BLACKSMITH ADVENTURES

Chance Hauser

Fabricator

Chance lives in Camp Verde, AZ and is a fabricator extraordinaire! He is bringing an off-road vehicle that he completely designed and fabricated but his main demonstration for this event will be creating 3-D shields and signs cut by a plasma cutter and raised with his english wheel.

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​Chance's wife, Christine will be bringing her leather jewelry and accessories to sell.

Gordon Williams

Blacksmith

Hello my name is Gordon Williams. I have been attempting to be a blacksmith since 1986. I started Victory Forge Blacksmith School in 1994 and it continued through 2017 at which time I moved to Utah and have just finished construction of Zion Blacksmith School. I loved teaching and have been able to demonstrate at 32 ABANA chapters across the nation. My demos tend to be fast paced but I try to provide alot of information as I'm working. I look forward to meeting all of you in October! 

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Gordon's demonstrations will be focused on the artistic side of blacksmithing. His morning demonstration is titled: Arrows, Oaks and Snakes, Oh My! Where he will forge and Indian arrow with copper rawhide, an oak tree with raised knots and copper patina, three dimensional grape leaves, a below the equator rattlesnake, and a hummingbird. It will be in the Blacksmith Shop and run from 9:30 to 12 alongside George Witzke's tool making demo.

In the afternoon, he and George will pair up to demonstrate Advanced Forging Techniques in the Blacksmith Shop from 1:30 to 4:00pm.

Ken Robinson

Welder

Ken is the owner and operator of Waterman Welding & Machining, along with his wife Sandra. They are also one of the event sponsors.

Ken has been welding for 35+ years. Ken started welding while working at the Oil Refinery in 1982. Then worked in the Aero Space field fabricating tooling used for aircraft. In the 1990’s—he started working at Waterman Welding. While there he fabricated boats, docks, frames and many other items.

In 2015 he purchased the business and continues to fabricate and manufacture products for various companies and individuals such as: aluminum river boat frames, boats, dry boxes, beaver boards, river toilets, coffee pots, mugs, tables, trailers, boat docks, ramps. He also works with  other metals building items like: truck flatbeds, brackets for home construction, stairs, handrails, stainless steel countertops, patio furniture, and makes metal repairs of all types. Machining and lathe work is another one of his talents.  If you are thinking of a metal project, Ken can help you with the design and make your dream a reality.

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Ken's demonstration will take place in the Welding/Fabrication arena from 1:30 to 4:00 pm. He will be demonstrating alongside Sonny Stotlar as he educates the crowd on horse shoe art. 

Ryan Weeks

Bladesmith

Meet demonstrator, Ryan Weeks of RyanWKnives.com a Utah bladesmith.

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I have always been passionate about knives… I Started as a collector who dabbled in forging and

knifemaking which eventually turned into a part time job. I have been making knives for over 10 years.

Ryan's demonstration titled, The Right Kinda Grind will take place in the morning session from 9:30-12 in conjunction with Lonnie Jensen's Damascus demo at the Blade Smith Arena.

Here's what Ryan's demo cover:

-Demonstrate basic free hand grinding, and tapering tangs (Stock Removal)

-My Hamon Process – Differential Heat Treat in appropriate steel types

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Ryan's Motto: “Life is too short to be dull!”

Sonny Stotlar

Welding/Fabrication

Sonny grew up working with animals; from raising day old calves to breaking and training horses. He spent many hours helping his grandfather on the ranch and really enjoys the western life style.

Sonny has always liked to create things with his hands. He learned to tool leather as a teenager and even built his own saddle from scratch, carving the tree out of a wood.

He learned to weld on the ranch and high school shop class-he put his skills to work welding horse shoes together and braiding dream catchers into them. Sonny decided he wanted to do a little taxidermy, so with help from his brother in law, started preserving skulls and decorating them. With a purchase of a table saw, he started creating wall hangings of various styles-flags being one of the most popular.

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Sonny's demonstration will be in the Welding/Fabrication Arena from 1:30 to 4pm. He will be demonstrating along side Ken Robinson as he shows aluminum welding.

George Witzke

Blacksmith

Artist blacksmith, George Witzke has been a professional blacksmith creating hand-forged ironwork for over 25 years. His journey started with a three day beginner's class taught by none other than, Gordon Williams. Once bitten with the blacksmith bug, George progressed

from a hobby smith into a full-time  blacksmith in just a few years. His career advanced from participating in local craft shows to selling at high-end arts and craft shows then on to exclusively crafting custom work. 

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Though he no longer accepts custom commissions, in his years as a smith, George has created a diverse array of beautiful and complex ironwork for both residential and commercial properties. Most notably, he and Gordon created the railing at the Grand Canyon's Mather Point Amphitheater.  He now teaches 1 hour to 1/2 day classes called Blacksmith Adventures and sells his smaller hand-forged items for home decor in shops and online at www.TheIronworkStore.com

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George will perform two demonstrations at Hammerfest, both in the Blacksmith Arena. In the morning from 9:30 to noon, he will focus on forging tools for the forge. Later in the day, he and Gordon Williams will team up to demonstrate advanced blacksmithing techniques from 1:30 to 4:00.

Lonnie Jensen

Blade Smith/Blacksmith

Lonnie Jensen owns Jensen & Sons Ironworks in Colston, UT, a very large and successful metal working shop that produces forged and fabricated ironwork for architectual and commercial uses. Lonnie is a true craftsman who is skilled in a diverse array of metal working skills including Damascus steel and bladesmithing. He is an understudy of Ray Rybar, a Master Smith stamp from the American Bladesmith Society whose specialty has been working with mosaic patterns, words and pictures. He is most known for having bold Damascus patterns and intricate mosaics. When Lonnie learned of this event, he offered to bring a 6 ton Chambersburg hammer just to show and tell!  

Steve Roper

Blade Smith

Steve Roper comes from Lehi, Utah where he operates a metal working shop. Steve's true passion is forging knives and he has developed quite a following. For Hammerfest, Steve will forge a mono steel blade and discuss quenching techniques.

His demonstration will take place in the Bladesmithing arena from 1:30 to 4:00pm alongside Joshua Von War-Bear's Hilt and Handle demo. 

Joshua von War-Bear

Sword Maker

Jack of all trades and best known as that guy you haven't heard of yet, this rugged gentleman specializes in a variety of quick handed creativity. Most of his body of work is in leather working, prop blade making, woodwork and illustration, but is always keen to get his hands dirty learning new trades Working hard and keeping busy with film jobs, prop making, theme park building as well as vending and teaching panels at conventions and renaissance faires, this man is elusive to say the least. Known as a soft spoken, charming and all around fun fellow, this Georgia native is a dedicated artist that seeks to devote himself as much to his craft as possible. He is currently based in Utah, and working to achieve that all too familiar goal of making a career out of being oneself.

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Joshua's demonstration is titled Hilts and Handles where he will show a variety of technques for applying both on swords and daggars.  He will demonstrate alongside Steve Roper who will be focusing on mono steel knife forging and quenching techniques. You can see thm atin the Blade Smithing Arena from 1:30 to 4pm. the 

Ben Warth

Armor Maker

Ben hails from La Verkin, UT. He was fortunate to apprentice under a skilled armorer for several years. In his demonstration, Ben will be crafting an articulating joint for an elbow. Building plate armor is a labor of love that requires patience and persistance. Come see his demonstration and complete set of armour!

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Ben's demonstration will take place in the morning from 9:30 to 12:00 in the Welding/Fabrication Arena. He will be demonstrating along side Chance Hauser as he creates 3-D shields and signs with an english wheel.