Wanting to share his love of forge and fire with other students, history education sophomore, Nick Henning decided to start a blacksmithing club at West Texas A&M University (WT). The club was officially established during the Fall of 2025, marking the first blacksmithing club at WT, and is named Buffs Blades.
As the founder and president of the club, Henning explained why he decided to start the blacksmithing club.
“I’ve always been a fan of blacksmithing and bladesmithing,” Henning said. “And I figured it’d be a good idea if I could share my passion with other people at school, because, you know, there’s a lot of people nowadays who just get so overwhelmed by classes and overwhelmed by homework and professors and all that. So I just figured it’d be like a good little escaping place.”
Henning explained how he started the club.
“I went to the OSL office,” Henning said. “The lady that runs it came over to me and said, ‘Well, you’re going to need five members, and [an] advisor, and a constitution and a place to do it.’ And right now, I got about 4 of the 5 things.”
Professor and head of the history department, Dr. Timothy Bowman is the advisor for the club.
“I had [Nick] as a student in my Texas history class,” Bowman said. “And he actually made me a knife that I bought from him, and I thought that was really cool. I’ve never had a student do that kind of thing for me, and since I like Nick and he’s a good student, and I know he does good work. I thought it was a neat thing that I would be happy to support.”
Bowman elaborated on his role as the club’s advisor.
“One of the things that I would like to do, if time permitting, is learn blacksmithing myself,” Bowman said. “But I think it’s primarily as a faculty advisor. It’s usually an outside kind of role, so I’m here to sign paperwork and help them with any problems that might need to be addressed, but ultimately that’s kind of the faculty advisor role with any student group.”
Engineering technology sophomore, Garrett Snearly is the vice president of the club. He explained why he got involved in the club.
“[Nick] is actually my coworker at the bookstore,” Snearly said. “And we just started becoming friends, and I started going over to his house, and he had a forge and stuff, and we just started making things. Then he came up with the idea of the blacksmithing club, and he asked me if I wanted to be a part of it, and I said, ‘Sure, why not?’”
Snearly added why he thinks the club is important.
“It’s a great way to just learn how to make things,” Snealry said. “I really love making things with my hands, and it’s a way to just be creative, and just a way to connect with people, and to learn a skill that could potentially lead to a job in the future.”
For more information regarding meetings and membership, contact Buffs Blades through their club email at [email protected].
