100% hand-forged
How a Hand-Forged Piece Is Made
From a six-metre bar of steel to an installed fence. The process we have worked by since 1989.
-
1
Design and measurements
It starts with a sketch or a photo. Together we settle dimensions, motif and finish. We buy steel in six-metre bars, S235JR or S275JR. For fences, solid stock only.
-
2
Forging
Fire, hammer, anvil. Bars are drawn out, twisted and shaped hot.
-
3
Joinery
The piece is assembled with rivets and collars. The rivets we buy. The collars we make ourselves: cut to length, bent, and driven on hot over the joint. Where a weld helps during assembly, it disappears under a collar. That is why you see no welds on the finished piece.
-
4
Protection
Outdoors: sandblasting, hot-dip galvanizing, hand filing of every zinc spike so the zinc is nowhere wounded down to the iron, chemical aging of the zinc for paint adhesion, electrostatic powder coating. Indoors there is no galvanizing: the piece is powder coated, or given a patina by hand. In 37 years, not one rust complaint.
-
5
Installation
Larger pieces are pre-assembled in the workshop first. 95 percent of our work is installed by the forge.
100% hand-forged
We forge every part ourselves
We do not buy cast or pressed ornaments. Scrolls, leaves, collars and finials are forged in our workshop from solid steel. Two exceptions, stated plainly: hollow post balls are bought, and when a demanding design calls for special leaves, we buy blanks. Even those go under the hammer to fit the piece. A machine element without hammer work shows on forged work.
YouTube
Watch it happen
Filmed in our workshop. Links open on YouTube.