26 Nebraskaland • May 2025
biggest challenge.
"[With] propane or a natural gas
forge, you just set the heat level, and
you forget it. But with coal or charcoal,
you are constantly tending that
because you've got to think, 'Okay, I
might have good heat right now, but
I've got to add more coal to make sure
that I still have that good heat fi ve
minutes from now.'"
For example, if a blacksmith was
forge welding — joining two pieces
of metal by heating them to a high
temperature and hammering them
together — the forge would need to be
just under 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit.
However, that borders the temperature
where steel will start to burn.
"It's a very fi ne line between the
right temperature and, you've entirely
ruined the material," Bansen said. "If
you look away, if you get to talking
with somebody or, if you just got
too many irons in the fi re — this is
where the phrase comes from — your
project's ruined."
Keefer describes his education so far
as a love-hate relationship.
"The reality of it is, in this case,
I don't know hardly anything. You
expect to be able to watch someone
produce a product or work or repair an
item, and then in your head you think
you can do it. Whether or not you can
is soon to be proven by your ability to
manipulate the material or use certain
tools," he said.
Unlike modern tools and parts,
which are made by machinery and
consistently duplicated, blacksmithing
is a hand craft. Although this human
element brings inconsistency to
Slader's apprentices Kody Keefer of South Sioux City, left, and Thomas Bansen of Blair take turns striking a piece of metal
on the anvil in the blacksmith shop at Fort Atkinson SHP.
