The 5th annual Cache Valley Mountain Man Rendezvous was held this Memorial Day weekend at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville, Utah. Below is a conversation between reporter Max McDermott and blacksmith Michael Mendenhall.
Michael Mendenhall: So I'm an engineer. And this is what I do in my evening times, I like to do blacksmithing. My name is Michael Mendenhall. My little small business is Fighting Quaker Forge.
So that's one of the things, when I talk to the kids, I say okay, “when you put iron in there it goes hot, and then it goes soft like Play-Doh. What can you make with Play-Doh? Anything. Can you make animal shapes? You can make all sorts of things, right? How would you make a snake with Play-Doh? Roll it up with your hands. Well, I can't do that because it's 1,800 degrees. So I have to use tongs and hammers and things to shape, but I can still make a snake.” But these are just the fun things I like to do. It’s like playing with Play-Doh at 1,800 degrees.
Max McDermott: Is that how you feel about it?
Michael Mendenhall: Oh yeah.
Max McDermott: What kind of engineering do you do?
Michael Mendenhall: I'm a manufacturing engineer, but right now my job is a quality engineer.
Max McDermott: So do you feel like this is your opportunity to actually like play with engineering.
Michael Mendenhall: Yes.
Max McDermott: And sort of play with building and that sort of thing?
Michael Mendenhall: I became an engineer because I like to make things. But as an engineer, I tend to write reports. And report about writing reports. And so a lot of my stuff uses some design and engineering principles that I've learned in school, and so forth, that make these engineered to be useful first and then beautiful after.
