, buy tickets and bet on items of their choosing. At the mid point of a meeting a winning ticket is drawn for each item. It’s a fun way to share, get to know each other and most importantly to raise money for our organization! Thanks everyone!
OABA T-Shirts now available!
OABA has new T-Shirts which are
Canadian made, 100 % cotton!
A pocket on the front left chest,
The OABA logo is small on the
front, and large on the back.
Small to XL $27, 2XL is $30.
Purchase with cash at any meeting
(exact change appreciated).
If you can’t make it to the
meetings, please contact
vice.president@ontarioblacksmiths.ca
Also available are OABA SWAG Pins for $5
Contact our Vice President Robert Wagner
Links to Member's Websites
CONTRIBUTIONS WANTED
If it is interesting to YOU – it will be interesting to others!
What you SAW / what you LEARNED / what you FOUND. Short pieces very acceptable!
Remember the Membership of OABA includes a wide range of skills and
experience levels, and the Iron Trillium needs to reflect all of us.
Feel free to suggest / review things you found on the internet.
Disagree with something you see? Send a ‘letter to the Trillium’.
Submission Guidlines:
We welcome and encourage you to contribute articles, book reviews, interesting website links, resource listings, tool tips and techniques, project how-to’s, or your thoughts on blacksmithing in general.
-Include a short (3 lines) description of author
·Identify the maker, if showing work of others.
·No more than three images of your current work.
Please send all submissions to: editor@ontarioblacksmiths.ca
Acceptable electronic file formats for text are plain text (.txt), Rich
Text (.rtf), MS Word (.doc), or send in the body of an e-mail. Do not
send text as ‘software specific’ file types, no hand written submissions
please.
Standard image formats are acceptable. Individual images should be reduced to 100 dpi / no larger than 3.5 mb each (‘save for web’).
Please keep individual e-mail attachments under 5 MB.
The editor reserves the right to edit articles.