Stories behind smithy/forge names...

[elkdoc]

Just read through the "why a blacksmith" thread and it got me to thinking.

I'm constantly calling my wife into our home office to see something on one of the many blacksmith's websites. She recently remarked on shop names, and asked me if and what I was going to call my budding weekend forge. We've been kicking a few ideas around, but nothing has stuck.

So... What's the name of your smithy and where did the name come from?

:?:

[HWooldridge]

Mine is "Comal Forge" because that's the county I live in - no other reason. However, I have always admired the more creative ones like "Dead Skunk's Forge", "Hiatal Hernia Forge", "Mashed Possum Kill Forge", "Spotted Hyena Forge", etc. Don't call yours anything plain - take time to consider and make it count. Imagine you are Frank Zappa naming his kids Dweezil and Moon Unit...:D

[Ten Hammers]

Well, my last name is O'Grady and the shop name is Leprechaun Forge. Pretty simple for me I guess. Remember, the Good Lord gave us Whiskey, Beer and spirits so that the Irish might not rule the world. :)

[JimG]

Chokecherry forge is named after the chokecherrybushes that hold the back wall of the shop in place.
Well, that's the story I tell them who don't know me well enough. :wink:

[Ed Thomas]

My business is Brushy Run Blacksmith because Brushy Run is the name of the stream that runs along and through my property. It just sort of happened when I needed a name real fast for business cards at a show.

I do have a word of caution. Cute names are fine, unless you want to be taken more seriously. It all depends on the scale at which you work, and the clientele you to which you hope to cater. If you are a hobbyist and prefer to stay at the trinket level for any sales item, you can call yourself anything you want.... and you should. But if you hope to do any large scale work requiring significant outlay of money from a customer, you might want to have a name that inspires confidence in your ability and standards.

I opted for safe and boring. :|

[DanL]

I am Scotts/ Irish and Southerrn thru and thru. The Flag hanging outside the forge is the Bonnie Blue. I got real creative and called my smithy "The Bonnie Blue Forge". What else could it be?

DanL

[elkdoc]

Very interesting, so far. I have been thinking of incorporating my own Scots and Scots/Irish background into a name, but haven't come up with anything yet.

I've also been kicking around "Burr Oak Forge" from Isaiah 61:3, the "oaks" of righteousness. Also, as a kid my favorite tree was the burr oaks and their huge, gnarly acorns. My grandad use to take me to a place near where I grew up to climb rocks and wade in the creek. I always picked up the burr oak acorns and brought them home. :)

[HWooldridge]

Burr Oak is cool - go for it. Not too cutesy but has character.

[Glenn]

Blackstone Forge was chosen because I use black stones as fuel for the forge. ( black stones = coal ).

[Glenn]

Ed does have a point, a cute name may not be taken as seriously as a more generic or "business" name. Plan on creating a business so it can be sold easily at a later date.

Would you buy an established blacksmith shop named "Ed Thomas's Blacksmith, Wheelwright, and Old Time Repair Shop" ? Can you imagine writing a check and having to enter the full name of the shop "Ed Thomas's Blacksmith, Wheelwright, and Old Time Repair Shop" on the pay to line ? If you own the business and your name is not Ed Thomas, can you imagine the questions "Who is Ed Thomas ?"

Now can you imagine writing a check to the "Ten Hammers Blacksmith Shop" ? If your name is Ed Thomas, you could own the "Ten Hammers Blacksmith Shop" and no one would ask questions.

And thank you both, Ed Thomas and Ten Hammers for the use of your names. I doubt that either shop is for sale, but you may want to contact them directly just to be sure. :D

[irnsrgn]

I kept Stasil Bros. Blacksmith Shop as my shop name as it has been that name since 1941 when my father and uncles started it the year after my grandfather passed away, It quickly became just my Father and Uncle Louie as they just gave the other two brothers a job and the other two didn't last long, one was to lazy and the other one to fussy. When I purchased my Uncles share the year after my Father passed it was just good business to keep an established name that was associated with a good work record and it was a tribute to my Father and Uncle to keep it the same name. I had my own business, Jr's Portable Welding, but consolidated it into the new business as I had been working in the shop for the previous 29 years, sometimes full time and sometimes part time, and everyone knew me.

irnsrgn

[cross]

I was registering across the street and they asked for a user name,I put in crosspean .so I call the shop Crosspeen Forge,notice I spell it right now. :oops:

[yesteryearforge]

my wife came up with the name yesteryear forge because of my desire to not do anything the more modern way. I own a manufacturing business with the latest machine tools and equipment and I will admit to using them to make anvil stands , forges, tooling and such but in my forge I try my best to be as traditional as I can.
A lot of smiths would like to have plasma cutters ,mig welders and such but I try to leave those at work and do things as they were done yesteryear as I truly believe that for me that is what attracts me to this addiction

[R.Smith]

I go by Empire Wrought Iron. I thought about using a cutesy name but decided against it because I, myself, don't put a lot of faith in businesses that do this. They tend to disappear as quickly as they pop up.

I chose "Empire" because it conjures up the nostalgic ideal of the iron age. Grand, large, solid...the age of Empire.

My shop, however, is not empirical...but thats my secret.

I avoid the "blacksmith" label because most people associate the term with nails and horse shoes. I avoid the "artist" label because most people associate the term with...paying for image and waiting an eternity for the job to be finished.

[anvillain]

I had a lot of experience in welding,cutting and modern methods. I also wanted to learn as much traditional forging as I could. I wanted to design articles that were hopefully artistic and if possible original. I wanted to emulate the old ways but I also realized if it were not for the modern conveniences my smithing education would not be possible, so I reserve the right to embrace the new. The sum of all this: "Arc & Anvil 2000 Ornamental Forge". I have shortened this to "Arc & Anvil Ornamental Forge". Yet it still seems too long. I may shorten it again. I have an anvil in my logo with 2k on the side of it to represent 2000 which was the year I sort of started to get it all organized. I purpose to not let anything out the door that I am not happy with.

Anvillain

[JerryCarroll]

Mine is the "Bordertown Forge" because the town of Momence, IL has been known as such since it was founded in the early 1800's. Indiana is on it's eastern border and used to be the edge of a grand swamp called Beaver Lake, drained and cleared of it's clutches of oaks and walnut to be used for farmland.

[Alan B]

Seem to be a lot of us Scott/ Irish in here. The name of my shop is Brazier and Black, Blacksmithing. My family name back in Scotland was Brazier, it was later changed to be spelled like the Celts pronounced it. A friend that helped me get things started, his family name was black. He has since moved on to other things but my brother in law still works with me every weekend. We thought about changing it but too many people already know us by that trade name sooooo. I guess we'll keep it the way it is. :D

[Quenchcrack]

Being only a hobby hammer, I never really gave my shop a name. I have contemplated names, though, and kinda settled on "Singing Anvil Forge". The ringing of the anvil is music to my ears and a blessing to my heart. I can forget about all my troubles and focus on what I enjoy doing. I become Herr Gassermaster, Lord of the Ring........ing. :P

[Marc]

I've been reserving "Iron Ring Forge" for the time when I get off my butt and actually make stuff to sell. It's a double-entendre. The iron ring is a ring made of iron and might work well for a sign, touchmark, logo, .... But there's also the ringing sound.

[Jim C.]

Elkdoc: I like Burr Oak. Right here in the middle of Oklahoma I am growing burr oak trees in my yard that I have raised from acorns. My place is Frontier Shop; I live on Frontier (a county road with a good Oklahoma / Western name). Ray Davis already had Frontier Forge. www.frontiershop.com as a start. Jim C.

[Leah]

I call my place "Pink Hammer Forge." What can I say - I'm a girl and my hammer is pink. Besides, you guys already had all the good names.

[Brian C.]

I call my little hobby operation "Beat & Pry Forge". Got the name from some long forgotten maintenance man at our plant who had soapstoned "Beat & pry pipe shop, subsiduary of ? Metal works" on a giant fan housing.

My wife told the kids a little diffeent story, she says that that describes the way I work on things. :oops:

[the other dave]

I call my hobby shop the "southpaw snail smithy". I'm left-handed, work slow and smithy is the old english term for the shop that a blacksmith works in.

[elkdoc]

Love hearing these stories!

When my brother was visiting recently and lending his carpentry skills to putting my out building on a permanent foundation for shop use I fed him a meal of Tex-Mex food. After going back to work in the shop he suggested that we call it the "Heinous Anus Forge".

Wise guy... :wink:

[Dan Crabtree]

Crabtree Forge.... bet no one can figure that one out. Im so creative.