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Hybrid Hori Hori
An all aluminum fusion design based on a tool favoured by bonsai gardeners and micro farmers alike.
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Aluminum Hori Hori
An intergral version of the classic mountain gardeners’ tool rendered in cold forged aluminum.
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Garden Collaboration
A hand forged and punched steel sign hanger and a hand carved split cedar sign turn a garden sculpture into a custom sign post.
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Twenty Years Ago
Twenty years ago today marks my first day of working with Mr. Schrock and beginning to learn the techniques of blacksmithing.
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Cutler’s Hammer
A discarded sledge hammer head finds new purpose as a specialized bladesmithing hammer for heavy hand forging. A Japanese style smithing hammer is a specialized tool for forging thin, flat surfaces such as blades and saws. It has an off-centre weight distribution below the handle and is mainly used on one face (the back is…
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Charcoal Retort B12-14
The wood for these two batches was completely dry and the process was correspondingly successful and efficient. The first batch was mixed split cedar and spruce from shop projects, and the second was mainly split spruce construction scraps. The burns were so efficient that there was time to complete two in one day, including the…
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Smith-Roles Comet
A piece of Canadian history finds a new home and is put back to work after many years dormancy.
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Heart Brass Pair
Heavy reclaimed plate brass finds new value as a matched set of utensils with heart finials and textured steel handles.
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The Old School House
The Old School House (affectionately known as TOSH) is a community supported arts centre and gallery in Qualicum Beach.
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Saya Nomi
A piece of high carbon agricultural steel turned into a specialized Japanese wood chisel for carving the interior of a scabbard. A saya nomi is a special type of wood chisel for carving out the inside of a wooden scabbard and handle. It has a longer shaft with an offset and curved corners for cutting…
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Charcoal Retort V.2.0
Update: An Iwasaki style kiln is a much more efficient and long lasting way to make charcoal of better quality for bladesmithing, read about it here: Charcoal Kiln V.3.0 The simplicity of the design of the version 1 retort allowed us to start making charcoal very quickly, but the toll of high heat on the…
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Hooked Copper Spoons
Equally at home working in the kitchen or on display as kitchen bling, these spoons are crowned with delicate recurved hooks. These spoons are made from split copper water pipe and employ a traditional handle design that incorporates small hooks for storage. Three copper rivets made from discarded bonsai cable join the handle and bowl.…
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Nail Coffee Scoop
An elegant taper transforms a discarded spike nail into a handle with history for this copper scoop. Copper is one of the raw materials that were available to the original inhabitants of Vancouver Island. Add a touch of history and class to the brewing of the perfect espresso. The deep bowl is cut and hammered…
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Alder Letter Opener
Scrap steel barstock forged into a classic blade profile and pressure mounted in a piece of hand-carved driftwood. This is another piece that came out of the collaborative agricultural steel project. Raw material for this piece was reclaimed farm equipment from my grandparents’ farm. Made from lower carbon steel, this blade is not sharp and…