1957—At his lathe, Babe guides the tool over the surface of the spinning brass disc. The tool—a solid steel rod a foot long and an inch thick with a baseball bat-sized handle. The brass fluidly conforms to the shape of a wooden mold. Trading for a second tool, he trims excess from the rim of the brass. Ribbons of metal fireworks fly. Babe opens the lathe, releases the font-shaped sculpture—the base for an oil lamp.
Craftsman, artist, metal spinner, gentle hulk like the blue ox. His demeanor and rural tongue belie the dangerous work. Split second of inattentiveness and the spinning buzzsaw can fly off the lathe and open a man’s arm from wrist to elbow. In over four decades, Babe had one mishap—took 38 stitches to close it up.
the workshop window’s
greasy glass grid—
shards of summer sun
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