Blacksmith demos heat up Zane’s Trace Commemoration

ZANESVILLE, OH- Sparks are flying at this year’s Zane’s Trace Commemoration, and Mountain Bear Forge is lighting up the event with live blacksmithing demonstrations.

Doug Stack, who traveled from Kentucky, is offering completely free demonstrations throughout the weekend celebration. He’ll be back in action Sunday at noon, 2 p.m., and 5 p.m.

Stack, who has been blacksmithing for 19 years, shapes red hot steel into everything from knives and door handles to belt buckles and bottle openers. He also creates custom orders on site if he has the materials, or he’ll ship them from his forge in Kentucky.

“Because a lot of people see stuff on TV and it doesn’t really let them see what it’s really like, you can stand out there and feel the heat from forge that’s 3,000 degrees, so seeing that hot piece of metal and how easy it moves, it moves just like playdoh, it comes out of there 1,800 to 2,000 degrees,” said Stack.

His setup includes throwing tomahawks, toilet paper holders, campfire cooking supplies and more.

“I just love blacksmithing, I really love it, and I really love when people buy the stuff that I have made with my own two hands, and then when I go to the same event again the next year, I have repeat customers over and over,” said Stack.

If you missed him yesterday or today, you can still catch him tomorrow, or visit the Mountain Bear Forge Facebook page.