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Barzillai Forge

   Dean Howard 
 
While I was working in Ethiopia as a missionary with a relief and rural development organization, I became interested in blacksmithing. I was doing a lot of mechanical work and was amazed at the blacksmithing ability of the local craftsmen. With lots of patience and time, men would convert broken leaf springs into spear heads and farm tools. Most amazing were their tools: a sledge hammer head as the anvil, a claw hammer, a handful of coal, and bellows made from the specially skinned legs of a butchered bull (probably an Easter meal for a large part of the community). Living and working in a rural area, it was amazing how productive the local smiths could be with such primitive tools. From that point, my desire to forge grew.
 Dean with daughter Wayna in front of one of Dean's iris and cattail gates

Returning from Ethiopia with a newly adopted daughter, this stay-at-home dad needed a hobby which could be used to work off some energy. I hooked up with a well-known artist with a large job in his shop, and he invited me to lend a hand whenever I could. He had a great shop with some other really good smiths working for him. I learned a lot, but the needs of our daughter and the long drive eventually made working there too difficult.

So, here I am. My smithy (blacksmith shop) is not as primitive as those in Ethiopia, nor would it be considered totally "traditional" by purists, but it seems primitive to me at times. I use electrical tools for grinding and drilling finished pieces. I have a small power hammer, but most of my forging is done by hand. In addition, I use a traditional coal forge as opposed to a gas forge, to heat the material.

    I purchase my material from a local steel company. Primarily, I work in hot-rolled steel, though I also use some cold-rolled. You will also see some copper sheet and maybe even stainless steel in some of my pieces.

 
On May 13, 2006, Wrennie Weaver agreed to be my wife. We are still living in Brown County and Wren has been a huge blessing to both Wayna and me. Wren works from home, too, so we both get to spend lots of time with Wayna and our new addition to the family, Evan, born August 1, 2007. Evan is by far the most wonderful thing I have ever had any part in creating.

 I work alone and am continuing to expand my own shop. Working independently also allows me to experiment with new designs and methods. Though I am trying to maintain a line of candleholders and wine racks for retail and wholesale, I enjoy custom work. I invite you to view my work and contact me with questions about my designs or your own. I hope you enjoy my work and my website.

Dean Howard
Barzillai Forge
6172 Poplar Grove Road,
Columbus, IN 47201
Phone and Fax:
(812) 988-2691

dean.howard@yahoo.com
dean@browncountyblacksmith.com

Copyright ©2005 - 2008 by Dean Howard