Clay Hill Forge where for over 15 years we’ve created hand-forged gates, railings, firescreens, lighting fixtures and more using a blend of traditional techniques and modern design. Allow us to create a solid, custom-designed piece just for you. With basic care, it will become your heirloom for the future.

Your piece will be forged using techniques developed over decades of study – using solid stock that is durable, resistant to moisture damage and long-lasting. Choose the material that works best for your design: iron, bronze, brass, copper or a combination. Select from various traditional joinery styles to make each collar, joint and bolt head an additional design opportunity. Pick from among a variety of finishes to add that final, and personal, touch.

Dale makes unique, high-quality pieces that are as much about form as function. His preferred styles are the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 1800’s – early 1900’s and Art Nouveau.

For Dale, blacksmithing is a unique blend of old techniques and modern design using a material that, when hot, is as malleable as clay. His desire is to make elegant, well-made, enduring and solid pieces that are pleasing to the eye and perform the purpose for which they were made.

Dale began blacksmithing in 1976 at the age of nine in the forge of the Booker T. Washington National Monument in Franklin County, VA. There, he and his family demonstrated historically accurate aspects of everyday life on a rural 1860’s era tobacco plantation. He then established a blacksmithing shop at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Business administration. He has studied at the Penland and John C. Campbell craft schools in North Carolina, at the Vulkanschmiede in Aachen, Germany and at the studio of Gabrielle Curtolo in San Servolo, Venice, Italy. 

About the process.

Ready to get started? You’ve considered the design, materials, finish and placement of your piece. Now, a note about the other important parts of any purchase: time and cost.

Time: We’ll use our experience to help you develop a design that works with your timeframe and budget. However, hand-forging a custom piece is not a fast process. It involves labor as well as initial research, design, tool-making, test pieces and samples. We are looking for clients willing to allow the time needed to make an exceptional heirloom for the future.

Cost: As each piece is made of only solid and durable materials (no off-the-shelf pre-made components) using traditional joinery and forging (both time-intensive techniques), the price will be higher than what you may find at a welding fabrication shop. We are looking for clients who value the hand-made process and appreciate this additional cost and the value it brings to the piece.

We’d love the chance to make a piece that is uniquely yours.