One smith, one fire, one anvil at a time
The forge started in a rented corner of a farm equipment shop, trading repair work for anvil time until there was enough of a client list to stand alone. It moved into its own coal-fired shop eight years ago and has not needed a second fire since.
The romance of watching orange steel bend under a hammer is real, and it is also the easy part to sell. The harder part is telling a customer that the delicate scrollwork they found online will snap off a gate in the first hard freeze - and building the heavier version that will not.
One smith and one apprentice work the fire most days. Commissions are taken on and finished one at a time, never in parallel batches.
