Allison Park Blacksmith revitalizing ancient craft

Using tongs, Craig Cowan removes a red-hot piece of steel from a 1,600-degree oven and places it upon an anvil. He hammers it into shape and a glowing ember falls on his sandaled foot. As a Taylor Swift song blares in the background, he shakes it off and gets back to work.

Welcome to The Barefoot Forge.

Cowan, 29, is a self-taught blacksmith who's been imperfectly perfecting his craft for the past decade. A sign hanging in his Allison Park shop reads “Jazz Blacksmithing.”

“There are no accidents,” he says with a smile, “only opportunities.”

The Hampton resident's occupation grew out of necessity. His friend, a knifemaker, needed a forge, so the pair built one out of a vacuum cleaner and a dimmer switch. The contraption worked, which led to many late nights swinging sledgehammers in his garage.

Cowan soon began experimenting with metal, folding multiple layers of dissimilar alloys together to create Damascus steel, a product with unique patterns that resemble woodgrain.

He forged a ring and posted a photo of it on Facebook. Orders started rolling in.

Since then, he's made about 590 rings, each one as unique as the person who wears it.

His workshop, a 625-square-foot space located inside an old warehouse, doesn't look like the ideal spot for a romantic evening, but dozens of couples have visited the site to forge their own wedding bands.

The process takes between 10 to 14 hours, which can be completed in one day or spread out over two evenings. Prices range between $800 and $2,000.

For folks who consider beer to be their true love, Cowan offers a class on how to turn a new railroad spike into a bottle opener. No experience is necessary, but students must be at least 18 years old and have the ability to wield a 4 pound hammer.

During the 4-hour tutorial, novices learn the basics of forge safety and how to use various tools to square, draw, twist, bend, cleanup and finish their piece of metal, which they then get to take home and “test” on a six-pack.

Cowan, a jovial guy with infinite reserves of patience, has coached all kinds of people in the art of blacksmithing, including his grandmother, numerous journalists, an 80-year-old woman with Parkinson's disease and chef Anthony Bourdain, who visited Pittsburgh during a taping of the CNN show “Parts Unknown”.

That's where Bill Posey first learned about The Barefoot Forge.

The Penn Township resident, who works as a supplier in the steel industry, signed up to make a bottle opener, followed by another class on how to bang out a metal rose. Posey, like many other former students, regularly drops by to volunteer as a shop assistant.

“I'm like a houseguest that won't leave,” he says. “Craig is just a very interesting guy and a good teacher. We struck up a friendship from there.”

Adam Coleman, an Iraq War veteran and frequent forge visitor, says hammering hot metal helps him deal with his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“My PTSD and depression can make it difficult to get myself to go to the forge, but I try to force myself to go because every time I do, I have a very positive experience thanks to the welcoming environment Craig has established,” he says.

In addition to Bourdain's show, Cowan — who is, among other things, a boat captain, beekeeper and brewer — has even appeared on FOX News. Each week, nearly 220,000 people follow his adventures on Instagram and Facebook.

Modern technology has helped the ancient trade experience a resurgence. In 1973, the Artist-Blacksmith's Association of North America (ABANA) formed with 27 members. That number now stands at 4,000.

Cowan is happy to lead the charge from this historic steel town and hopes to launch a side company that manufactures forges for other metal workers.

“There are lots of blacksmiths in Pittsburgh,” he says. “I have well over 100 students interested in doing this for a living.”

Kristy Locklin is a Tribune-Review contributor.