Dai forging ahead with career as a blacksmith
Dai has gained new confidence and skills at Coleg Menai, and accessed financial help to set up his own business through the college’s enterprise officer
Coleg Menai student Dai Ifor Evans-Jones is forging ahead with his blacksmith business after discovering his passion at college.
Dai, from Beaumaris, fell in love with metalwork while studying Welding and Fabrication at the Llangefni campus.
Under the guidance of blacksmith Spike Blackhurst, he and fellow students Cai Roberts and Harry Vanmaele recently created a dragon which has been displayed by Beaumaris Town Council near the town’s famous castle.
Dai is now studying Level 3 Engineering at Llangefni as he looks to boost his business with new skills.
Since enrolling at college to re-sit his GCSEs, Dai has grown in confidence, found his path and has even been able to access financial assistance with setting up his own venture.
Dai approached Shoned Owen, enterprise officer for Coleg Menai and Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor, who helped him apply for a grant from Môn CF to get his venture up and running.
He received £2,000 towards equipment, enabling him to buy an air-fed mask, a laser engraver and cutter, and a computer.
“That was a big help,” said Dai. “She also showed me how to do invoices and things like that.”
Asked how his business is going, Dai said: “Fantastic. I’ve recently done a fence and a gate, and sold a couple of fire pokers to friends, and I’ve got lots of orders still to do.”
Dai’s journey started when he enrolled on Level 1 Vehicle Maintenance back in 2020. At the same time, he took an evening class in GCSE Biology, achieving an A*, and re-sat Maths, gaining a B.
The following year, Dai progressed to Level 2 Vehicle Maintenance and took more GCSEs, passing English with an A and Welsh with a C.
“The tutors were so kind and treated me with lots of respect,” said Dai. “That boosted my confidence and that’s how I got my results.
“I liked the vehicle maintenance course, it was fun to learn about how to fix cars, a good learning point.”
During his time on the course, Dai also competed in WorldSkills, saying: “It boosted my confidence and put me out of my comfort zone so I could push myself. Paul Griffith, the mechanics tutor, helped me with that and I’m very grateful.”
At the same time, Dai also took an evening class in welding, which ultimately led to him discovering his vocation as a blacksmith.
He said: “I was doing a welding night class, and I just clicked with it. I fell in love with welding and metalwork.
“I was doing Level 1 for the night class, and went on to Level 2 and Level 3 as a full-time student. One day I was doing a welding task where we were asked to look at YouTube videos of how to weld certain things. That’s how I came across blacksmithing, so I asked my welding lecturer Islwyn Williams if I could do work experience for a blacksmith.”
That led to Dai travelling to Llanbrynmair in Powys, to learn blacksmithing under Big Ideas Wales role model Spike. Spike has run her own business since 2003, and teaches artistic blacksmithing.
“That was great,” said Dai. “Spike makes people feel like they’re in the right place when they do her courses. She was so kind and helped with everything, and that’s how I was able to learn about blacksmithing.”
On one week-long course in Spike’s workshop, Dai worked on his dragon with friend Cai, who studies the Art Foundation course at Coleg Menai. They finished it at Dai’s home, with help from his course-mate Harry, and the dragon now has pride of place in Beaumaris.
Asked why he enjoys blacksmithing, Dai said: “I love the fact that you’re able to recycle old metal to make new tools and decorative items. I clicked with it, and decided I wanted to start my own business.”
He added: “I’m in college on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, so I do my business on days off. When I come home from college I do small stuff. Whenever I’m free I do my blacksmithing.
“I’m getting business through word of mouth at the moment, although a friend is helping me set up a website. Hopefully once I’ve got the website up and running I’ll start getting orders from further afield.”
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