The Frankenmuth Fire Arts Festival is excited to offer a new addition to our event by presenting Blacksmith Alley. We’ve invited various blacksmiths to demonstrate their forging art and have given them the opportunity to have their work available for sale or pick up a commission.
Bryan Kohn B Kohn Knives | Bryan is a full-time knifemaker based out of Auburn, MI. He specializes in custom culinary for everyday care and hunting blades. If you are looking for a high quality, hand-made knife—here’s your guy.
Garrett Waterman Waterman Ironworks | Garrett began blacksmithing in 2020 after finding some of his grandfather’s old tools in the barn. He lives on a farm in Otisville with chickens, cows, and miniature horses. His primary focus is on knife making, but he is branching out into other items such as jewelry, tools, camping items, and decorative work.
Returning to our Festival once again this year is Jonathon Martinez from Hounds Tooth Carvings. Jonathon will be working sporadically throughout the Festival. Enjoy his photographs below and come to watch what he’ll be creating this year. He will have a display of items for sale as well as take commissions for special work.
Jonathon Martinez, of Hounds Tooth Carvings, travels the state of Michigan hopping from tree to tree creating his wonderful works of ART. He is as comfortable with a chainsaw in his hands as most artists are with a paint brush or pencil in theirs. He has the ability to see the sculpture inside the material before he begins to carve. Eagles, bears, owls and other woodland creatures are his specialty, but he can carve a pretty mean light house or piece of furniture just as skillfully. You name it, and he can carve it.
Ziggy Sawdust joins us from Woodstock, Virginia. He is a chainsaw portrait carver, renowned for his intricate and detailed portrait work.
He welcomes kind and gentle persons into his sawdust containment chamber to sit on the "Chair of Death" (don't worry, no one is in danger). Ziggy will use his chainsaw to carve your portrait into a wood slab. He then lights a flamethrower and adds a patina for the finishing touches.
Ziggy Sawdust will be carving from randomly selected spectators throughout the day. For an experience to immortalize yourself in wood, book a portrait experience for $100 [ through this link ].
The American Foundry Society Saginaw Valley Chapter approached the Frankenmuth Arts Council asking to present their metal casting experience at the Frankenmuth Fire Arts Festival. This unique experience was created to get the next generation of engineers and technicians excited about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). The career associated with this is called CASTINGS.
Foundry in a Box is just what it sounds like—a portable foundry! A box on wheels is taken along with hot pots, tin nuggets or shot, small patterns, and molds. It includes many small items like gloves, safety glasses, brushes, pliers, snips, drills, runners, and a pail of sand. Participants will be able to play in the sand (moulding) or the metal (finishing) with hands-on training provided. The goal of the experience is to teach what a foundry and metal melting is all about.
The experience will begin with an explanation of the many types of metal casting, as well as the processing steps. You will be given the opportunity to make and pack a mold with sand. The molten tin is then poured into the mold and after it has cooled, the casting is extracted from the sand. The excess metal is trimmed and you will be able to take home what you made.
Find Foundry in a Box on the festival grounds and take your turn to create a tin mold. This activity is particularly suited for children, but adults are also welcome to participate.
