Interior Iris Staircase

  Here is an idea for those who want to upgrade their staircase.  This client had a home built in the 1980’s with a traditional wood stair rail and wood balusters that went into the treads.  In some cases I have had clients  renovate the treads by removing and replacing them.  In this case the homeowner had the holes filled with oak dowels that matched the treads and then re-finished the treads.   

   One goal was to open up the foyer for a more spacious look.  A thinner baluster was chosen  (1/4 inch square solid steel) with steel top and bottom rail.  This is a good example of what many of my clients want in design, a simple rail with a custom forged center piece to draw attention. In this way a unique look can be obtained without over building the space. 

  The custom forged Iris was chosen for the center piece with a copper flower top.  I had the entire rail powder coated and the homeowner choose “Spartan Bronze” for the color.                                                                                                        

  Many different designs can be incorporated into a rail of this style.  I hope this gives some idea of the possibilities for your  stair rail renovation or new installation.

Joe

 

Catail mailbox

Mailboxes are often overlooked as way to add some art to your front yard.  Here is an example of functional art that can be seen throughout the year.  On this mailbox stand I choose to use cattails and fronds to wrap (and hide) the heavy steel post that supports the box.  I used a 4 inch square steel post to go 24 inches into the ground and a smaller 2 inch square from the ground up.  The box itself is a commercial made 1/8 inch steel plate box that is mounted on a rectangular base that I made from 1 inch square tubing.  This mail box is not only visually pleasing but is also very heavy-duty.  To finish the piece off I had the entire work powder coated in “Black Forrest Green”. 

There are many options with a mailbox of this design.  Various floral and organic designs could be incorporated into this piece to suit the clients taste. 

Joe

Accent panels iron and copper

copper and iron panels on barn wood bar

Well hello again.  It is hard to believe summer is gone, but I will say I do look forward to the cooler weather of fall every year.  I have been busy the past couple of months and have had some interesting projects that I will be sharing with you.  If you remember the western stair case and entry gates that I have shared with you in previous post,  the home owner also had a custom built bar  made.  I was asked to make accent panels for the front of the bar.  The home owner had already purchased the stools which also had copper panels.  I hand hammered a similar texture into the copper panels by hammering into a wood plank.  The steel bars for the  frame were  heated in my forge and then hammer textured.  This was a good example of using iron and copper as accent pieces which opens up many possibilities.

Take care

Joe

Entry gates and arch

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               In my last post I talked to you about a steel stair case.  The staircase has a chili pepper /western theme, and was installed in the living quarters of Five Peppers Farm.  I wanted to follow up with another project that was on the same property.  Earlier this year I created and installed automated entry gates and arch with the same chili peppers / western theme.  In the detail picture  shown here you can see the forged steel pepper plant that I created for the middle of the gates.   The gates were of a clean simple design which causes your eye to be drawn to the pepper center piece.   This ties in with the forging inside the living quarters on the stairase rail.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 

                                                                                                                                                        

The great thing about a project like this is working with the client to tie together the entire farm theme.   From the time you drive on to the farm until you enter the barn and living quarters for a party or gathering you know you are enjoying the hospitality of Five Peppers Farm.  This project shows how using Brown View Forge to create a custom look can really make a unique difference for you home, office or “farm”.

 

Joe

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New steel interior staircase

 

I wanted to show you a few pictures of a staircase I recently finished creating and installing.  The first picture was taken in my shop as I was building the upper deck and rails.  The client wanted a western theme with a chili pepper center piece in the upper railing.  With all the steel in this staircase I needed to add some textures to make it more interesting. The post were made from 2 inch square tubing.  I added some hammer textured 1/4 inch x 1 1/2 inch flat bar to the post with hammered rivets, which gave the post some depth. 

In order to keep as much floor space open as possible the staircase was designed to be  supported with wall brackets instead of post.  This made for a challenging installation but it kept the floor clear.

 The chili pepper design in the upper rail was  forged from 3/4 and 1/2 inch round solid steel and 3/4 inch schedule 40 pipe.  I inserted the forged pepper vine in the place of the middle baluster to give a natural growth appearance.  The client wanted some horseshoes used in the design for a western flair so I used them in the frame of the upper deck and in a walking pattern up the stair rail.   

Here is a view from the upper loft which shows the barn wood plank floor that was used for the deck and also the stair treads.  This was of the clients design and I think really made the staircase have a old western appearance.  To keep with the color scheme of the space we had the entire staircase powder coated in a  darker copper shaded patina which brought the entire project together.  The client  knew just what she was looking for and we worked together to accomplish those goals by thinking outside the box using a all steel framed staircase in a interior space.

Joe

 

                                                                                                     

Natural flowing steel vine railings

 The word for last week was HOT!  I spent most of the week at a clients home shaping and installing natural flowing forged steel handrails.  The first thing I did was meet with the homeowner who already had a concept in mind for the rails.  He wanted the rails to follow the natural shapes of the stone steps leading up to the house.

 I started in the shop by forging long straight lengths of 1″ diameter solid steel and tapering them down and forging a leaf on the end.  There were 10 of these forged, one for each post.  I also forged various lengths of steel to be used as branch vines.  Along with the branch vines, I forged several individual leaves used to fill out the railings.  It took several days to complete the forgings and then all the components were taken to the clients home for shaping and installation.

 

 

 

Due to the amount of heating and bending necessary to create the rails, I  took my portable gas forge and hand held torch to provide the heat necessary to shape the steel.  The individual rail post were set  in 2″  diameter holes which were drilled in the stones.  Then the steel was heated and shaped flowing from one post to the next.  The entire process of heating and shaping took 3 days to complete.  The railings will be allowed to rust and then clear coated with Penetrol to seal.  

 

 

 

These rails are an example of what can be accomplished if you are willing to think outside the box.  This homeowner has a one of a kind set of railings that complements a already beautiful home.

Joe

Outdoor path railings

It has been a few weeks since my last post.  I have been working on a interior staircase and I will be talking about that project soon.  The installation is almost complete and I hope to have some good pictures for the blog when finished.  The next project I am working on is a series of vine entrance railings.  I will be doing all of the bending and wrapping of the steel vines on site, to make the rails flow with the natural stone steps.  I will bring you up to date in couple of weeks.  I thought I would talk about a railing I installed back in February  for a client in Nashville.  I used forged steel pipe for the post and rail which gave a nice large, textured feel and look.  At both ends of the  rail sections I used a forged solid steel leaf wrapped around the post to give a nice natural look.  The rails were powder coated matte black.  They were anchored to the stone steps with heavy base plates on the bottom of the post which I cut free hand to continue the  natural  look.  I hope this will give you some idea of the different kinds of design that can be used in your handrails.    Joe                                                                                                                                               

 

Iron work terms part 2

plant life

In my last post I talked about the differences between iron and steel.  I would now like to describe the difference between cast iron and forged iron (or as we talked about last time, forged steel).  In most of my work the decorative elements are all forged steel.  One of the reasons I choose to forge  my own elements is they are much stronger and less likely to break than cast iron elements.  The process of forging steel is pretty basic.  Steel bars, rods or plates are heated up to 2300 degrees.  At this point the steel becomes malleable.  Through the use of various hammers etc, the steel is forged into the desired shape.  Steel is not removed in this process.  Even though the forged steel may become smaller during the forging process, strength is retained.  Forged steel components also weld together much better than welding cast iron to steel.

Cast iron involves a totally different process.  Various types of cast, scrap and new iron are melted together and poured into molds to produce desired elements.  This produces a porous and less dense material.   Quality cast iron elements are still available.  The problem is the vast majority of cast iron used in the “ornamental iron” industry today is inferior to the quality cast iron available in years past.  The main reason is cost.  The more scrap iron (and the quality of that scrap) which goes into the smelting pot, along with using less virgin iron in the mix, decreases the qualityof the castings.  I have experienced first hand the problems that come from using castings being sold today.

There are times when cost considerations cause me to use cast elements over forged ones, but my personal preference in most cases is to use forged components. 

 Joe

Iron work terms

Joe Forging

 Sometimes people ask me questions about certain terms used in discussing blacksmithing and metal work.  Over the next few post I will try and clear up any confusion over commonly used terms.

The most common question is: “What is the material that you use,  is it iron or steel?”. In my case, it is steel.   The main difference between iron and steel is that steel is made using a different smelting process and has a higher carbon content than iron.  Around 1879, Andrew Carnegie put into large production  the Bessemer Converter (using forced air injected into the iron) which allowed his steel mills to produce steel on a large scale.  Iron was produced in smaller batches  and was more labor intensive.  It is still available but it is more expensive because it is produced as a specialty item.   Basically steel is stronger than iron and is the main product used in the metal industry. 

The term “iron” or “forged iron” is commonly used today to described what is actually “steel” or “forged steel”.  Since “iron ore”  is used in the production of steel the term “iron” has been widely accepted.  I do use the term “hand forged iron”  in my business, because this is the term people are accustomed to hearing. 

I will talk about cast iron vs forged iron in my next post. 

 

Joe

First day of TACA crafts fair

Today was the first day of the Tennessee Association of Craft Artist (TACA) Spring fair.  If you live in the middle Tennessee area then you know that “rain” was the word of the day.  If you are planning on coming out to the fair this weekend, come on, I would love to show you some of my recent designs.  When you come wear your rain gear and enjoy the show.  Remember Mother’s Day is next Sunday and I have several great gift items.  Here is a picture of our display at the show and one of my new copper vessels.   Hope to see you this weekend.                                   Joe