The Repository
ZOAR – The rhythmic tapping of a hammer against heated steel echoed in the blacksmith shop at Historic Zoar Village.
Through a large opening, a chilly but sunny outdoor scene was visible on a recent Saturday morning, but inside the building, it was as if time had been turned back to an era when parts for horse-drawn wagons and other essentials were crafted by hand.
As a coal-fed fire raged inside a forge, 17-year-old Austin Shaffer, of Dover, patiently cranked a handle to blow oxygen into the flames to achieve a temperature of around 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Shaffer was under the tutelage of Scott Reynolds, 50, of Ashland.