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Clay Smith (left) said that a new blacksmith needs just an anvil,
Blacksmiths and their families watch as Clay Smith makes a small tomahawk at a gathering in Spotsylvania County.
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By AMY FLOWERS UMBLE
Cling. Clang.
Sizzle. Snap.
More than 50 people watched as Clay Smith poked at a small fire, holding a variety of tools.
Over and over they watched, as he held metals in the fire, then drew them out, orange and glowing, and hammered them into shape.
At first, the crowd sat around and watched transfixed.
After a while, the children wandered over to the food tent in search of a doughnut or a soda.
Soon, teenagers and a few others whispered back and forth.
But the devoted blacksmiths watched intently as Smith created. Some scribbled notes to use when they returned to their own forges and workshops.
Many asked questions--some about the materials Smith used, others about what it was like to have a job many of them dreamed of--as a blacksmith at Colonial Williamsburg.
Blacksmithing is becoming more popular as a hobby, Smith said. But there aren't many who can make a living at it.
Some find jobs at living-history centers like Williamsburg. Others, like Spotsylvania County blacksmith Pete Robertson, work as farriers and wheelwrights.
Many sell artistic works at craft shows. But they often make only enough to pay for the hobby.
Still, the numbers of blacksmiths seem to grow. The Central Virginia Blacksmithing Guild is so large that it needs to find a permanent place to meet, said Karen Smart, whose husband is president of the guild. She credited younger recruits for the new surge in blacksmithing.
Smith said some of the popularity comes because people want to remember the old days, when blacksmithing was a necessity.
"People are very nostalgic," he said.
Plus, for people who want to work with their hands, blacksmithing is the perfect hobby, Smith said.
"It's a good way to work out frustrations, and it's not really expensive to get into it," he said.
Most people start out by making Christmas gifts, and can make jewelry, hardware, candleholders, door-knockers, fireplace pokers, ornamental household items and more, Smith said.
He was the main attraction when blacksmiths gathered Oct. 14--a crisp, fall day--at Robertson's farm to talk smithing and to watch demonstrations. People came from as far away as upstate New York for the fifth annual gig.
Some were new to blacksmithing. Lousia County resident Bob Bean stumbled across the hobby recently. But he's already so immersed that he and his wife moved to have more land for a workshop and forge.
Robertson discovered blacksmithing as a child vacationing in Canada. He was hooked from his first sniff of smoky metal.
He learned the trade through apprenticeships and decided to become a rural blacksmith. Robertson said that when blacksmithing was a necessary profession, urban smiths specialized but rural smiths had to know how to make carriage wheels, horseshoes, utensils and household objects like candleholders.
So he does a little of everything in his business, though Robertson said there isn't much call for making utensils.
Smith first got into blacksmithing by restoring his father's antique guns. He now makes replica guns that sell for several thousands of dollars.
But Smith didn't originally plan to make a living as a blacksmith.
"Basically, it was a hobby, a hobby I let get out of hand," he said.
To reach AMY FLOWERS UMBLE:
Email: aumble@freelancestar.com
