I-69 Heritage Corridor - Delaware County
John Zile in his workshop
 
  John Zile grooves a traditional design in a decorative steel ladle handle with a chisel and hammer.  -- Photo by Katherine Forgacs
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John Zile -- Blacksmith

John Zile is a professional blacksmith and demonstrator from Sulphur Springs, Indiana. He has been practicing the trade for almost twenty years.

His first encounter with metalworking was as a young boy, when he would visit his uncle's repair shop. His family drove trucks hauling limestone for agricultural use in the summer and for crushed stone and gravel in the off season. Truck parts often had to be repaired or replaced and were fashioned by hand by blacksmiths.