jBonifacino continues practicing old-time skills of blacksmithing
BY EARLINE WHITE
Correspondent
Since the Iron Age, blacksmiths
have forged iron from the earth
jisingtheir own hammers and tools
|o create gadgets of necessity.
tiese creations helped to till the
fearthand even conquer dynasties.
31acksmiths have played an im
ortant role in history by provid
ig such things as nails to farmer’s
blows. Using strength and an
artist’s eye, blacksmiths have
added touches of beauty to ordi
nary objects. With those home
lade tools, smiths embellish, forge
and join materials in the tradition
iof those before them. Each smith
'has a style of his own, thereby cre
fating only originals. A Tyner
[ resident, Joseph Bonifacino, is one
1 of these skillful workers still prac
ticing an art form almost long for
gotten.
A long way from his Florida
home, Joseph has been living in
Edenton since October 1998. Re
turning from a convention in Man
hattan, he and his wife, Janice,
stumbled upon the scenic beauty
the natives have come to love.
Looking to get away from the
extreme heat and fires that ran
rapid through
Florida that year, Joseph and
Janice looked toward Edenton to
settle down.
It was here that the history and ■
rich architecture brought them
and their four children.
. “I’ve been doing this around 12
years now,” Joseph said as he ta
pered down the end of an iron rod,
before rounding it to make a deco
I rative hook. He never set out to be
a blacksmith he explained. His
interest was actually peaked by
glass blowers when he was only
three. Duringatripto Jamestown,
the blowers fascinated him. “I left
my parents and they had to come
and find me watching the glass
blowers.”
It wasn’t until years later that he
began blowing glass. “Then one
day I was complaining about the
price of glass blowing equipment
and there was a blacksmith doing
work nearby. I looked over at the
blacksmith and said that it didn’t
look that hard.”
It turns out that a man standing
near Joseph heard him and chal
lenged him. This challenger was
none other than the North Ameri
can Master Blacksmith, Bill Epps.
Epps immediately gave Joseph a
job making hooks, and was paid
per piece. Joseph spent about two
years just making hooks. It was
good work though. Because of the
repetition, he became proficient,
later helping him to create more
challenging works. (One of these
challenges would be a duck sculp
ture he created out of stainless
steel. The stainless is a difficult
material to work with. A problem
encountered by those working
with the material is that it has to
be cut either with a sheer or a saw.)
The shop he started his career in
was similar to one that would have
been around in 1840. Hacksaw or
chisels cut all of the metal. “I
started with a coal forge and a
seven foot bellow,” he said.
Years passed before Joseph de
cided to go out on his own. He
spent years working with differ
ent crews until he decided to go on
by himself.
“My bosses would always see
what I could do then they’d Want
me to do a special project. I thought,
‘hey, I could do this on my own.’”
The final straw with the compa
nies was an accident on site that
still gives him problems today.
“A steel beam hit me from about
12 feet up. It went down the slope of
my head and hit my shoulder. Just
as it was going to bounce back and
hit me again a coworker helped to
stop it.”
Understandably, Joseph went
solo after that. His first big job
after com ing to th is area was at the
Bootwright House. He was com
missioned to do the front gate and
many household items. Since, he
has been commissioned to do a few
jobs by locals. However, a signifi
cant part of his work is requested
over the Internet. Janice is in
charge of advertising over the Net.
Another large part of his work is
wholesaling to markets like Leary
Plant Farm and The Lost Colony
in Manteo. He also takes part and
sells items at craft fairs and festi
vals.
All of the tools used in smithing
are primitive. Most of them are
made by the artisan themselves.
H is original shop had a forge made
from a brake drum with a blower
attached. (A forge is similar to a
small oven. Forges are able to
heat the iron to 2300-2600 degrees.
Joseph Bonifacino has gone from glass blowing to mastering the skills
required for blacksmithing. (Photo by Earline White)
There is an opening in the front
where the metal rods are stuck in
side and a hole in the back in case
there is a need to heat the entire
piece, sections at a time.) Joseph
used a piece of sawed off railroad
track as an anvil. “It took me a
while to find the perfect piece of
track, but after walking down the
line a while I found it.”
The blacksmith trade has
evolved since its beginning. Jo
seph has his materials trucked in
from Virginia by the ton. For emer
gencies, Nixon’s Welding in Rocky
Hock also carries metal and does
welding. “Traditionally black
smiths are three years behind, and
they never catch up,” he said. So,
whenever Joseph gets overloaded,
Nixon’s is able to help. Nixon’s
Welding and Cherry Welding both
use high-tech machinery to get the
job done. There are various types
of equipment and styles used to
day, compared with those of yes
teryear.
When I noticed the lack of high
tech devices, I asked Joseph did he
ever use such means. “The metal
only comes in certain sizes, but
with my hammer and anvil I can
make anything,” he said. A lot of
smiths are able to double their pro
duction because of the machines
that can do the work. But Joseph
remains true to the trade, only
making what he can form by hand.
Currently Joseph has an appren
tice, Wade Bunting, and the hope
of passing his skill to future gen
erations. Bunting owns a gallery
in Williamston, Made in the Shade.
Another of Joseph’s friends, an
environmental attorney, sculpts
metal. They can often be found
together sharing tips.
A lot of people in northeastern
North Carolina don’t know what
blacksmiths do. Joseph’s advice is
to ask; you’d be surprised, he said.
Joseph believes that the lack of
business is because of this misun
derstanding. “Most people don’t
ask because they don,t think it’s
possible. It used to be that mostly
everything you saw in magazines
like Pottery Barn or Plough and
Harvest were made by blacksmiths
in Western North Carolina.”
Now with mass production, es
pecially in countries like Mexico,
handcrafted goods are harder to
And. Machine shops and welding
shops have taken the'place of
smiths. But most of the items found
in magazines like Plough and Har
vest, Joseph can make.
Plans to set up a new shop excite
Joseph; he flashes a childlike grin.
Tammy and Gabriella, stay in the
area to rid it of growing shrubs
until Joseph can begin construc
tion.
Anyone can see Joseph’s work
at the shop beside his house. Run
out of an old barn, the shop dis
plays many pieces that are up for
sale. All of his pieces are practical,
but can be intricately detailed.
Road, his work can also be seen at
the Bootwright House, formerly
known as the Castle. The front
horse head gate is one of his cre
ations, along with the kitchen
racks, shelf brackets, cabinet
hinges, and numerous things in
side the house. In these modem
times, it is great to see remnants of
our history.
A prime example of Joseph Bonifacino'expert craftsmanship can be seen at the Sandy Ridge home of Russell
and Shelia Bootwright of Chowan County. Bonifacino is currently making plans to open the new Kingfisher
Forge, and to offer workshops when it is completed. (Photo by Earline White)
Not far off into the woods behind
his 1899 two-story white house, he
has big dreams for his new work
station. Behind the pens filled with
rabbits, chickens, and turkeys, and
the vegetable garden there is a trail
leading to the canopied plot soon
to be known as the new Kingfisher
Forge. He is planning to have two
forges, a small one (about half the
sizeoftheonehe works with now)
gnd a big one. The shop will be big
enough that the 20-foot rods he
works with won’t hit the beams of
the shelter. He plans to give work
shops there when the shop is fin
ished. So far the land is almost
cleared, but he is waiting for the
rain puddles to dry up before do
ing anything further. The goats,
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Herald, call 482-4418
From drawer handles, barn nails,
hose holders, tomato stakes, fire
place tools, and wine racks, practi
cally anything you need for your
kitchen and garden Joseph can
make.
He is partial to Greek Revival
architecture, but has Baroque ex
amples as well. Soon he hopes to
have it fully stocked not only with
his work, but homemade items
Janice makes as well. For those
who can’t make it to Sandy Ridge
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