The Blacksmith Shop is open and fired up each Saturday morning from 9:00 a.m. until Noon, weather permitting, with local members of the Blacksmith Association of Missouri providing demonstrations of the Blacksmith's craft.  Hand Forged Items are for sale and custom work can be commissioned.  Bring the Kids for a demonstration they won't forget!

The Tom Kennon Blacksmith Shop is a part of the Heritage Homestead one block South of the Courthouse in downtown Doniphan, Missouri.  Active at another location for many years of the early 20th Century it was moved to this site after being donated to DNAP by the family of Tom Kennon after his death.  A new dual station masonry forge was constructed in the shop in 2007 and additional tools and equipment are being added as funds are available.

NEW BEGINNING BLACKSMITHING CLASS FORMING

 MARCH 24TH AND 31ST, 2012

CLICK HERE FOR SIGNUP INFORMATION

Dennis Mohrmann and Steve Eikerman At Work in the Shop

       Making a Set of Tongs To Hold Railroad Spikes

         The Hammer Rack in the Blacksmith Shop

A Busy Saturday Morning Demonstation

A Coal Fire is the Heart of the Forge

Dennis Morhmann At the Forge. Photo by Ron Kelley (Used With Permission)

On May 21, 2011, a Statewide Meeting of the Blacksmith's Association of Missouri (BAM) was held at the Tom Kennon Blacksmith Shop. Approximately 30 members from all over the region attended a three hour demonstration program in which local smiths Chris Miller, Steve Eikerman, Ray Joe Hastings and Gary Parkins hand forged letter openers, fishing gigs and hammer heads. After a noon Bar-B-Que lunch, the business meeting was held prior to an organized tour of the nearby Current River Heritage Museum.  The next BAM meeting is scheduled at Ned Digh's shop near Fulton, Missouri on July 16, 2011.

FALL 2011 BLACKSMITH CLASS A SUCCESS! 

The Doniphan Neighborhood Assistance Program, Inc. (DNAP) Blacksmith User Group just completed it’s 2011 Fall Blacksmith Training Program using the facilities of the Tom Kennon Blacksmith Shop at the Heritage Homestead in Doniphan, Missouri. Five local residents with an interest in the Blacksmith’s craft attended two four hour training sessions, one on Saturday, October 15^th and one on Saturday, October 22^nd. The class was taught by Blacksmith Association of Missouri members Chris Miller and Steve Eikermann.

The first Saturday session included information on the History of Blacksmithing and a discussion of Sources of Information, including the local library and the Internet. Students then received an introduction to the forge, Shop Safety, and fire tending on the shop’s Masonry Coal Forge. Each student received hands on instruction and practice of hammer and anvil basics and learned how to draw out, taper, bend and twist steel stock and ended the day by completing a steel drive hook.

The second Saturday session allowed the students to refresh the skills learned the previous week and learn several new techniques, including punching holes, scrolling and shaping a steel rod into a leaf pattern. Each student was able to complete the forging of a wall hook with a decorative leaf scroll. A demonstration of forge welding concluded the class.

The students completing the fall class sessions were Bill Uher, Bonnie Tibbetts, Ben Ray, Josh Monfee and Dawn Cochran. Students who complete the class and join the Blacksmith’s Association of Missouri become eligible to participate in the User Group and utilize the Kennon Blacksmith Shop’s tools and equipment to further develop their skills and work on their own metalworking projects.

The next Beginning Blacksmithing Class will be formed in the Spring. Watch for notices beginning in March 24 and 31, 2012 at the Current River Heritage Museum, in the Prospect News and on the DNAP Web Page at www.doniphanmissouri.org/tom_kennon_blacksmith_shop

 The Tom Kennon Blacksmith Shop



Posted below are some of the recent works by local smith's operating out of the Tom Kennon Blacksmith Shop.  The facility is a community forge open to all interested residents who complete a training class and become mebers of the Blacksmith Association of Missouri. Still have questions? Please contact us.

A Wall Mounted Pot Rack              A Steel Cross Pendant

A Leaf Letter Opener 

 A Copper Handled Fork with a Twist

A  Shed Door Handle

A  Cross Drawn Out of a Single Piece of Square Stock

  A Sundial

A Triangle Dinner Bell with a Leaf Striker

 A Missouri "Jack" Hammer

A RR Spike Knife

Ray Joe Hastings Demonstrates Forging a Fishing Gig at a Meeting of the Blacksmith's Association of Missouri Held in the Shop in the Spring of 2008.

OUR OWN STEVE EIKERMAN STARS IN A TOOL MAKING DEMONSTRATION ON YOUTUBE

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE YOUTUBE VIDEO-A PRODUCTION OF THE TOM KENNON BLACKSMITH SHOP

 Here are Some Useful Blacksmithing Site Links:

Blacksmith Association of Missouri

Artist Blacksmith Association of North America

Blacksmith's Forum

Anvil Fire

The Civil War Blacksmith

The Backyard Blacksmith



Our Newest Anvil Station Purchased From the Ozark School of Blacksmithing.  It is a 113 Lbs. Arm & Hammer Wrought Iron Anvil With Hardened Steel Faceplate Mounted on An Ozark Pattern Anvil Stand Made by the School Before It Closed

GPS Coordinates for the Shop are:

N 36° 36.988 W 090° 49.665

 Chris Miller Demonstrating a Forge Weld

Hot Cutting a Newly Forged Hammer Head from Bar Stock