Residents wield old tools in new blacksmithing class
Matt Southwick, right, instructs Kyle Thompson, of Saratoga Springs, on the beginning steps of making a steak turner for cooking Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016, at Pioneer Village in Provo. Southwick typically holds blacksmithing classes at Pioneer Village once a month, or more depending on demand. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Kyle Thompson, left, begins hammering the tapered end of his steak turner as Matt Southwick watches Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016, at Pioneer Village in Provo. The iron Thompson is working with is most malleable at around 1,700 degrees, or when it glows orange instead of red, too cold, or white, too hot. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Matt Southwick demonstrates how to create the curved skewer end of the steak turner Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016, at Pioneer Village in Provo. The iron typically cools down too much after ten seconds, so it's important to work quickly once it's been heated. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Matt Southwick smiles at his daughter as she watches the class Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016, at Pioneer Village in Provo. Southwick volunteers at Pioneer Village 4-5 times a week and does blacksmithing part-time. For a full-time job, he is a software tester. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Matt Southwick explains steps while pointing to a nearly finished steak turner Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016, at Pioneer Village in Provo. Each step can take several heats, or multiple trips into the forge to complete, depending on skill. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Matt Southwick, a practiced blacksmith, has a smithy at Provo Pioneer Village where he teaches his craft.
Wearing a simple cotton pioneer shirt and sporting a long black beard, he looks every bit the part of a smith. Black coal dust marks his craft on the off-white shirt.
“I’m not going to tell you if it’s right or wrong,” Southwick says as he pounds his hammer down on the quarter-inch square stock.
“It’s right if you want it to be,” he said.
Southwick teaches the basics of metalworking: drawing, tapering, rounding, bending and twisting. On Saturday, he was instructing a student on making a steak turner for a grill.
Working from a 3,000-degree Fahrenheit flaming coal pile to the anvil and back again, he is a man of few words as he works with his hands to fashion the metal.
A thick stable table with a cement top in the middle is the foundation for the fire, a large mound of hot coals in the center.
Southwick said catching on fire was the biggest hazard he has become aware of while working.
“I’ve literally caught on fire,” he said. His arm hair ignited.
The heat of the smithy, open to the village on one side, is the first thing a visitor might notice.
“You can’t be faint of heart,” Southwick said. “Most of what you have to do, you can’t be timid. You have to be aggressive because the bigger the piece of metal you are working with, the more aggressive you have to be to move it into shape.”
He has had several women take the course. Students must be 12 years old or older to take the class.
Southwick started his interest in smithing nearly 4 years ago. His student Saturday, Kay Thompson, began learning the craft on his own.
“I have actually done this at home without direction, so I’m definitely going to continue,” Thompson said.
According to Southwick, a lot of people would like to learn blacksmithing.
“But there wasn’t anything out there, no blacksmiths,” Southwick said. “YouTube has been instrumental in getting blacksmithing started again.”
For more information on future classes, email provopioneervillagesup@gmail.com. The village is located at 600 N. 500 West, Provo.
