View “The Blacksmithing Artist”
Photography by Raymond Boc
Written by Janine Latus
Blacksmithing, an art as old as the evolution of humanity, is once again seeing an upsurge in popularity, as craft schools, small workshops, and YouTube videos introduce a new generation to the joy of pounding metal. The smiths who came of age in the back-to-the-land resurgence of the ’70s are the elders now, passing down their skills, books, and tools.
Back in those days, Nol Putnam (his full name is Oliver de Montalant Putnam) was teaching history at a private school in Massachusetts when he came across the book “The Art of Blacksmithing”, by Alex W. Bealer. Thus began a lifelong love affair that would have him in a series of seven smithies over the years, first pounding out fireplace tools that he hawked at craft shows, and eventually creating bespoke iron gates for clients such as the Rockefellers and the Washington National Cathedral. At 87, he still works nearly daily, turning iron into art.
“That iron is like gold to a certain class of people,” Putnam told the man in charge, so the company gave him—at no cost—five tons of wrought iron bar. In turn, he gave some to the American College of the Building Arts; some to other schools in Maryland and Pennsylvania; and some to Mount Vernon for use in its “living history” demonstration forge. Two decades later, Putnam still has about 1,000 pounds left: “It’s my stash of the good stuff.” photo by Geoffrey Archer
One of Putnam’s recent works is a bench topped with walnut cut and milled in the 1950s from his family’s farm. He hauled the wood from home to home for 70 years, waiting for a project that was worthy. photo by Raymond Boc
The heart of his operation is the forge, where Nol Putnam has spent more than half his life. The shop runs cold in winter, but in summer, especially near the 3,000-degree forge, the air inside can hit 130 degrees. None of this bothers Putnam. “I don’t expect comfort in the forge, particularly,” he says. photo by Raymond Boc
Putnam tells a story of Kaiser Wilhelm visiting Krupp Industries and marveling at a huge hammer capable of moving tons of metal at a time. “How accurate is it?” Putnam says the Kaiser asked. “The smith had the temerity to ask the Kaiser for his watch. He set it onto the anvil and set his hammer in motion, stopping it just before it touched the crystal.” photo by Raymond Boc
Putnam says many of his ideas come to him in dreams. “I’ll have some kind of image and as I get more awake, I shift from design to engineering,” he says. “It’s almost as though I take the image and make it 3-D in my head and I’m able to rotate it or tip it so I can see the whole thing. When I wake up all the way I can pick up pencil and paper and go to work.” photo by Raymond Boc
Original photographic negative by Henry Eastwood
© 2023 Janine Latus. All rights reserved. Under exclusive license to Craftsmanship, LLC. Unauthorized copying or republication of any part of this article is prohibited by law.