The 9A is the first production run (A) of our 9" forged carbon steel skillet. It represents a year of research, design, prototyping, and finally, production. Here's the story of how they came about.

As our business and customer base has grown over the years, we’ve found ourselves designing and creating more pieces to share than ever before. With more customers, comes more orders– yet our products are still made entirely by hand. So how do we keep up? The secret lies inside our "Goblin Workshop."

Once the Halloween decor comes down, we know that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. These last couple months of the year are a whirlwind of family gatherings, delicious feasts, holiday decor-- and before you know it, we’re ringing in the new year.

While this time of the year can be full of joy and quality time spent with the ones we love, it can also be very stressful. Cleaning and decorating the house, cooking and serving elaborate meals, and dealing with your least favourite (see: difficult) relatives, can quickly suck the joy out of the holidays.

Luckily, getting ready ahead of time and tackling your holiday checklist early can eliminate some of the stress leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

That’s why your friendly neighbourhood blacksmith is here to help you do just that!

From the moment blacksmiths divined a method of forging iron to make stronger weapons and tools, the chosen few who could wield this skill became critical members of the community. Everyone from farmers to carpenters to soldiers relied on their village blacksmith for the tools they needed for daily life. When the industrial revolution came along, tools, hardware, and other staples of the blacksmithing craft could be built en masse in factories. Eventually, the need for the village blacksmith largely disappeared. As the trade faded, so did the importance of the local blacksmiths who were forced to abandon it. 

Thankfully, blacksmithing is seeing a resurgence. But what about the role blacksmiths once played as community builders -- both through their physical products and the resilience that comes from local production? We at Wicks Forge have been thinking a lot about how we can have a positive impact on both our environment and our community-- similarly to those who founded this trade. 

Keep reading to learn about the history of blacksmiths, the impact they had, and how Wicks Forge is trying to continue that legacy through our work.