Art in wood and iron

I combined wood and iron together to create my art piece "Iron Roses" to showcase the two mediums.

This is an area of welding and woodworking that I really enjoy! This 16 " high iron and wood art piece was juried into the Franklin County Arts Council art exhibit and can be seen Nov 17-Jan 2 at the FCAC building at 106 Justice St in Louisburg, NC.

It is one of a kind and for sale for only $125.00!

Watching my creations come to life with GEO PIRATES

The client I fabricated the swords for (see last post) sent me the link to the results and seeing my polished steel swords come to life in their kid's program is very cool. 

Take a look at the GEO PIRATES!

home page

These swords I made are easy to see

Sword fabrication

I get to make some pretty cool stuff and recently I was asked to hand fabricate 6 swords for a productions video. Polishing steel takes some serious elbow grease but the end results were pretty amazing. More photos coming. The leather for the grips was added by the customer.

The functionality of gates

Gates are everywhere and nothing is more functional that a traditional steel gate! Here is a picture of a gate I made for a warehouse. 

It's 20 ft wide, re-greasable hinges, and all parts were powder coated. Sturdy and solid metal  welding work. 

Keep an eye out for some upcoming fun stuff-the prop swords I just fabricated for a company!

Jack of all Trades

Steve Filarsky and Billy Pace

So here I am helping Franklin County Art Council Board member Steve Filarsky

hang the first quilt block for Franklin County.

This location is at the FCAC art building at 106 Justice St in Louisburg, NC.

Only one drill!

It's 4' x 4' and made on special MDO signboard with 2 x 4 bracing all around. I think we'll need a bucket truck to hang the 8' x 8' ones!

Pretty cool-this is the first Quilt Trail east of the NC mountains and they hope to expand out.

Jack of all trades-nice to be able to offer help.

My what big teeth you have......

I get asked to do the craziest things!

My years working with many of the big stage productions has given me the opportunity to work and problem solve with wood, metals, fiberglass, and many other materials. Some conventional, some not. Toss in all the electrical and mechanical inventions and solutions I've come up with and you have, as far as I'm concerned, the perfect job!

So if you want to know what these teeth are doing at my shop, you'll just have to keep checking back to see my progress. Let's just say that it concerns a mascot of one of the local universities.......

Creating a safety fence from the ground up

Fencing before installation

 Well it's been pretty busy around the shop but here are some photos of a recent job where I made, painted and installed a  series of guidance fencing for a loading ramp near the RDU airport in Raleigh.

The jobs can range from the artistic to the functional.

Night photo after installation

 Photos say it best.

Another view of finished fencing

Bringing old wrought iron back to life

The old wrought iron gates and fences are disappearing across the country. Some are re-purposed but others wind up in the dumps or rusting in the grass.

My mom found this one a while ago at a flea market and it sat until I figured that the perfect Mother's Day present would be to do some minor repairs and makes hinges and latches and hang it in her garden.

She sent me this photo. Hard to find anything much prettier!

The new Green-Metal Trees

This is one of several large metal trees that I fabricated for a stage production. I'll post the very cool "grass" that I also fabricated later.
What is difficult to see is the intricate "bark" that I created on the tree limbs.

 I do a lot of these creative pieces in between the functional ironwork that I also do. I'll post photos shortly of a commercial rail job that I just completed at the Raleigh Durham airport.

Stainless Steel railings

I fabricated these stainless steel railing (there were two sets) for a bar in Atlanta where the client wanted good looks but not something too flowery :-)

Stainless steel is a challenge to weld but the finished structure looks polished and finished.

A fishy weathervane

 Fish weathervane I created for a client.

Welding a tower

Although the photo is grainy (sorry about that) this shows a stage I was in while creating a 28' tower for a mall display destined to ship to Puerto Rico!


It was fabricated in 6 removable levels for ease in shipping and storage.


Pretty high up!

Fabricating a base for a design

Many of the structural designs that I create in metal wind up being the substructure of the design. In the case of these two photos, you see the welded framework being completed. And in the second you see how the client used it in a parade.

The framework being created

The completed project

Welcome to my new blog!

I know I'm running a little behind the times here but at last I have a blog up and...yes the website will be next.  In the meantime, enjoy my slideshow (look to your right!) and watch for my new projects with BETTER photos!