Mark Johnstone Hopper has a simple job description. “I hit things with a hammer — for a reason.” Others fill out his resume. “I’m unbelievably impressed with his passion and craftsmanship. It’s the ...

A 21-year-old who shunned university to forge a career as a traditional blacksmith while he was still a teenager is hoping to inspire more young people into the ancient trade. Jay Cardall took up the ...

Blacksmithing is one of humanity’s oldest crafts, and it has shaped agricultural development for centuries. Long before modern machinery arrived, the blacksmith’s forge supplied the tools that made ...

Walking down the block Saturdays in Rocheport, clangs of the local blacksmith George B. Robb II are bound to reach the ear. For close to 38 years, Robb has honed his skills as a blacksmith and learned ...

Mike Whitmore shuffled thoughtfully across the fine gravel of his shop floor toward the bellows. In the coal pan, a docile red glow belies the temperatures reached after a few hard pulls on the ...

Courtesy photo / Dave Petit works some metal on his anvil. Dave Petit describes his innate curiosity as “a dog with a bone” when he discovers a new research fixation, whether it be Civil War ...

Demonstrator Tim Lemmon pounds a red-hot piece of metal into a horseshoe during the Hammer-In in Carlinville on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. Tim Lemmon begins fabricating a horseshoe during the Hammer-In ...

And while he uses the traditional blacksmithing method of fastening steel pieces together with hand-made rivets, and can make welds with the forge, he'll sometimes opt to use his electric welder for a ...

In the poem The Village Blacksmith, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow offers this description of the blacksmith. “His hair is crisp and black and long, His face is like the tan. His brow is wet with honest ...