Kirk Lewis, Blacksmith
Kirk Lewis, Blacksmith by Joshua Heston Kirk Lewis, 16, is a blacksmith. What is his inspiration? “We had scrap metal around and I always loved medieval stuff. I just started making things and it formed into what it is now out of research.” The video game Fable was inspiration, as well as film trilogy Lord…


![“This axe is a failed project. It wouldn’t have failed if I hadn’t hardened the edge so hard. I was doing a Norse style technique for making the axe head. This is a lawnmower blade that I wrapped around. This is a file that I inserted into it. I couldn’t get a good forge weld so I tried doing what I lot of them did where you actually drilled through it and sink pins [into it]. But I ruined a drill bit or two trying to drill through the file. So I eventually just took my drifting tool and punched holes through it when it was hot and stuck nails through and then I welded it. And this last time I hardened it I immediately went to go test it and realized it was too hard when I chopped into a log or two and the edge chipped off.”](https://stateoftheozarks.net/showcase/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/IMG_8865-625x417.jpg)