1
00:00:05,230 –> 00:00:06,460
I’m Ben Rogers.
2
00:00:06,460 –> 00:00:07,960
I’m 19 years old.
3
00:00:07,960 –> 00:00:10,100
I’m living in Durango, Colorado right now.
4
00:00:10,100 –> 00:00:13,250
And I’m a blacksmith and metalworkers.
5
00:00:13,250 –> 00:00:15,980
The main thing that I’m doing right now.
6
00:00:15,980 –> 00:00:18,320
We are sitting in the maker lab right now,
7
00:00:18,320 –> 00:00:20,790
which is where I do all of my work out of.
8
00:00:20,790 –> 00:00:24,240
It’s a really awesome
space, member driven.
9
00:00:24,240 –> 00:00:25,860
Allows a pretty sweet opportunity
10
00:00:25,860 –> 00:00:27,580
for anybody who doesn’t have access
11
00:00:27,580 –> 00:00:31,650
to a shop like this of their
own to come use this space.
12
00:00:31,650 –> 00:00:34,030
So we’re sitting in the
metal shop right now,
13
00:00:34,030 –> 00:00:35,730
which is where I spend most of my time.
14
00:00:35,730 –> 00:00:38,100
My main bread and butter,
15
00:00:38,100 –> 00:00:41,750
I guess I could say, is
the forge and the anvil.
16
00:00:41,750 –> 00:00:43,940
These are like my
definitely favorite tools
17
00:00:43,940 –> 00:00:45,150
to use in this whole space.
18
00:00:45,150 –> 00:00:47,340
And that’s how I move
the bulk of the metal.
19
00:00:47,340 –> 00:00:50,920
And then a lot of the
refining work I do with files,
20
00:00:50,920 –> 00:00:52,221
some of the grinders.
21
00:00:53,880 –> 00:00:56,070
The only teacher I’ve had is the internet
22
00:00:56,070 –> 00:00:57,440
and trial and error.
23
00:00:57,440 –> 00:01:00,130
I’ve pretty much learned it all on my own,
24
00:01:00,130 –> 00:01:02,783
which has been a super,
super fun and rewarding.
25
00:01:03,700 –> 00:01:07,870
I like using reclaimed
materials for a lot of reasons.
26
00:01:07,870 –> 00:01:12,120
I love the features that
some pieces will have,
27
00:01:12,120 –> 00:01:14,330
I love the sustainability aspect of it
28
00:01:14,330 –> 00:01:18,340
and the price is very, very nice.
29
00:01:18,340 –> 00:01:20,700
You can get pretty
infinite amount of metal
30
00:01:20,700 –> 00:01:24,110
out of things like leaf
springs from a car or coils.
31
00:01:24,110 –> 00:01:26,180
And most of the time you
can get that for free.
32
00:01:26,180 –> 00:01:30,250
Exotic woods can be pretty
unsustainable to like harvest,
33
00:01:30,250 –> 00:01:33,670
but if I can get little chunks of it
34
00:01:33,670 –> 00:01:38,110
from projects that other
people have done secondhand,
35
00:01:38,110 –> 00:01:40,270
what most people would see as trash,
36
00:01:40,270 –> 00:01:41,780
it’s pretty cool to be able to turn those
37
00:01:41,780 –> 00:01:45,733
into accent pieces on a knife
38
00:01:45,733 –> 00:01:48,260
or on any other project I’m working on.
39
00:01:48,260 –> 00:01:51,680
My main goal is just
dialing in my like craft.
40
00:01:51,680 –> 00:01:52,990
Cause as much as I want to get
41
00:01:52,990 –> 00:01:56,650
a ton of pieces into people’s
hands as fast as possible,
42
00:01:56,650 –> 00:01:59,700
I’m really trying to focus on
the basis of this is the craft
43
00:01:59,700 –> 00:02:01,530
and is all the details
44
00:02:01,530 –> 00:02:04,010
and hand work that goes into all of it.
45
00:02:04,010 –> 00:02:07,430
So the goal is just to keep
learning piece by piece
46
00:02:07,430 –> 00:02:09,350
and keep enjoying it because I do.
47
00:02:09,350 –> 00:02:11,600
This is such a playful space for me.
48
00:02:11,600 –> 00:02:14,026
Just keep learning and loving the process.