Published: March 27, 2008 01:45 pm            

Back Roads: Keeping an art alive

Originally published in the March 21, 2008, print edition.

While some grandfathers and grandsons go fishing together, Etler Jensen and Erik Maisch share a different interest — ornamental blacksmithing.

Maisch, 16, a sophomore at Russell-Tyler-Ruthton High School in Tyler, and Jensen, 73, who lives on his farm near Tyler, have started a business called MJ Blacksmithing.

They may be in this together, but they are still very much individuals.

Jensen works with an LP-fired forge, while Maisch likes his coal-fired forge, salvaged from a barn. He buys low-sulfur coking coal from Pennsylvania.

Each has his own style: Jensen likes to make more practical, refined items like an Advent candle holder, and describes his grandson’s style as more “rustic,” making fireplace pokers and drawing knives out of railroad spikes.

Each has his own method: When Maisch made a towel hook, he first cut off the length of iron he needed, then began to draw out a decorative leaf on one end. His grandfather said he would have drawn the leaf out first, then cut off the length of iron needed to finish the hook.

With all of their differences, the joy of the business for Jensen is having a grandson who shares an interest of his. They’re learning together, and according to Jensen, they’re still in the “kindergarten” stage. Jensen’s California cousin is a professional blacksmith, and has given them instruction when he has been back to Minnesota. From there they pick it up on their own.

Since they are learning together, it is as common to hear Maisch give his grandfather advice as it is to hear Jensen making a suggestion to his grandson.

One works in town and one in the country, much of the time. Last summer they worked together to demonstrate their craft during Tyler’s celebration of Aebleskiver Days. For some executions, like a box twist, they need each other’s help. But it’s the shared interest that is — dare we say it? — forging the relationship between grandfather and grandson. “We do have a good time. We really do,” Jensen said.

What they are all about is printed on the back of their business card: “The Art of Backyard Ornamental Blacksmithing being kept alive by this Grandfather and Grandson duo in Southwestern Minnesota.”

You can reach Etler Jensen at (507) 247-3473 or Erik Maisch at (507) 247-5336.

        

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