Please be patient we are still moving and updating the website!

Forging in Tennessee -

First, I would like to thank the love of my life, my wife Jane, for creating this website for me and then teaching me the rudimentary skills for editing and updating it.  She is my partner in all things and I appreciate her ambition and her support.  Actually she pretty much does all the website work – and humors me when I ask for changes – or instructions on how to change this site.

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 Now let's talk forging and other important things -    

      The SHOP was completed in April 2007 and now, with all the equipment and tools that we have moved into it, well - let's just say that there is a lot of opportunity out there. 

       I have three functional forges each setting under it's own smoke hood and flue (stacks).  The chimney stacks have been reinforced but the worry about the heavy winds did not materialize, the snow sliding down the roof as it melts was the real problem. 

      The auto/equipment repair bay in-ground automotive lift air/hydraulic unit has been refurbished and works fine!!  I have even been able to locate some new parts -just to be safe - and tested it rigorously. Believe it or not, they still make these lifts.  I now can walk under pretty much any vehicle that I need to work on, if need calls for that. 

       Mitchell Latsch - Blacksmith, Engineer, writer, woodworker, mechanic, gardener, beekeeper, philosopher, soap maker, father, husband, hunter, hiker, camper, fisherman, wood gatherer and campfire cook (and for now, a little pottery too – but making crock, jugs and cooking vessels).  I don’t know why, but I really enjoy WORKING (productive work) and creating new things.

       Jane Latsch – she stays busy too – the long list of things she does includes, gardening, preserving (food), she is a baker and chef extraordinaire, sews, gets the place to run efficiently as possible, creates and designs websites, is officer for several important organizations, a spotless housekeeper, sales rep for all that we sell or barter (I dislike selling), and much, much more.

      No, we do not watch any TV - we don't have the time.   As a side-note - we now have four gardens which I plow and let lay fallow over the winter, then begin planting in the Spring.   This spring (2012) we have one smaller garden that is dedicated to potatoes only.  We all love good potatoes, and we have planted about five or six different varieties.

       I began learning the blacksmith craft almost twenty years ago.    Jane and I are very active in the Appalachian Area Chapter of Blackmsmiths.  She has down-sized so that she is the webmaster for only two websites now, including our local beekeeping group, Houston-Stewart County Beekeepers as well as this one.  I have recently given up the post of President for the AACB organization of about 200 members.  It's was a big job, but very gratifying - and I like to think that we accomplished a lot during my tenure.

      It took a while for me to realize that learning and practicing this craft was what I was put on this earth to do, but once realized, I have approached the work with nothing less than wonder and excitement.  Every time I light a fire and build a piece I learn something and every time I design and build an original, I am amazed that the result is a product of my own creative mind.   Many times I just look in wonder at what I have been able to create -  and then I wonder what I might make next.

      I am a perfectionist.  It is a flaw, a curse and an obsession (and I might add - a gift).  I have given away pieces that I had intended to throw away, and refused to tell the recipients what was wrong with them so that I wouldn't spoil it for them.  I don't think they believed me that I really intended to discard them - which I did intend.

      I enjoy the work and will try to attain new levels of excellence now that the shop is complete - it allows me to maintain my sanity!!!

      Take a look around and you will see some of the things we do to stay out of trouble, so to speak.

 --- Mitch Latsch

      WE have (I think he means "HE" has) vowed to stop using the shop to store equipment, and to use it for its intended purpose – as a SHOP.  I have begun teaching some blacksmithing - there seems to be a LOT of interest in the craft in this area.   I am a traditional blacksmith and that is what I try to teach, but some that have talked to me have expressed interest in making knives.  I will teach future bladesmiths the basics, and then they will have to find someone better to learn the finer points of bladesmithing from I guess – but I will help them on their way.  I have two power hammers that I can use, but students will learn how to hammer by hand first - learn how to use the anvil, vise, hammer, file, tongs and swage block - and then maybe they will be ready to work with the powered equipment.