Scout Bell Building a Blacksmith Forge

I heard that there was an Eagle Scout project in the works over at Tryon Arts & Crafts. I finally had a chance this weekend to stop by and see exactly what they were doing just one week away from the grand opening event. I discovered an enthusiastic group just finishing up a hard day's work. Valerie Miller explained that this entire crew was here as part of Polk County High School freshman Michael Bell's project for his Eagle Scout Badge. She was kind enough to introduce me to TAC board member Jerry Pospisil and Michael Bell who seemed pleased to share how the studio we were standing inside came to be.

Jerry: In June of 2006 Michael and his parents came into Tryon Arts & Crafts and he told us he wanted to do a project for TAC. We offered several options from painting a room to landscaping or even building a blacksmith's studio. They went home to mull over the possibilities and after a couple of weeks he told us he'd decided on the blacksmith studio. We introduced Michael to our consulting team and he met with them twice a week for four to five months. Blacksmiths Walt Myers and Bill Crowell were brought on as consultants and we led Michael through the process of project management.


Michael: I went to Penland and J.C. Campbell to see their forges and consult with Elizabeth Brim, Paul Garrett, Clay Spenser, and Chris Winterstein among others. I gathered information on forge types, sizes, and the needs for setting up a forge. Then I went home and pulled out graph paper and a scale ruler and started trying to lay out on paper a design for the forge here in Tryon.

Jerry: He had to learn about and account for the different tools, coals, and heat required for different metals.

Michael: Kayne & Son Blacksmiths in Asheville gave me some designs and ideas about what tools we'd need. They were a great resource. They hold the local weekly meeting of ABANA (Artist-Blacksmith's Association of North America).

Jerry: Michael found out from them about shows and auctions where we could buy tools. Then we began the planning stages for funding.

Michael: Raising money.

Jerry: The board voted to proceed and wrote grants for the project. Polk County Chamber awarded a grant toward the project and North Carolina Arts Council's grant is funding the dedication on November 10th. Friends, family, and other sources of donations helped us to reach our goal. To start building the structure we had raised $9,000 in cash and with in-kind services, materials, and labor the total is probably over $25,000.

Michael: March 31st was the ground breaking for the studio. But we're still working on raising funds for a few more items. In particular we still need two anvils that cost from $600 to $800 depending on the size. I've been so focused on learning the design criteria and creating the forge, I still haven't learned about the art of blacksmithing.

Jerry: The focus of Tryon Arts & Crafts is to promote and preserve the heritage crafts.


Michael: We built the rock forge for the instructor to replicate a traditional forge back in the day before there were large sheets of metal available.

Jerry: The bellows on that forge are from a farm in Toulon, Illinois.

At this point Michael gave me a very professional and educational tour of the nearly complete studio.

Michael: We have four student forges and an instructor's forge. We have two post vices at either end of the layout table and we just had a table vice donated by Austin Chapman. The layout table is about 750 pounds of table built by Walt Myers.

On the student forges, Bill Crowell designed and created the different blast gate handles for each one, the hoods came from a company in Chicago, and Walt Myers built the firepots. The blast gates control the air flow to heat up the coal to the right temperature. There is also a collapsible metal rack to hold pieces too big for the forge top. As the coal burns the ashes fall through the center, but the heat will turn the coal to glass so the "clinker breaker" breaks up the chunks without having to stick a poker in there. The hood with smoke shelf pulls the smoke up and out of the building. The empty space between the forge and the wall will hold a coal bin so it's easy to refill the personal bins on the forge top. You'll notice that Walt Myers' signature for Turner Junction Forge is on the firepot and Crowell's name is above the handle on each forge.

Walt Myers also designed the instructor's forge. The stone forge is set on a 6.5' x 6.5' concrete pad. Originally it was going to be brick and block, but we decided on Tennessee filled stone for a more authentic look. The tong wrap across the front is to hold tools. The traditional bellows are above the forge, I'll climb up so I can read you their story off the plaque.

It has a plaque on top?

Michael: Walt put it there so future generations will know their story.

To summarize the story, Blacksmith Everett Price of Toulon, Illinois began using the bellows in 1920 to provide services to farmers and teach others the craft. After his death in 1955, the bellows fell into disrepair until they were removed in 1980 and rebuilt to be used by Walt Myers at his forge. They were brought to Campobello by Walt and donated this year to Tryon Arts & Crafts to deliver air to the forge.

I didn't get to see the bellows in action. I'll have to come to the dedication ceremony to see that. But, they did fire up one of the student forges for its first test run while I was there. Michael actually showed signs of youthful joy as he had the chance to test his design with a real fire. Now that this part of the crafting, building, and designing is done, I suspect he'll finally have the chance to develop his artistic skills with the craft of blacksmithing right here in his own hometown.


The public is invited to the dedication ceremony "Firing Up the Forge" from 10am – 4pm Saturday November 10 on the grounds of Tryon Arts & Crafts located at 373 Harmon Field Road. Thanks to the grant from North Carolina Arts Council this will be a festival event with music (Phil and Gaye Johnson, Russ and Billie Jordan, a Heritage Jam with Claude Graves and friends), artisan demonstrations, arts and crafts booths, plus children's crafts and storytelling.