(but we try to get all the smudges off before shipping them)

We're really excited to finally be able to share these brand-new fireplace tools, accompanied by the release of complete fire tool sets for the first time ever! 

We've been working on these sets for several years and couldn't be prouder of the final product. In honor of us bringing these into the world, we wanted to share a little more about the process of bringing these tools to life.

The brushes by Vivi

We tried long and hard to source brushes that we could attach to our own hand-forged handles. The problem is, the options available were cheap, low-quality, plastic brushes, that wouldn't last more than a year.

Even if they would last a few seasons, they were just too ugly consider (or look at). We tried to find broom-makers with whom to collaborate, but couldn't find anyone in our area that specialized in this craft. Finally, we decided to buy some broomcorn (broomcorn is a plant used to make brooms. We didn't know that when this process started), enrolled in a broom-making workshop to learn the basics of weaving, and then started developing our own designs that would merge well with our forged handles.

Vivi, who is responsible for our finishing and wrapping our beloved Hori Hori handles, has a background and weaving and took over the newly formed Wicks Forge brush-making division. Each Wicks Forge brush is woven by hand and wrapped around a hand-forged handle. 

Even older-school shovels

Blacksmithing is an old-time practice, but sheet metal is another craft that was once largely manual, and has since been superseded by automation as well as the advent of plastics. Metal and wood used to be the primary materials we had for containers and appliances. Sheet metal forming was thus a common trade and taught in schools around the country. My grandfather was a sheet metal worker and many of the tools from his shop are kept alive in our shop today. As a nod to that tradition, we formed these shovels out of sheet steel, where we did all the bends using forming tools that were over 100 years old, attaching them to our hand-forged handles with care. 

Stand(ing) the test of time

We spent a lot of time working on the designs for this stand. We wanted something functional and beautiful that we could replicate as we scaled up production (and something that would last forever).

One of the most beautiful aspects of traditional metalwork is joinery, so we wanted to highlight those aspects with some fun riveted components on the base and for the pegs. We finally landed on a final design this spring. We spent the rest of the summer developing new tools and processes for our very first production run. And at long last, we have the first batch of them finished and ready for their forever home.