FILE PHOTO
Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
September 23, 2023 - 7:30 AM
Westbank Museum is holding their annual blacksmithing demonstration this weekend for those interested in the ancient art.
Admission to the demonstration on Saturday, Sept. 23, is free as part of the museum’s Culture Days series of events going on throughout the fall. If visitors want to pay for a guided tour afterwards, the museum will be donating those proceeds to the West Kelowna Professional Firefighters Association.
Kelowna has blacksmiths in its history. In 1912, a renowned blacksmith named Hulburt had a shop where Two Brothers Mexican Restaurant is on Main Street.
Hulburt's blacksmith shop on Main St. Kelowna in 1912.
Image Credit: Brenden Studer, Westbank Museum
“It's a nice activity to come and bring the kids to kind of come and see,” museum coordinator Brenden Studer said. “It's something that is quite unique. It helps that we know somebody who does blacksmithing.”
Bruce Armon, the local blacksmith doing the demonstration, says blacksmithing might not be as industrial as it once was but the art isn’t going anywhere.
“The art has never really died,” Armon said. “For the renovations on the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, they still hire blacksmiths.”
Anyone with the internet and a safe place to make a forge can try their hand at blacksmithing, but it isn’t as easy or safe as it seems on TV.
“The basic thing I would tell anybody is to watch the safety hazards,” he said. “Most people pick it up and find, well, this is kind of fun for a while, but it's hard.
"If you want to see people who can really do some amazing stuff with just a hunk of metal on the ground, you should watch some of the Pakistani people on YouTube."
Armon started working with metal in 1982, sharpening and fixing up tools on his farm. Once he started working with fire and metal it became a lifelong hobby.
“I think we're are all kind of pyromaniacs, and I wasn't that interested in making knives so much as playing with the fire,” he said.
Blacksmithing can take a long time to learn, but Armon says anyone with the determination can figure it out.
“You don't have to be a muscle man to be a blacksmith. Some of the best blacksmiths in the world right now are petite women,” he said. “Two weeks at this on your own, full time, you'll be better than me.”
Armon enjoys sharing his knowledge with people at the museum, and possibly inspiring them to take up the craft themselves.
While museum visitors will not be able to swing a hammer themselves, they can see the process of turning a chunk of metal into something useful and beautiful.
Find out more about the Westbank Museum here.
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