Danielle, the Blacksmith
Danielle Russell isn’t your average blacksmith.
That’s because your traditional image of a blacksmith is a muscular, tall man. Danielle, this 24-year-old blacksmith, embodies none of those characteristics but has accomplished more than some people have got in their lifetime.
At her age of 20, Danielle’s stepfather, Doug, passed the torch of this family blacksmith business to her. In the meantime, she is also a teacher in her weekly blacksmith class.
Danielle Russell (right) does a demo for Greg Gulley, Gary Snoke, and James Snoke, in the blacksmith class.
The first time Danielle came to blacksmithing was at the age of 11. She was following her stepfather, Doug Lockhart, around and constantly amazed by what he could do with his hands and his imagination. Danielle’s interest in blacksmithing started growing and she kept asking him what she can do. So Doug would bring her to a scrap yard and took things that were junk. Then they would work to turn those into something totally different and new.
“There are so many directions you can go with blacksmithing,” Danielle said. “It was so amazing to watch yourself turning junk metal and just pieces of scraps that you would just look over and throw away to a flowing leaf on a decorative lighting.”
As time went on to Danielle, jobs just kept getting bigger and she became more handy. One day, when Doug and Danielle were working in demonstrating on a hook and they get them mixed up, even Doug can't tell the difference.
“That was the greatest accomplishment in my life,” said Doug, with the gleam in
his eyes.
“Proud dad moment,” Danielle chuckled.
"I don't feel the need to say yes, I'm a female blacksmith and I'm one of the few. I don't feel like that's something I have to boast about anymore."
The success of Danielle proved what a female blacksmith is capable of. She is shearing barriers in this male-dominated industry. “You give a man a hammer, and he’ll do what a man does: He’ll wind up and smash as hard as he can. And the piece is going to end up ruined and back in the fire,” Danielle said, “But women are different. They use their mind instead of just banging until the piece gets pretty. Blacksmith is more about control.”
Danielle and Doug are passing this idea on to other people, not just the students in their blacksmith class every Saturday, but also their peers and clients. Women keep showing up in Danielle’s class to learn a new skill that is out of their comfort zone. However, even though she is getting the huge achievements in her profession, Danielle still has to face gender resistance sometimes.
A man asked her if she has certification to be a female business owner. “I am just a blacksmith. I don’t have the need to state the fact of my gender.” said Danielle.
Danielle teaches Abby Miller how to control the hammer in the class.
Danielle scoops her cat up in her studio.
Danielle welds metal pieces in her studio.
Danielle teaches Abby Miller how to control the hammer in the class.
And she is proving herself as a qualified blacksmith. In the past November, Danielle just got her biggest project by far - restoring over 11,000 rivets on 22 floodgates in South Carolina. And that will take her and her crew three years to accomplish it.
That means they have to do a lot of traveling to keep up with the chores in their farm and the blacksmithing school. Danielle is very excited about this upcoming challenge and can’t wait to be part of the history. “It's just really awesome to be able to offer something that very few are able to do that to be in that position,” she said.
Danielle Russell fires the coal.