Forge
The standard coal forge uses coal as the fuel to heat the metal. A forge is designed to allow a fire to be controlled such that metal introduced to the fire may be brought to a malleable state. The smith balances the fuel and air in the fire to suit particular kinds of work. The smith can adjust the length and width of the fire in such a forge to accommodate different shapes of work.
A gas forge uses propane or natural gas as the fuel. The primary advantage of a gas forge is that it is simple to operate and the produced fire is clean and consistent. The gas forge is less versatile, as the fire cannot be reshaped to accommodate large or unusually shaped pieces and it is difficult to heat a small section of the piece.
Anvil
The anvil serves as a work bench to the smith, where the metal to be formed is placed.
Tongs
Tongs are used by the smith for holding hot metals securely. The mouth are made in various shapes to suit the gripping of various shoes of metal.
Comparison of Our Work to Other Fabricators
Forged Scrolls and Start of Scrolls
Scrolls forged in the fire flow and can be started with a button or a drawn out beginning. Cold formed scrolls don’t flow all the way from the beginning. The beginning of the scroll has a flat piece, because the start of the scroll needs to be clamped to a scroll form in order to form the scroll cold.
forged button scroll forged drawn out scroll start cold formed flat scroll start
Grinding of all welds
We grind all welds, so that they are virtually invisible.
welds ground welds not ground
Forge Welding
Through forge welding the metalsmith can join two pieces by heating them white hot, then fusing the elements into a single unit under the blows of a hammer. This method gives the element a much nicer flow than two pieces being weld together.
forge welded scrolls
small scrolls welded unto big scrolls
the scrolls flow into each other
scrolls do not flow into each other
Pinning of Scrolls
We pin scrolls together instead of welding them together. Pinning keeps the scrolls distinct from each other.
pinned scrolls welded scrolls
Machining
George was a machinist before he became a blacksmith. Due to his machining knowledge we are able to machine dies to create unique forms or mill metal into desired objects.
unavailable octagon stock was formed out of round stock
the bronze urn was turned out of round stock
with custom created dies
according to prints provided by the architect
Fit to the space
We design the railing to fit into the available space. If the railing consists out of panels, the panels will be all the same size. Seeing that we build all the parts of the railing in house we are not bound to the any sizes, like bought panels. With bought panels you might end up with only a portion of the panel due to the space that needs to be filled.
scrolls designed to fit into the available space scrolls cut to fit into the available space
Duplicate work
Due to our forging and machining ability in our workshop we are able to duplicate existing work that you cannot duplicate with bought pieces out of a catalog.
existing railing
new railing with slight design changes
to comply with the building code