Ornamental – Reforged Ironworks

11 April 202516 April 2025

Address Sign Project

This was a custom order we received from some folks in the US. They had a rough design in mind, and it was up to us to decide on the execution of it. It’s an interesting process where sketch means reality, working within the constraints of the material and the functional requirements of the project (in this case, it was a sign that could be hung up securely, was black in colour and would be resistant to the outdoor elements).

The final dimensions were roughly 36″ across and 24″ tall by 1″ deep. The finish is a matte black Rustoleum spray paint. The frame was constructed with hot rolled mild steel and assembled via welding.

The completed piece with a matte black finish.

The design was originally created at a much smaller scale to ensure our customer was satisfied with it. Once that was finalized, we printed it at a 1:1 scale on multiple pieces of 8.5″ x 11″ printer paper, and the whole design transferred to a piece of scrap plywood.

Starting to create the forged pieces and using the transferred design as a reference. This was a technique I learned in an ABANA course on making a grille. The cross was forged from 1/2″ square bar, upset at the ends.

More pieces are added. The printer paper was covered in blue chalk on the back and I used a ball point point to trace the lines, thus transferring the design onto the plywood. I didn’t have a piece of rusty sheet metal large enough for the project. Metal is preferable because I’d be able to place a hot piece of steel against the design to see if it needed tweaking. In this case, I had to cool the part enough so that it wouldn’t scorch the wood.

The sign assembled together with scrolls and backing.

All the pieces are collected here, but not assembled. The penny scrolls on the sides of the frame were replace with a tapered scroll in the end.

The “crown of thorns” detail was a tricky bit of work. I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to tackle transforming that bit of design into reality, until one night I suddenly thought of barbed wire. The wire was just the right scale for the project, so I took a length of it and wrapped it up around itself.

A detail view of the edge and plate backing..

Here we can see as the project came along that the side scroll finials changed from penny to tapered. The customer preferred the look of these finials, and it was a quick enough job to change them. The top and side scrolls met at the corner and were welded together.

Ornamental ironwork is a very creative process and I enjoy the occasional project.

If you have an idea that you would like to see come to life, send us an email at info@reforgedironworks.com

14 February 20252 April 2025

Railing Project

A local client contacted me about forging a railing for their front step. It went through a couple iterations before the client was happy with the design I drew up for them. Functionality is always a top concern, and the client was happy to let me handle the details of the ironwork and finishing.

The installed railing was secured with anchor bolts into the wall on the top step, and concrete anchor bolts at the bottom. The rail itself is a solid 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ steel bar.

The leaf finial scroll at the front and end of the rail were forged separately from 1/4″ x 1″ bar, and then riveted into place. I was working within the limitations of my workshop, and being unable to forge a 6′ length of heavy bar, while keeping modern welding to a minimum, meant using the traditional riveting technique.

Each scroll is a snub nosed finial forged from 1/4″ x 1″ flat bar. The pieces were forged such that each scroll appears to flow out of the proceeding one, creating a sense of movement down the rail.

The wall mount was forged from plate and given a leaf-type texture to tie in the motif. The second leaf finial scroll can be see here with the rivet details below. The wall mount was welded to the rail.

Top view where the connection between the pieces is visible.

The post is simply a 1″ square tube. Budget constrains required that I use modern welding in many places. Traditionally the post would be solid steel and connected to the rail and base plate with mortise and tenon joinery.

This photo really capture the flowing effect of the progressively enlarging scrolls “tumbling” down the under side of the rail.

The finish was something I agonized about during the entire project. I detest paint finishes for a number of reasons, the most important being that it obscures the naturally beautiful finish that comes with forged ironwork. I consulted with another blacksmith with more experience in outdoor ornamental pieces and I settled on a mix of linseed oil, beeswax and turpentine tinted with stove black, a polish for wood stoves.

Before connecting all the pieces and after polishing all the surfaces with a wire wheel brush, I heated them to a black heat in the forge. This creates a uniform dark gray colour on the steel and helps to protect it from rust. The dark gray comes from a thin layer of scale that forms from heating.

Once the piece was assembled, I applied the linseed oil finish to the rail. Now, one of the benefits of a linseed oil finish is that it can be reapplied easily to the piece. If rust does happen to form in a spot, it can be scoured away and linseed oil applied. No need to repaint the entire rail in the future.

15 September 202315 September 2023

Forged Steel Coat Rack (custom order)

A neighbour and friend of the forge recently commissioned a coat rack from us, and we took their idea and made it our own. Instead of using any welds, the entire piece uses traditional blacksmith joinery techniques.

The finish for the coat rack and shelf unit was a bit of polishing with a wire brush, heating the steel to a “black heat” for a uniform colour, and an application of beeswax and linseed oil.

detail photo of scrollwork on forged coat rack

The scroll arms on either side were forged from this old piece of scrap that came from an old homestead on the other side of our little valley.

Bradding, or riveting as its referred to nowadays, was the technique used to attach all the separate pieces into one. A countersink was drilled in places where a rivet head standing proud of the surface would have interfered with function. Lorinda and I worked as a team to assemble all the parts together