" Forging Iron into Black Gold Treasures" 

       Custom Ornamental Iron for Home, Garden and Business

Architectural

Garden Art

Furniture

Fire Tools

House Jewelry

Commission

[ Decorative Art ] [ Restoration ] Commission

The history of ironwork in America extends to the time of the exploration of the New World.  Ironwork came from the old world in forms of armament, tools and decorative art.  Eventually the craft and tradesmen established the capabilities to produce the products needed in the colonies and in the south western regions of the country.  These products have survived in various degrees through the centuries since they were originally created by the blacksmith in their country of origin.  There is no question metal working capabilities existed in many locations of the old world and the new world that surpasses the talents of most or possibly all who are working in the field today.  Be that as it is, the ability to recreate products of past artists is still often requested of today's blacksmith.

Key Benefits

Limitations and Capabilities

Product Size

Limitations of shop size and equipment create a limit of project size to approximately 8 feet by 8 feet and a weight limit of 300 pound per item.

Restoration Process

Many historical architectural ironworks were originally created as iron castings and incorporated into ironwork by welding the castings to wrought iron structural components.  Hot Iron Blacksmith does not make iron castings and has only a limited amount of such products available from casting supply firms.  If the project warrants the cost of developing a new source of the recreated castings, this can be managed within the total project scope by subcontracting with casting suppliers..

Reference Commissions

Sugar Nipper

This 18th and early 19th century American kitchen tool was used to chip small pieces of sugar from the sugar cone.  At this time sugar was made by pressing raw sugar and molasses in a cone shape and dried.  The result was a very hard piece of sugar that was then chipped into smaller pieces for serving at the table with tea.  The sugar nipper provided the ability to chip the small pieces for serving.  Elaborate table ready silver nippers and sturdy kitchen style heavy duty nippers existed in a wide variety of styles.  Commission prices were competitive with antiques available on eBay.

Plow 

A walk behind two wheel tractor plow built in the 1940's was worn beyond use.  The plow point was forged new and trailing elevator arm was restored to original dimensions.  Commercial metal fabricators are generally not capable or interested in working on this type of a project.  Hot Iron Blacksmith took it on a a challenge and limited the charges to the customer to allow the plow to be returned to use in the customer's garden.

Butt Hinges

These are 1865 cast 1 3/4 inch butt hinges.  The original manufacturer is still in business, but the cast iron hinge is no longer produced for market.  The customer was looking to obtain matching hinges that would resemble as closely as possible the original cast hinge. Hot Iron Blacksmith recreated the same size and look.  Surfaces were hammered and patina applied to recreate in intricate detail the appearance of the original antique cast iron hinges.

Ordering    

Order form for standard products is printed on the Order Form Page.[ Forged Iron Products ] [ Orders ]

Last modified: February 10, 2008