History

My first memory of metal working at age 4 or 5 was watching my dad (an aircraft welder) repair copper plumbing at home. Next to my neighbors mini bike, that was the coolest thing I had ever seen. Watching the solder flow with the heat of the torch was something I had to do. A few years later dad got some welding equipment for use at home, and the first thing he did, was teach me how to use a torch (I still use that same torch in my shop today) and to arc weld. One of the things I liked to do when I was a kid, was go to the Idaho history museum, my favorite display was the blacksmith shop and imagined working with that hammer and anvil, making a part for a wagon or whatever, it wasn't the thing that mattered, it was how it was made, the idea of moving metal with heat. Only this forging thing was much better than welding, with a hammer you could form the metal into any shape, almost like working with clay. So I got a book a blacksmithing and started to teach myself how to forge. At age 12 or 13 my dad took me to visit a blacksmith he had heard about named Nahum Hersom. He was a true master, one of the few that kept the old techniques alive, he knew every thing about metal work from Iron Age metal joinery and tool making to modern welding techniques. And he was willing to let me work in his shop; Nahum was a great teacher and friend. As I got older I worked in a few welding shops and explored other career ideas. But I held on to idea of making a living as a blacksmith. By 1995 I built a shop and spent the next 10 years improving my skills and getting the equipment needed. In 2005 I decided to quit my day job and start Alpenglow Metal Works, with the goal of teaching and creating fine metal.