Blacksmither Radio

Lee began blacksmithing in 1973 at the age of 12, when he began his apprenticeship to Larry Mann. He has been a member of the Artist-Blacksmiths Association of North America since 1974.  He is best known in the blacksmith community for his research and knowledge of smelting or bloomery.  He takes rocks that contain iron ore and melts them into a bloom of iron, then he forges the bloom into sculptures.  In the episode, he talks about the qualities and benefits of working with bloom iron, and how it forge welds like a dream!  He has been an ABANA member since 1974 and he reminisces about the early conferences in those days in our interview, this brings me to our sponsor for today’s episode, ABANA. The Artist Blacksmith Association of North America, AKA ABANA is a non-profit organization that began in 1973 to perpetuate the noble art of blacksmithing.  ABANA encourages and facilitates the training of blacksmiths and exposes the art of blacksmithing to the public.  Head on over to the website, www.abana.org , whe