Showing His Metal: Parkersburg blacksmith hopes to forge path to success in online contest
A heart-shaped design is part of a tool created by Brian Delozier sits on top of a log. (Photo Provided)
A tool made by Brian Delozier has just been heated, with an anvil below it. (Photo Provided)
A hand-made baroque spatula created by Brian Delozier stands in front of a piece of iron uprights on the railroad bridge crossing the Ohio River. (Photo Provided)
These tools made using a hammer and anvil were created by Brian Delozier. (Photo Provided)
A heart-shaped design is part of a tool created by Brian Delozier sits on top of a log. (Photo Provided)
A tool made by Brian Delozier has just been heated, with an anvil below it. (Photo Provided)
A hand-made baroque spatula created by Brian Delozier stands in front of a piece of iron uprights on the railroad bridge crossing the Ohio River. (Photo Provided)
These tools made using a hammer and anvil were created by Brian Delozier. (Photo Provided)
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PARKERSBURG -- A Parkersburg blacksmith has a chance to win some money and an opportunity to be featured in a magazine devoted to making do-it-yourself and do-it-with-others projects.
Brian Delozier, the owner of Woodland Hills Forge in Parkersburg, is seeking votes through his page on the DIY Hero website.
If he wins, he will receive $25,000 and be featured in Make Magazine.
Delozier said about his interest in forging, "I've always been interested in the art, and I've always found it fascinating to take something like fire that we see as something kind of primitive, and then we are able to take that fire and heat up melted metal and iron to make anything we want."
Some of the metals Delozier said he uses include wrought iron, A-30 (a nearly a pure form of iron), high carbon and stainless steels, and H-13 tool steel, which he uses to make punches and chisels, among other things.
"I use a forge, and my forge runs off of propane, and I use pieces of wrought iron," Delozier said. "I heat it to about 2,000 degrees and I use nothing but a hammer and anvil to forge my tools. I kind of take pride in not using power tools."
When asked by DIY Hero about a favorite project that he's worked on, Delozier said, "The first set of baroque tools I was asked to forge by a friend of mine named Kiel. They were a definite challenge because I was dead set on forging every tool as one piece without forge welding or riveting."
DIY Hero also asked him which project he would showcase in Make Magazine, and Delozier said, "My normal BBQ tool set along with a carving knife. I make them on a regular basis."
And when DIY Hero asked what he would do with the prize money if he won, Delozier said, "I'll take my family somewhere for a getaway and buy a new building rather than work out of a shed. This would help me get more out of my blacksmithing and also to help towards other needs with my family."
DIY Hero is not affiliated with the DIY Network.
The voting starts March 8, on the DIY Hero website, and if you would like to vote for him, visit his website page at: https://diyhero.org/2022/brian-delozier.
Larry Launstein Jr. may be contacted at llaunstein@newsandsentinel.com.