Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Stories behind smithy/forge names...


Recommended Posts

Freedom Forge is something I came up with on the spot. Freedom has always been the most important thing to me. It is what makes everything else possible. Just watch Braveheart. It is so important that it is tattooed on the inside of my arm. (Something I did while serving in Japan) I always thought there was a lot of power in that one word.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine, 'smythy in the dirt', is a bit of a play on my name: My first name, 'George', stems from the same root as 'geology' and 'geography' and literally means 'of the earth'. But most folks that know me seem to think that the simpler version of that, 'dirt', fits me better. And my last name, Egger, derives from the germanic word 'Egge' which was a type of horse- or ox-drawn plow. So the guys that made those plows, and shoed the horses and oxen (and orcs and whatnot), were called Eggers. Hence 'Egger' is one of several very common German trade-derived last names (with varied spellings!)that more-or-less mean 'smith' (the former governor of California--no relation!--has several times pointed out that since the German word for 'black is 'schwartz', his long and odd-sounding last name simply means 'blacksmith'...)--or do you say, 'Smyth'???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

as a 19 year old, i registered my business name as 'dancing lion forge', due to the fact that my family name, Charlton, has a rampant lion on the sheild. i was doing re-enactment at the time and thought that would be a great name.
i am now thinking along the lines that it may be considered to 'quaint' to be taken seriously in the professional, big market.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I chose Bushfire Forge as my second name is Bush, the fire tpart speaks for its self. I wanted a slightly separate name for my school, as occasionally I have other people teaching there doing master classes. Bushfire forge is the place Owen Bush is my name and I trade under that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Moonshine Forge. Perhaps it has something to do with another hobby? I'll never tell ;)

At craft fairs, my wife tells people that it is because I moonlight as a smith. True enough. Depending on my audience, I often say it's because I like to work drunk (or hammer hammered, if you will). Not so true, but it gets big laughs from the right people. One thing is certain. Though it has nothing to do with the trade as such, it is a sure-fire conversation starter and the more you engage a person, the more likely it is that they are going to buy something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My forge is called St. Joseph's forge. I consider my getting into blacksmithing a gift from Heaven (I found my first anvil and vise burried beside a tree on my in-laws' 15-acre property), I am a father (9 on the ground and expecting #10), and Joseph had to have done some blacksmithing ("back in the day" the lower level carpenters couldn't afford to send their wagon/cart repairs off to the smith.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I call my shop Green Bear Forge. The green is in honor of my grandfather who died when I was 6 months old. He painted all his tools dark green so he would know they were his when he loaned them out. After I became interested in blacksmithing, I found out then he had had a small home forge and had made many of the "strange" tools that I still have. I have always liked bears who represent strength, endurance, and steadfastness. I use the word bear for that. I have adopted the figure of the Zuni indians good luck bear and have a solid green bear on my business cards. As far as being cute, who ever heard of a green bear? :-)

Hamless Dave
Green Bear Forge
Pfafftown, NC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I chose Outaways Forge because it's about 2 1/2 miles from the "main" road before you turn up a half mile single lane dirt road to get to my place.

As Jeff Foxworthy says.."If directions to your house include 'when you turn off the paved road', you just might be a Redneck".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Mine is easy. A fellow smith told me that it was traditional to name a forge after a local landmark or piece of geography.

The part of my backyard when I built the shed that is going to be my smithy had a lot of empty snail shells, as wel as a significant number of live snails. After carefully moving one of the little roadrunners out of the way while digging, the name 'snail forge' was born.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use Feather Forge.

It stems primarily from a sticker I had on my locker at school some considerable years back. But I like birds and flying - we also got a lot of birds at my old place. I also figured that the feather has a lot if connotations with it, being a pretty clever bit of kit.

It rolls off the tongue quite easily too.

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hellgate Forge

 

 

We're located in the Hellgate Canyon, just east of Missoula, MT, the Hellgate Valley.

 

The Blackfeet tribe used to take umbrage with other tribes heading over to hunt buffalo

 

so they would lie in wait and attack them in the canyon just east of Missoula. 

 

  Some of the first french trappers named the canyon entrance "Port de l'Enfer" for the 

 

dead and decayed carnage laying about.

 

The Hell Gate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I call mine The Frostworks. Friends  stick a question mark on the end. what are friends for if not to give you funnin.

 

I've had more than one shop moto. 'Stuff done with Metal." Worked well and the most recent doubled as a web signoff "If it ain't forged it ain't real."

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...