Youth Forges His Blacksmith Skills

Youth Forges His Blacksmith Skills SPECIALTY/SERVICES Blacksmithing is rare for most 11-year-olds But within 6 mos Gavin Hughes now 12 used up half the 100-lb bag of coal he received for Christmas While not typically a welcome gift coal was perfect for Hughes After watching blacksmiths at antique tractor and steam engine shows he started looking around his family’s Wisconsin dairy farm to find scrap metal he could use on an old cast iron forge he and his father Alan assembled from pieces Hughes has been busy ever since making useful hooks for the farm and as gifts And he’s also having a little creative fun “He pretty quickly used up my scrap pile He used up all my small fenceposts ” his dad laughs “He got pretty independent quickly with this and will start the forge on his own ” Hughes first had to pump bellows to regulate the heat until he and his father figured out how to hook up an air compressor to make it easier and more efficient Hughes uses a piece of railroad track for an anvil “The most challenging part is making sure the metal doesn’t get too hot and burn off ” Hughes says adding “I like it because you can do different things to be creative ” After seeing a snake made by another blacksmith Hughes made one out of 5/8-in square rod adding curves and raising the head finished off with chiseled eyes Hughes also made a leaf necklace Most of his pieces have had practical uses After gifting him a hook Hughes’ grandfather asked him to make more to hang his coats “I think it’s great There are a lot of skills learned that will help throughout life and he’s gaining knowledge that would be lost ” Alan says “The one thing I’ve learned is I’m getting an idea of what I don’t know about metals and different alloys’ weaknesses and strengths My eyes are opened to learn too ” Hughes celebrated his 12th birthday by teaching his friends how to make hooks Now one of them is interested in getting a forge “I want to get a real anvil and a gas forge ” he says “I want to be part of the shows and blacksmith there ” The Hughes plan to attend shows to learn more and are also part of a club with an open forge for people to work on Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Gavin Hughes Pittsville Wis cowz16@yahoo com

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