UMBA's Tool  & Teaching Trailer “Wish List”

UMBA is in the process of acquiring an enclosed pull trailer to be used at our conferences.  To date, UMBA has relied on the borrowed equipment and tools from our members to supply everything needed each time UMBA sponsors an event.  We are very grateful to such generous members.  Not only have they been willing to loan their own equipment, our members have devoted countless hours and incredible effort loading & unloading equipment and setting up & tearing down our demonstration sites.  Simply put, without these members' equipment and efforts our conferences could not nearly have been as effective as they have been.  By having a Tool & Teaching Trailer our conferences will become more efficient, more easily set-up and taken down, with fewer things forgotten.  UMBA would not have to rely any longer on the resources of a few members. 

UMBA continues to grow in membership each year.  The Board strongly believes UMBA  has a responsibility in the continuation of the craft of blacksmithing.  One way this can be accomplished is to provide hands-on educational experiences for our current and future members.  Not only will the trailer allow for UMBA events to be organized and run efficiently, the trailer will be outfitted with the necessary equipment for several forging stations.  These stations would be available for the current UMBA/Centaur Clinics and  would allow UMBA to even have classes and forging contests at our conferences.  Possibilities for this Tool and Teaching Trailer are endless.

Thus said, the UMBA Board is proposing a “Wish List” for our trailer.  This list highlights what we believe is necessary to get the UMBA trailer up and running, but certainly may not include everything the trailer might need.  Presently we are still investigating trailers for purchase but we are ready to accept donations of tools and equipment.  As a non-profit organization, any donations you make will be tax deductible.  Treasurer Mike Rocca

( mikeberylrocca@earthlink.net ) has the necessary forms to claim a tax deduction, please contact Mike Rocca with questions.  If you have tools or equipment to donate, please contact Mike Garrett ( garrett@jefnet.com ).  So, what do we need you ask?  In no particular order, here is the list...

Anvils, Anvil Stands, Forges (both Gas & Coal), Vises, Hardee Tools, Hammers, Tongs, Chisels, Punches, Drifts, Swages, Work Tables, Fire Tools, 40 pound LP Tanks, Safety Glasses, Gloves, Coal & Coke, & Metal Materials.  If you believe it would be just “your luck” to need the tool you just donated to the trailer, have no fear.  We have another option...monetary donations are always acceptable.

NOTE:  The UMBA Board will be very grateful for each and every donation received for our Tool and Teaching Trailer.  However, we expect some, perhaps many duplicates of the same tool.  Indeed, we will need several of some tools.  But once we have the number of, say hammers, needed to complete our forging stations, please understand that the UMBA Board will support the selling or trading of excess or duplicate donations to acquire tools that are still needed for the trailer.  EVERY donation to the trailer...be it a tool that is kept or a tool that is traded for something else, be it money or time...is appreciated.  EVERY donation will help continue the legacy of this wonderful craft.