Forging new creations

Times Reporter    

 

When one thinks of the word blacksmithing it probably evokes images of movies showing the olden days with the big coal burning fire, an anvil and a hammer. The anvil and hammer part are still the same, but many blacksmiths these days have opted to use a propane forge. 

“Because quality coal is tough to come by now I use a propane forge now. You don’t have the mess and you also don’t have to have storage for all the coal,” said Craig Palmar owner of Old World Welding and Forge Ltd.

He said he has a 100lb propane tank and runs a small forge.  He was able to build an 11-foot by 10-foot maple tree just with that small little forge.

“It’s hot enough to forge steel together, you’re looking at 2,200 to 2,600 degrees, so plenty hot.”

Palmar has been working with metal for approximately 16 years. He is a journeyman welder by trade but these days he works as a metal sculptor/blacksmith. In the olden days a town could not survive without a blacksmith. They would build armor, tools and swords. 

“I took a blacksmithing course because it always interested me and from there I started building my own tools, building my own jigs and creating my own stuff really,” said Palmar. 

“The first thing I ever made was a table. It had granite slab inserts for the top, it was like an entry table. From there I went into all different types of candle stands.

“One of the biggest ones I did was a seven foot high vine tree. It had all the roots and leaves and then as it went up, in the cluster of branches up top, it had room for seven candles.”

Blacksmithing is a dying art. It can be an expensive hobby to get into, especially until you learn how to make your own tools, your tongs, hammers, jigs and dyes. Those who practice blacksmithing are happy to share their knowledge in hopes of keeping the trade alive.

“The only thing I was taught was how to start a coal fire, how to make a pair of tongs, a chisel and a hammer head. Now I have up to 50 different types of hammers, I have all kinds of tongs, dozens of different types of punches, all kinds of texturing tools, it’s endless,” said Palmar.

“When a person say wants a piece of artwork for example the bamboo, it took me a day to make the special tool just to make the bamboo. Every time you do a piece you end up having to make several tools to make that job where in welding you’re basically cutting metal in straight cuts and welding it together.”

Even though it is still working with metal, there are many differences between being a welder and a blacksmith. For a welder, you basically weld metal together. With welding you have to know thickness and type of steel you’re welding and not much else.

With blacksmithing Palmar said you learn more about the science behind it and there is also a lot of math involved especially when you’re not looking at straight lines all the time. You’re heating everything to shape it and to get different colours whereas welding you can get it with the torch but you can’t get all the detail, you don’t get the twists or the vine handles while welding.

“It’s like music, you have jazz music or you’ve got rock music and what I have done is I have mixed the two so you’ve got the fabrication, the blacksmithing and the artwork, where if you get just a rock guy well he is only just doing one avenue, welding,” said Palmar.

When you look outside and see the trees, flowers, and leaves and grass a blacksmith can replicate that but a welder wouldn’t know where to start, said Palmar.

“A lot of my work is leaves, vines, bamboo where when you get my blacksmith teacher he does a lot of the scroll work and more contemporary art,” said Palmar.

“I can’t draw whatsoever but I can visualize everything and if you can visualize a lot of things then you can make them.”

Palmar says he can do just about anything with metal. He does lots of custom work, duplicating parts, fabrication and heavy industrial work like rebuilding or repairing buckets like those on a tractor. 

“Anything custom we do. If the customer has an idea we can create it, if they need help with a design we’ll sit down with them and design it with them, we can go through all different types of textures, finishes whether it’s gloss or paint colours,” said Palmar. 

To find out more information, or to order a custom piece go to www.oldworldweldingandforge.webs.com.