Demi-Lune Table

Recently I've been doing lots of architectural ironwork, but I got my start in blacksmithing as a furniture maker. For the first two years of my career, I worked as an aprentice to a furnitre designer. We made lots of reproduction antique iron furniture and chandeliers. Shortly after I opened my own shop, I made this piece for myself. It's called a demi-lune table because of it's half moon shape. The legs are steel, the apron is hammered copper and the top is distressed silver leaf on wood. Personally, I love contemporary furniture. I sold this table many years ago, but I still own the "sister" coffee table, which lives in my house to this day. I've grown rather attached to it over the years.

The Scrap Pile

Ah, the old scrap pile. To some people, this looks like a pile of junk, but to a blacksmith, this looks like a pile of treasure. Projects in the making. Opportunities. The atom bomb of creativity waiting to explode. Every blacksmith has a scrap pile, and we all dig through it, looking for that bit of steel that we know "must be in there somewhere." Sometimes I'm looking for a bit that I need to complete my vision. Other times I'm digging around for inspiration.

This picture is of my scrap pile back in Memphis. You see, I had a shop in Memphis for 12 years, and when I moved to California two years ago I had to leave it behind. I just couldn't rationalize moving a big, heavy pile of scrap metal half way across the country, but I miss having it. I'll build up a new mountain of treasure, but right now it's just a little mole hill.

Today, I actually had to go to the junk yard and BUY SCRAP METAL!?!? I just didn't have that bit of 3/8" plate steel that I needed to make a sample for a client. Did you know that scrap metal sells for $1.00 per pound? Crazy. I guess with the escalating price of steel, my little scrap pile really is a pile of treasure!

Iron Handrail

Here's a handrail I made with a hand forged volute and scroll brackets. (The volute is the curl at the end.) I've used a molded cap for the rail, but unlike many other handrails, my handrail has a hand forged volute. Lots of fabricators buy clunky, cheap, pre-fabricated volutes and weld them on, but they never look as nice as a hand forged volute. What's the difference? Quality. This hand forged volute has a graceful taper, smooth lines and solid material, and it's forged from a continuous piece of steel. You just can't buy that from a catalogue. And those brackets look great too (If I don't say so myself!)

The latest firescreen - ready for install

Here's the firescreen I finished today. (I'll be installing it later this week.) It will have a 3" thick marble hearth at the bottom. This screen features hand forged texture, rivets and lap joints. I was going for a masculine, "men's den" kind of look to this screen, with heavy material and bold lines.

Firescreen

This is a custom firescreen that I did for a client in Memphis. I've been making trees for years, and I've used them in railings, gates, fences and fire screens. The trunk and main branches are forged pipe and the smaller branches are solid. The "ground" under the tree is hollow formed sheet metal.

My first post

This is a gate I finished recently for some clients who love the south west. It's iron, copper and stainless steel.