Located in Ontario, Canada, on the edge of Algonquin Park, Boreal Forge is operated by Doug Morlock. Here, in the ancient Boreal Forest, we continue the millennia-old craft of blacksmithing, working hot iron with hammer and anvil.
If you have a design in mind, or would like us to create one from scratch, please contact us to discuss your idea. Our smiths work in almost any metal, for almost any purpose. Architectural pieces such as gates or railings, functional pieces such as axes or knives, or even jewelry in precious metals.
Our work isn’t cheap, and it isn’t ordinary. It is labor-intensive, and our finished pieces show the effort put into them, through attention to detail and refinement of design.
Blacksmithing is an art with a history almost as long as Civilization itself, and precious metals have been worked since pre-history. In the modern age, the labor that once took days or weeks to accomplish by hand, is now done in minutes with advanced machines. Lost, however, were the subtle differences and accents left from the hand-labor of skilled artisans.
Even a very simple piece from our shop is much different from its modern equivalent. Being forged and worked by hand gives each piece much greater depth, every functional piece is simultaneously a work of art.
Observers used to modern machine production often fail to appreciate the time spent on each piece, not only in labor, but in study and research. Each piece must not only have the appropriate form and function, but each hammer blow or stroke of the file irrevocably alters the final form, and must be placed with utmost precision.
Consider these two sconces. The one on the left was made overseas in a modern fabrication shop, the one on the right is a copy, built by us, using traditional techniques. No flat spots, no ugly welds, no visual dead ends.
“The Life so short, the Craft so long to learn...”
-Chaucer
I’ve been interested in blacksmithing as long as I can remember. For almost a decade, all I’ve done is study metalwork. Like every smith, I know that there is more than a lifetime’s worth of knowledge to absorb, but I’ve resolved to learn as much as I can, as long as I can.
Metalwork is my passion, I live and breathe hot iron. (Figuratively, anyway) My training as a Goldsmith has given me skills for delicate work, and the exacting standards of Jewelry manufacture lend a fine line to my designs.
Blacksmithing is an ancient craft, with tremendous versatility. Modern methods of production offer increased speed and lower cost, but nothing can visually compare with hand-wrought metalwork.
I don’t believe in Art for Art’s sake. Agreeing with Oscar Wilde that “All art is quite useless”, I try to make every piece not only beautiful, but perfectly functional.
Happily, the function of many objects is only to be beautiful.
