How It's Made

Each ornament or piece of home decor starts as an idea and a flat sheet of steel. Each idea is carefully designed in our design software and then cut out of the steel using a CNC cutting machine. After the design is cut we apply a variety of processes to finish each piece. Ornaments are ground, tumbled and cleaned. Key holders are bent into their 3d shape and powder coated. Other pieces of home decor remain flat or have a base created through bending and are left as raw steel or powder coated.   

DESIGN:

Many hours are spent creating the designs. The computer software enables us to create everything from lines and simple geometric shapes to hand tracing photographs to create a complex silhouette. 

CNC CUTTING:

Pictured below is our CNC laser table. This tool allows flat steel to be cut into complex shapes.  Laser cutting works by melting the steel just below the torch. A computer controls the torch movement and speed.

A clean surface is left on the front side but rough areas of melted steel called slag are left on the back side.  This slag is then ground off with a grinder. 

 POWDER COATING:

Each piece that is powder coated requires careful preparation to ensure a good bond and even coverage.  If there are any rough areas these are ground smooth using a hand held grinder. This is followed by sandblasting each piece to ensure that a good bond will form with the powder coat. 

Powder is then applied to the entire surface by electrically charging the metal and evenly spraying the powder. The dry powder is attracted to the metal and forms a layer over the raw metal surface.

Each piece is then transferred to a rack and baked in an oven to melt the dry powder particles into a smooth durable finish.  

BENDING STEEL:

If the design calls for a bend such as our key holders or mantel displays we use a large hand powered metal brake to assist in creating the bends. 

This tool allows us to securely clamp the steel into the press along the bend line, set the desired bend angle and then pull up on the handles to create the bend. 

Thank you for visiting our shop! Sincerely Angie & Wes.