Meet our flagship tool

Steam hammer, 1943, photo by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information

Little Giant ad

Kyle forming a taper using our Little Giant soon after he finished refurbishing it.

Our refurbished 1918 50 lb Little Giant in the metal studio.

The power hammer is the workhorse of the modern blacksmith shop, replacing the traditional role of the striker in moving and shaping heavy stock. These impressive industrial machines have been around a long time. Trip hammers were known in China and Greece as early as the third century BC. During the 19th century, giant steam hammers were developed alongside steam locomotive technology. Line-shaft powered, and later electric motor powered mechanical hammers have been used by blacksmiths and other metalworkers since the late 19th century. In fact, those very machines are still used in metal shops today-- our own refurbished 50 lb Little Giant hammer was built in 1918!

Work in progress

Come on in for a quick tour of current projects around the studio!

Small batch production line.

Reclaimed wood picture frame parts in several sizes.

Sketching and selecting material for a mosaic commission.

Almost done gluing the mosaic.

We'll be opening up the studio in real life for an open house sometime this spring. Stay tuned for details! 

Around the studios

A few peeks at some recent projects around the studios, from top to bottom:

  • A client brought a 16th century trunk into Kyle looking for a custom hand forged stand. We love when unique projects like this come our way.

  • Kyle also gave a blacksmithing lesson to a student who seemed to have a real knack for it!

  • Johannah created a few colorful gradients that will eventually be part of some collaborative coat racks with forged hooks by Kyle. The coat racks will be finished in time to take along to our next show next month, Craft + Design.  We can make these to order to match any decor, and we can even work your mementos into the second design!