His fascination with the old art of blacksmithing began more than 40 years ago as a way to save money on his farm.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"For me, it's functional. I can shoe my own horses, fix and repair anything that bends up or breaks around the farm," said Ross Stanyer, a self-taught blacksmith from Old Junee.
"Do it yourself, it's practical. You don't have to wait for someone to come by and fix your fence so your sheep stay in it, you do it yourself."
As time progressed, Mr Stanyer, who owns a mixed crop and cattle farm in Old Junee, achieved more local notoriety for his blacksmithing ability.
"Neighbours would bring things to me for me to fix up. It was a challenge for me, fix it up so well they couldn't break it again even if they tried."
But to begin with, the passion was just a hobby with practical applications.
"I just started mucking around with it [when I was a kid], then I got a little bit more into it, read some books on it, and it's grown from that," Mr Stanyer said.
"There used to be a blacksmith in Junee who I'd go to. I do a job, bring it to him and he'd tell me everything I did wrong. Slowly, there was less I did wrong and more I did right."
Now as one of the only blacksmiths in town, Mr Stanyer offers his services far and wide, but primarily conducts demonstrations of the old world art.
Related:
On the nigh eve of its disappearance though, Mr Stanyer believes blacksmithing is ready for a resurgence among a new generation of iron-stokers.
"It's very big in Victoria where there's a blacksmith association that teachers people," Mr Stanyer said.
"A lot of people want to shoe horses or get into knife-making, those are related but they're not the same. I never had an interest in knives, or anything decorative. I was mostly in if for farm repairs.
"If you learn the basics then away you go, you can get into the decorative or anything you like."
With his assistance the art is seeing revival around the Riverina too, with high schools in both Junee and Temora now offering blacksmithing classes.
"It's coming back, and that's a good thing," Mr Stanyer said.