TwoSmiths

I was visiting to take site measurements for a railing up on the Bruce Peninsula near Tobermory, Ontario. Had dinner and a fire with the client and was reminded that we forged this fire grate several years ago.

I often say that I couldn't care less what happens to pieces I forge - they could end up at the bottom of the ocean - it's the process of making that interests me. But seeing this little piece was like visiting an old friend.

Bronze Casting Workshop November at 2025 - PE's lovely banana.

This workshop introduces participants to the metal casting process which involves a series of several long steps>

Copy and paste: https://www.twosmiths.ca/bronze

Two Smiths is running a new 14 week Introduction to Forging and Fabrication Course
that will provide individuals with a comprehensive understanding of how to shape and
join metal to create three dimensional structural, ornamental and sculptural work in a
medium that offers compelling opportunities for personal expression.

We have over 30 years of experience designing, forging, fabricating and installing
architectural ironwork and public art. We specialise in working raw material by hand. We
forge our own tools and then use those tools to make hundreds of unique objects in
steel, stainless steel, copper, brass, b***e and aluminum.

This forging Intensive is for people who want to work with their hands, it's for crafts
people who want to investigate a new medium; for artists who want to create metal
sculpture and for architects who are passionate about material.

www.twosmiths.ca

Finally got some photos last month that feel as though they express what I was aiming for when I designed this driveway gate in 2011.
Sometimes it's difficult to get decent photos - construction debris on site, power lines, bad lighting - all feel like characters that insist on interrupting one's vision and focus with louder voices.

We create opportunities for younger people to try forging in our Introduction to Blacksmithing , Blade Smithing and Forging for Foodies workshops. Parents can accompany a child and take part in a workshop at no extra cost in an effort to enable their child to give it a go. We are all about sparking interest, developing skills and sustaining focus in a compelling hands on medium that enabled so many other crafts to excel.

Christmas Gift Certificates available for children, spouses, siblings and friends

Check out www.twosmiths.ca

Two Smiths is offering a three month long Introduction to Forging and Fabrication
course. Students will learn basic hand forging skills using solid fuel coke forges
They will transition from forging consistent, simple shapes and forms to exploring the
possibilities that forging has to offer in the bigger picture of contemporary sculpture and
architectural metal fabrication. We will look at the history of ornamental ironwork as a
way of tracking how forged forms evolved relative to architectural styles. We'll delve
into the design development process and investigate how tig welding and mechanical
fasteners might be employed to join various forged forms and / or dissimilar metals.
Students will learn the language of engineered architectural drawings and develop a
vocabulary for communicating formal design ideas. We will work primarily with carbon
steel with a brief dive into hollowing and raising sheet copper.
We will also cover tool making: forging, heat treatment, sanding, polishing and finishing
a variety of tools that can then be used to develop specific shapes and forms.
This introduction to forging and fabrication will provide individuals with a comprehensive
understanding of how to shape metal, join it, create three dimensional structural,
ornamental and sculptural work in a medium that offers compelling opportunities for
personal expression.

Dates: January 12- April 24, 2026 Monday- Friday 9:00-5:00

Cost: $6 500.00
Includes material costs, all necessary forging tools, safety glasses, ear protection and a
basic kit of drill bits, abrasives, measuring tools etc.

Location: Two Smiths.8 Grand Ave. Unit B. Kitchener, ON N2K 1B3

Standing beside a hot fire is a really excellent way to spend a weekend in the winter! Check out our 2026 Class Schedule.

For details, click on the link in our bio or copy and paste: www.twosmiths.ca/all

In the middle of the night Wednesday I found out that Steiff had died. I still don’t want to believe it’s true. It feels as though a cornerstone of my foundation suddenly collapsed.
I imagined knowing Steiff into my nineties.
I was counting on it.
He was a person who stretched one’s imagination with a simple comment or observation and before you knew it, the world opened up a little space that made more room for you.
(It was never about him).
He listened with his heart.
And it becomes more obvious as I read what others have written, that he made everyone feel this way.
What a treasure.
I am searching through precious emails from him, savouring the words, laughing and crying. He was such a good writer and teller of stories. One of my favourites was him telling about the sewer who mended his clothes- Harriet Boon and I cried we laughed so hard by the fire that evening.
I just hope that he can see how much we all loved him and also that he knows we will hold him close inside of us until the day we die.

John Woodrow, my shop neighbour for the past nine years, died yesterday, November 4th, 2025.

He was a good person. Right from the start he offered to help unload our milling machine and power hammer, drill presses – all the heavy stuff that requires a forklift. He was a person who wanted the balance to always rest on the side of him giving more than he would take. He taught Toby (who is deaf) how to weld by way of lip reading and writing in soapstone on the welding bench. He loaned us tools and we gave him welding rods and tubes of polyurethane. We designed and set up a website for his business and he turned the large head of the needle for Stitch on his lathe. There was an easy back and forth over the years and the constant was mutual respect for one another.

John was a person with a large character. He loved talking with people and I often had to rescue my employees from the grip of his story telling. My shop won’t be the same without him as a neighbour.

This small bronze sculpture was made by Joyce DiClemente in our last Bronze Casting Workshop. Joyce first created a small portrait of her dog in sculpey clay. Alive and expressive, it really captures the character of her beloved companion.

and wooden boat builder, Richard Lyons are teaching the November 15th-16th workshop. They both have extensive knowledge and experience in pattern making and bronze casting.

If you have ever been curious about the sand casting process, this two day workshop is a fabulous and thorough introduction to the possibilities and the process.

Copy and past this : https://www.twosmiths.ca/bronze

or click on the link in our bio for more information.

It's Thanksgiving for many people which means gathering together to share food, stories, and traditions. I was thinking this afternoon about all of the knives in thousands and thousands of kitchens peeling potatoes, dicing onions, garlic and herbs, halving squash, chopping pumpkin, carving meat, as all of these meals are prepared.

Two Smiths offers a variety of beginner and intermediate knife forging workshops.

You can find them at : www.twosmiths.ca or click on the link in our bio.

Copper is a semi-precious metal that's surprisingly easy to work with - once you understand the material properties; how to anneal it and how it work hardens.

We offer a variety of one and two day copper smithing workshops: Copper Bowls, Copper Repoussé, Copper Wildflowers.

Copy and paste www.twosmiths.ca/all to see the course listing and schedule for upcoming classes.