By Neil Mansfield

I was recently commissioned by a customer to forge two separate sets of fire place doors -- one set for their living room downstairs fireplace and the second set of doors for their upstairs bedroom fireplace.

As you can see by the photos, this type of work cannot be bought out of a catalog or purchased overseas.  Instead, it has to be custom made right here in America using both modern metalworking and blacksmith techniques to include gas tungsten arc (TIG) welding, power tools, and other modern blacksmithing equipment.  However, to keep with the traditional design provided by the customer, who requested to have them of look over 100 years old, these doors were 100% hand forged and hand worked. 

This type of work is very labor intensive which requires great attention to detail.  But in the end, the customer is extremely happy with the way the doors blend so well with their stone work in their home.  You have to listen to what your customer wants, not just what you think will work.  After all, it's the customer that is opening up their check book to pay you.  Keep that in mind.

This project required me to create a couple small sample pieces of door styles to show them before I started to forge the doors.   For example the customer wanted square head rivets on their downstairs doors.  I search for square head rivets and came up with nothing.  I then talked to a few local blacksmiths in my area and they suggested to purchase square head bolts and forge them and TIG weld them into place.  It worked out well.  It is important to listen and utilize ideas shared by your fellow metalworkers.  They are very knowledgeable and have previously traveled down the same road that you are now traveling.  It is common practice for metalworkers and blacksmiths help each other succeed.   

These sets of doors have two bronze scrolls in the middle of them with forged banding to hide the TIG welds.  Banding is a great way to have no welds show in your work and people often wonder how your iron work comes together.  However, while banding takes a little more time and much detail to produce, in the overall scheme, its appearance is rich in design.

Forging bronze it can be difficult.  What I mean is, after bronze reaches a dull red color and goes beyond a temperature of approximately 800 degrees, it just melts into a puddle right in front of your eyes and this material is expensive.  So when I am forging bronze or copper, I keep my eye on the exact color by turning the lights down or off in the shop so that I can see that dull red color and not overheat it.  Also, if you overheat bronze and forge it on your anvil, it just crumbles.  So be careful when working with it.    

These scrolls on the doors were done with a set of scrolling pliers and an oxyacetylene torch, using my shop vice.  I first sketched them out on my iron table with soapstone, keeping in mind that they needed to fit into the doors.  Then I forged each one by hand.  

Using bronze in your ironwork designs brings a nice bend and adds richness to your work. The 655 silicon bronze TIG welds like butter.  It is fabulous stuff to weld!  So the next time you are considering a project, try using some bronze in it.  Keep on creating “neat stuff” out of metal and be safe in your shop!