Blacksmiths Awe Schoolchildren

By John Hickey
Schoolchildren’s “oohs” and “aahs” greeted hammer blows on glowing metal as local blacksmiths Ted Banning and Jeff McCrady shaped steel bars into delicate leaves of metal. The children, from several Wood County elementary schools, were further delighted when their teachers were called up to strike veins into the glowing leaves.

Banning has done metalsmithing for 25 years, he said, and now does work as Avatar Metalworking. McCrady has apprenticed with Banning for three years, and is part of Appalachian Ironworks. Both are part of the Appalachian Blacksmith Association, which has a Web presence at http://www.appaltree.net.

The men fed air into their small coal-fired forge with an electric motor, and quenched hot bars with a bucket of water. They said that the coal they used, from West Virginia’s anthracite “Sewell Vein,” is prized by blacksmiths from as far away as Australia for the properties it imparts to the wrought steel.

McCrady pointed out the features of the anvil, noting that the horn, widening from its point, is used by ferriers to shape horseshoes of various sizes. He and Banning said, though, that they do not do ferrier work, preferring to concentrate in other areas, which for Banning includes Medieval and Renaissance craftsmanship. He displayed a full set of body armor he had recently crafted for the October Renaissance-style wedding of Mark Bibbee, the son of Paul and Dottie Bibbee, who teach at West Virginia University at Parkersburg.