This year marked the 5th annual Lamberton Hot Iron Days.  And it was a hot one this year.  Well, hot but more muggy.  I think we all were sweating through our leathers.

For those of you who don't know yet, it's an annual iron pour up in Lamberton, MN.  This awesome event was started by the Hubert family of Lamberton.  The oldest son, Clayton, and I went to college together and so I've had the privilege of both working with the Hot Iron Days since it started and getting to know the Hubert clan.  They're a great crew that makes you feel like you've come home.

One of my favorite things about being involved with Hot Iron Days is how it has grown over the few short years it's been around.  The first year was pretty much just an iron pour.  Now, 5 years later, we have the iron pour, craft show, car and tractor show, blacksmith shop, 5k run, kid's costume parade and more.  I'm excited to continue to keep working with the Hubert's and to see how much more of a success Hot Iron Days can be.

In case you don't know what an iron pour really is, here's a short explanation - First we build sculptures using either styrofoam or clay.  Then using a two part chemical sand compound, we create molds around those sculptures.  The clay you have to dig out, but the styrofoam will just burn away when you pour the iron in.  Then using what's called a cupola (which is just a very serious oven) we melt the iron at roughly 3200° F.  That pours out into a ladle (which weighs about 100 lbs and holds about 150 lbs of iron), skim off the slag, and pour it into the molds.  Let it cool, break away the mold and you've got an iron sculpture!  Here's a couple pictures of the pouring.