I have a craft fair coming up on the 25th of April. I am going to make a few firesets up and I was wondering how folks attach the broom end to the handles. And where do you get the material for the broom end. Thank you for all of your assistance.

Best,

Archiphile

A source I like for fireset brooms is inexpensive bristle paint or paste brushes. Cut the factory handle and nail, screw, etc. to the forged handle. A forged yoke on the forged handle makes for a more secure join and helps hide where the original wooden handle was removed.

Frosty

Jeff Mohr made a vidio called Broom Making for the Blacksmith several years ago. I got it and was able to tie brooms to my own handles in no time. These hand tied brooms look far better than anything I did trying to attach a broom or brush to a handle and then make it look like it belonged there.I can't remember where I got it but I think teachingtapes.net may carry it.

Welcome aboard Jim, glad to have ya.

You're right, it's hard to beat a hand tied broom if you know what you're doing. I frequently don't myself so I do a lot of work arounds.

There are vendors making and selling hand tied brooms, brushes and such as well.

Frosty

Or you could order this and attach it to the end....

Fireplace Brush

Here's a guy that will tie a broom on your handle. I've seen his work and it's well done.

Custom Brooms on Your Forged Handles

good info but 49.00 for a broom on your handle????? that seems way expencive ! last time i had this done it was around 12 dollars each........you need to find someone makeing brooms in your area tho...

I also used Mr Warren Olney to make a broom for me. Expensive? Yes, but since the only other cost to me was time and some steel and coal I felt it was worth it. This was my first fireplace set and for my oldest daughter and family. I was pleased with the results.

Blacksmiths - Custom Brooms on Your Forged Handles - BroomShop.com

I am in the Southern Highland Craft Guild which is a large organization of crafters in the southern Appalachian Mtns.. We have a few broom makers in the guild and I regularly work with one of them. I would bet there are similar organizations in your area in which you may be able to make a good contact.

Yeah, kinda funny how that works. My time = big $$$, your time should be small $. ;-)

Just like most of us blacksmiths like to make fair money by charging for our hand crafting skills/time, we shouldn't have the WallyWorld mentality when it comes to other craftspeople. I agree Gerald, $49 sounds very reasonable.

Would you be offended if I only offered $1.99 for a hand forged broom handle? There's only about 25 cents of metal in there and down at the Crate and Barrel I thought I saw some wrought iron candle holders for $2.99. off>

Yeah, kinda funny how that works. My time = big $$$, your time should be small $. ;-)

Just like most of us blacksmiths like to make fair money by charging for our hand crafting skills/time, we shouldn't have the WallyWorld mentality when it comes to other craftspeople. I agree Gerald, $49 sounds very reasonable.

Would you be offended if I only offered $1.99 for a hand forged broom handle? There's only about 25 cents of metal in there and down at the Crate and Barrel I thought I saw some wrought iron candle holders for $2.99. off>

well thats nice but i cant get people to buy a 150 dollar broom... its not in any client of mines budget... if i get 50 bucks for one ime in the ballpark so to me 49 dollars for putting broomcorn on is expencive..iff that were the cost everywhere i would buy a cheap wooden handle broom cut and drill out handle and glue in iron handle... luckily i havnt had to do that yet ... i have also seen the work done and am willing to make my own for that price .. its a 10 minute job for someone who makes brooms ..if you have costomers willing to pay for it tho go for it! good luck!

The most valuable commodity I have is my time and being able to tie my own brooms saves a lot of that. I don't have to get the handles out to some one else and then wait to get them back. Also, it is a fairly easy thing to do. It only takes about 10 or 15 minutes to make a really nice broom.

I once had a perfect arrangement with a broom maker who demonstrated at the county fair where I also demonstrated blacksmithing. He came to me with the idea. He had a market for all kinds of brooms. He travelled most of the summers to a different market each weekend. I made metal handles for him. On most of his he wanted leaf ornamentation. On the ones I wanted I would make them to match my other fire tools. I would make a bunch of handles, he would bring me complete brooms or money next time he saw me. Alas, he recently passed away and I understand his equipment has been sold. There are some more broom makers out there. I need to find another one, or learn to tie my own. Also like Frosty said, before that I used ready made brushes or whisk brooms, with custom attachments.

Broom Making: If someone would like to put the book in the book section, I can provide the .pdf file, apparently a person needs special access to uploading to the book area.