Blacksmith's Roses Last Forever

Blacksmith's Roses Last Forever AG WORLD 28-3-21 Blacksmithing may be considered the ultimate macho occupation, but it also has its softer side. While Daryl Thompson of Elrose, Sask., can make any tool, knife, heater grill, cabinet hardware or bracket you'd want, he has also perfected the skill of making iron roses with paper-thin petals. Thompson makes two different kinds of roses. The traditional method has been used for 600 years using ordinary blacksmith tools. The other requires a combination of blacksmithing and modern gas welding. For a traditional rose, he starts with a piece of 3/8-in. sq. flat steel. The metal is constantly heated and reheated in a forge until it becomes pliable. First, he forms the stem of the rose with a hammer and anvil. Then he pre-forms the petals "all in one piece." "I give them their rough shape as one whole unit at first, and then divide them into individual petals using a chisel," he explains. "Once they are cut, but each petal is still attached, I hammer them into their final shape. At that point, they are scrolled or wound up into a spiral around the stem. This is the trickiest part because the petals should overlap." After the rose has taken its basic form, he curls over the edges of the petals and heats the whole piece until it turns yellow. He then dips the tips of the petals in water before placing the rose back onto the anvil and turning the petals to give them their final form. The first rose he ever made took him 4 1/2 hours, but now he can do one in anywhere from 15 to 35 minutes. These roses measure 1 1/2 to 2 in. across, and he sells them for $35 each. Thompson says it takes longer to make iron roses when incorporating modern techniques, but the trade off is that they can be made to look staggeringly realistic. These take up to 1 1/4 hours to make and he charges $75 for each. "They're made up of sheets of metal which are hammered, poked, punched and prodded, and then fastened to a stem," he says. He's also made grapes, carnations, tulips, poppies, daisies, a fern, and says he's still trying to make a thistle. Contact: Blackwater Forge and Ironworks, Daryl Thompson, Box 183, Elrose, Sask., Canada S0L 0Z0 (ph 306 378-4112).

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