Stories behind smithy/forge names...

[dief]

Desert Rat Forge cause I is a desert rat. I also thought about Rusty Coyote Ironworks.

[bruce wilcock]

Dan has it in one, just nail your name over the door,and be done with it ,then get on with some work,some of the biggest names in the Sheffield cutlery trade started with a name scratched on a slate

[sandpile]

The one I like the best is BILL and DIANNE DAVIS"S forge name 'LAZYASSED FORGE' not necessarily because of any inclination to sit.grin. They like mules and raise and train them, therefore the name of their forge.
My mark on my knives, spurs and smithing is simply, C.BENNETT-- with DALHART TX. right below my name. It works for me and is easy to put on every thing.

Sandpile

[Tom Stovall]

My shop sits three miles north of I-10 and three miles east of downtown Katy, Texas, in an area that used to be mostly rice fields and cow pastures. The Katy Prairie is the southern terminus for the Central Flyway and winters more snow geese than any other area of the USA - most winter days, I can look out the north doors of my shop and see more geese in a day than most folks see in a lifetime.

I thought of naming my shop the "Blue Goose Forge", but since I planned on being in business the year 'round, I called it the "Katy Prairie Forge." I've since shortened it to "Katy Forge" because I keep forgetting how to spell "prairie."

A factor I overlooked when naming my business is the fact that things change: The Katy Prairie is being rapidly overrun with housing developments and sooner or later, I'll have to move the shop. I don't want to change the name of the business because I've got a certain amount of name recognition, so when I move, I'll just tell folks I finally gave in to my oldest granddaughter, Katherine Stovall - whom we call "Katy" - who thinks the shop is named after her.

Burr Oak Forge sounds great to me - and it doesn't have any place name baggage.

[elkdoc]

Wow. Thanks for all the stories folks! I've enjoyed all the insight into your shop names. The name of my own shop is still up in the air. It's nearing completion, but since it's just a weekend hobby shop it's really no big deal. Needs a name, though. If for nothing else but for the sake of fun. :D

[Glenn]

I've also been kicking around "Burr Oak Forge" from Isaiah 61:3, the "oaks" of righteousness. Elkdoc

If you need another chain of thought, I offer the following:
"If it ain't burr oak, don't fix it."
"We can fix it at Burr Oak Forge"

or use your own catch phrase. :lol:

[elkdoc]

Very funny, Glenn. :lol:

[John McPherson]

Since before there was an internet, I have been called The Troll, my son's nickname is Troll Jr. My shop, wherever it may be at any given moment, is Trollworks Forge, a division of Celtic Moon Farm. Of course, it used to be The Woodwrongs Shop...... :?

Why Troll you ask? Because you have not seen me. 5'10" + 280lbs + shaved head + *sparkling personality* = Troll. :roll:

[T-Gold]

I named my forge "Konane Forge" just to have something to call it... I live on Konane Place (road). I looked up konane in my Hawaiian-English dictionary and found that it meant "moonlight", thought "Hey, that sounds good..." and presto Of course, I'd change the name if I went somewhere else... probably. I will admit to liking it.

[Ralph]

Well I called my 'shop'
Red Iron Forge. Since my initials spell RED and since I do mostly hot work it seemed approriate at teh time. We shall see how I feel about it during the next 10 years. 8)

[Ten Hammers]

BTW, if it ain't been mentioned yet " Squattin Dog forge " would be good. This occurred to me as I was on the deck watchin our resident kill dog (Harley) do his deed.

[Shane Stegmeier]

Merelion's Lair Forge is the name of my blacksmithing business. And to explain... Well I think visually, and dream in color:-) and I will have been involved with the Society for Creative Anachronism for 20 years this August. Which brings me to the source of my shop's name. The name come from the main charge on my shield. My heraldic device is two merelions combatant, counterchanged on a field of vert, divided per chevron orr. Which is just a fancy way of saying two merelions facing each other on a green sheild and the bottom tip of the shield is gold and divides the merelions in half, so that the green scaly tail is on the gold, and the golden lion upper body is on the green. Now add to that years ago I read a short story in the Fantasy & Science Fiction magizine, about a were-merelion. And I got this image of a merelion chained to a stone forging in a cave next to the sea. I still have hopes of doing a sign in deep relief repouse, with patinas, double sided with a wrought signpost to hang it from:-) (In my copious free time;-) My wife liked this image , and name better than the other name I had been enteraining:-) My initials are SJS, and that would be the makers mark, and the forge name would have been Smiling Joe Salamander Forge. In medieval beastiaries Salamanders were elemental creatures of fire and could burn, melt, and/or consume almost anything, great beasty to have sitting in the fire pot, as long as it was well mannered:-) I still may use that for a product line at some time in the future... Nice logo potential:-)

15 years ago I was a parnter in another mythically inspired forge: Dragon's Breath Forge with my best friend Ernie. That was back when I was young, stupid and romantic, and did the starving artist blacksmith thing out in California. When Ernie first started using that name, I had never used a gas forge at all (the casting furnace we used in jr high to forge a chisel doesn't count in my book:-), and I doubt that he had either. Later we aquired a big Johnson Gas Appliance trough forge from a school auction. I would stack that thing full of stock and whale on them with a 6# hand sledge. Did I mention I was young and stupid then, and very very strong;-) We were also powerlifting at the time... I just wish I either had a bigger clue, or more drive back then, or I still had the strength and endurance I had back then. Ah the arrogance of youth. IF I would have worked on it back then, I could have been really good by now:-)

[Archie Zietman]

Mine is Broomstick Forge, because I live in Salem MA :D

[ertwdan]

I've used the name of Gravel River Forge since I started in a small 4' x 8' shop at my Dad's camp near the Gravel River on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Over the years I've contemplated changing the name to Superior Forgings, Superior Forge, Neebing River Forge (I live on this river now), Sleeping Giant Smithing, and Forgeron Superieur ( to reflect my French heritage - translation "Superior Blacksmith" but I figured that it would overstate my modest abilities). After all these incarnations, I finally decided to remain with the original name. However, my wife and I have discussed combining our interests by integrating her hobby of stained glass work into the forge and having a final name of Gravel River Forge and Glass.

[Daryl]

Initially, I named my shop Blackwater Forge. The name was gleaned from my first day as an apprentice; when we went to break for lunch, I thought I would rinse my arms off in the slack tub...... then I went to the garden hose to wash the black water off of my arms (Blackwater). When it came time to register the company name, the government informed me that "& Ironworks" was to be added to the name. So, been that way since I registered in 1995.
Also heard of a fellow in B.C. who named his shop Black Booger Forge. Use your imagination. :roll:

[elkdoc]

LOL...

I've been trying to convince my wife that I needed to call my shop the "Black Booger Forge" too. She's not going for it.

:lol:

[gerald]

My wife and I have raised purebred Angus cattle for years, so when it came time to name the smithing operation, "Black Bull Forge" seemed to fit.

[Kristopher Skelton]

I hope no one minds the ressurection of "old" threads. I'm a member of several online forums and new thread creation for old topics is a pet peeve

I named my shop "Alchemy Forge" for what seem to me obvious reasons. I believe in the combination of the self with the four ancient elements: Earth (iron) Wind and Fire (in the forge) and Water (for quenching and cooling). Alchemists, in addition to searching for understanding of the world around them and the universe, sought to turn base metals into gold (notably lead) and sought the elixir of life (immortality). I would like to turn some iron into gold and while I don't seek an elixir that grants immortality, I do believe that the metal I work will last for generations. I firmly believe that people in the future will look at my work with favor and while my name may be gone part of me will live on through my work.

I love all of the other smithy and shop names... thanks for sharing the stories!

[GobblerForge]

When I learned to smith, I did it in the traditional as much as I could. I also felt that I should bring the past WITH the future. The smith I learned from had "Hilltop Forge". The time period I enjoy is the mid 1800's and the city I lived in at that time was a village, so Village Forge seemed right. My thought was that it would be cool to someday live where I could be out in the shop in the spring with the doors open and hear the spring wild turkeys gobbling in the morning. I love to hear them. Mission accomplished. I own Gobbler Forge for that reason. If your concern is that the name of a shop is not right, it can be changed. And consider registering the name with the state, even if you are a hobbiest. You don't want to step on someone elses toes who might own the name you are wanting to use. The cost is not much and you can be sure it's yours and no one else can use it. Just an idea to consider. Brad

[elkdoc]

I don't mind at all...

The more stories the better.

[ThomasPowers]

Well I needed a name for business cards and a lot of business out this way has a new age/art flavour to it so I picked "Recycled Ranch" as my "show name" and to cover items I make from metal scrounged from old farm/ranch scrap piles.


Now my motto is "Have Forge, Will Travel" and has been for 20 odd years...

Thomas

[Kristopher Skelton]

From ressurection to Off Topic

Brad's idea to register your name with your state is a good one. However, in Washington state in order to do that you have to register as a business. The problem with that is, and I ran into this in 1995 so it may be different now but I don't think so, if you're a hobbyist and aren't making any money you still have to file quarterly taxes. And if after 3 (5?) years you aren't making a profit (that is to say paying tax to the state on top of your business registration fees) they won't renew your license. :x Then you have to wait 3 years or something before you can start another business. I recommend that you look into this type of registration carefully before "becoming official" and potentially losing the name that you've become attached to (unless, of course, you're using your own name).

[dan@modernblacksmith]

gone

[Cory]

Shop name(Dragon Lake Forge), this name comes from the Largest man made lake in the mid west that the locals refer to as Dragon Lake. The Osage river was damed at what is now Lake Ozark Missouri 1929. I live about 5 miles from the lake and thought that as fitting a name as any.You can look at the map and see why it got that name. The lake has about 1150 miles of shoreline.Much of the power in this area comes from this dam.

[GobblerForge]

Sound like you got a "Neardone Forge" :idea: