These basket twist fire pokers are hand forged from 3/8” steel bar and made to order. The overall length will range from 34-36”. The basket twist handle is made from four 1/4” round bars forge welded together. The basket handle and the main shaft are then forge welded to each other. Forge welding is a traditional blacksmith style of joining multiple pieces of steel together using the forge rather than a modern electric arc welder. The two pieces, in this case the basket twist handle and the main shaft of the poker, are brought to what we blacksmiths call “welding temp” which is a temperature very near but just below the melting point of steel. Let the steel get too hot and you literally melt and ruin it - take the steel out of the heat source too soon and they don't weld or “stick” to each other - take them out at the perfect temperature/time but don't place them together exactly where they need to join, apply a few quick hammer blows within literally just a second or two and then get them back in the fire immediately to repeat the process a few more times and you've missed the chance to forge weld them. The point being that forge welding is almost an art itself that has to be done almost perfectly for it to work. I'm certainly no pro at it but I'm getting better. The poker end also has a small forge weld to get the desired shape. The entire piece is then heated to blacken the surface and the basket handle is brass brushed to add the gold color - this can be left black upon request. A paste wax finish is then applied to enhance the colors a bit and prevent rusting. Along with my touchmark each poker will have the year it was made stamped into the base. Other custom lettering can be done upon request.
This probably doesn't bode well for my future sales but you have to have a sense of humor when things like this happen, other wise you'll never get it done. I added one last picture just to go along with my first review that shows attempts 1,2,3 and 4. I couldn't have asked for a better first customer but as you can see, things don't always go your way the first time when forging a custom product - sometimes things don't go your way the 2nd, 3rd or even 4th times either but on this one 5 times was a charm. So, I will make sure I send you a quality product if I'm lucky enough to get your business, no matter how many times I have to try. buying
Product code: Blacksmith - Hand Forged buying Fire Poker