ElementFe is my trade name for the Guemes Island blacksmith shop; designing, forging, and building handcrafted forged steel and iron furniture, gates, railings, candlesticks, spoons, kitchenware and all manner of repair and fabrication.

Friday, August 13, 2010





Two other recent knives: One a 5" utility/camper, the other a 6.5" "tough situation" knife, pattern shamelessly stolen from the incredible Jay Fisher- I hope he considers imitation to be flattery!
Both are made from a fairly small circular sawmill blade, L-6 type material.
Though it's a very serviceable knife which could easily outlast generations, I think of it as the knife where I realized that to produce hollow ground edge to my standards I DO need mechanical guides.


The blade foto of the "camper" is terrible- the texture on the blade is from heat treatment, I decided to leave it, just for fun, and have gotten universally good reviews- however, it would have been much better, had I planned it out, to clean it up much more before heat treatment.



Thursday, August 12, 2010




Can't believe I haven't posted in so long! It hasn't been for lack of new things coming out of the shop, though.
Lets start with the latest...
This is a 6" Santoku style chef's knife.
I made the steel from 1095 (high carbon, known for holding a fine edge) and 15n20 (a very tough light-colored steel) folded to 240 layers.
The handle is brass and Macassar ebony.

Friday, January 15, 2010





Stubbornly, I didn't do the Good American Thing and just throw out the burned out BBQ that I got for free- only thing wrong with it was that the burner seemed to have been constructed of foil instead of sturdy metal...so I built a new one.


Also, a bucket-0-hooks to hold anti-hawk netting on a neighbor's chicken house. 25, about 4" long, 3/8" round bar.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010






A few more of the Sunflower gate.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010


This one is called, Dialogue.

I swear, sometimes the things I get to help bring into the world just leave me breathless- this one give me the shivers it's so good. 

Hope it brings a smile to another face somewhere.

Friday, January 08, 2010




Well, is it surprising that the metalsmith's house is the last one on the block to get a nice fire tool set? Sad but universal phenomenon. I'm engaged in a serious flirtation with conic sections and developments of same, such as superellipse (widely used in Scandinavian design).

Here's a parabola, roped and tamed for use in our living room. 

About 2' wide, 3' tall




A nice design for a portable condiment shelf in the kitchen.

About 18" tall, 2' wide.

Mild steel, wax finish.

Sunday, January 03, 2010







A few more photos of the completed entry roofs on Orcas Island.

A Tub'o'Knives from the Adrift Cafe kitchen- I said, Yes, I'd be HAPPY to sharpen all your knives on the one day a week when you're closed, Sunday, and guess what...? I was.

Eighteen in all, in trade for some mighty good eatin'.



Here are some knives that found a home around Christmas.

These are forged and ground of steel from a small sawmill blade- handles are purple heart and bubinga: his'n'hers kitchen/boning knives.