Hand forged swords & axes, forging experiences, commissions & forging work
John Williamson, the blacksmith’s dad, wood chopping with the Petefire Papa Axe, in Abbots Langley, Watford, Herts, England.
Hand forged axe blade & hand carved hand from Abbots Langley ash wood by Petefire Artist Blacksmith, at the Petefire Forge in Chiswell Green, St Albans, Herts.
Here’s a recent sword hand forged by Peter the blacksmith – you’ve got the opportunity to buy the Subtle Rhino hand forged sword, a unique hand forged sword.
Subtle Rhino genuine hand forged sword, made at the Chiswell Green Forge on a coal powered forge with minimal use of power tools.
Out of stock
In this video, Peter is filmed drawing out the tang, forging the cross guard and test fitting a wooden handle on a training sword with a rounded tip.
All the hammers used in this video are named and Peter has forged many of them to meet general or specific blacksmithing needs.
You can buy a Petefire Sword Forging Experience voucher here, where people spend 2 sessions work with Peter one-to-one on some of the processes in the video.
Most of the forging experience photos are outdoors. That’s how we used to do it. It was good fun, being out in the open, but it was cold in the winter, and dates could be postponed by rain – or snow!
Another benefit from being indoors at our Chiswell Green Forge is that we can use the more powerful blacksmith forge, making the heat process quicker.
You can get more information from our forging experiences questions page.
You can book Petefire Forge Experiences here: 1 person, 2 person, 3 person, work teams forging experience or a sword forging experience.
People have hand forged a small knife, alternatives might be a fire poker, decorative heart, flower, toasting fork, bottle opener or a bird feeder hook.
People take their forged items home with them.
We’ve been keen to have a stall there for quite a while, and the pandemic stopped us from being part of it at Christmas 2020, so we’re really looking forward to being part of it on Saturday 20th November, 11am – 4pm.
The school address is: Parmiter’s School, High Elms Lane, Watford, Herts WD25 0UU
Please come and say hello if you’re visiting.
You can find out more by visiting the Parmiter’s School Craft Fair Facebook page.
With the (hopefully) continued cautious reopening the public places in England, it seemed like a good time to do a refresh of our Blacksmiths pubs list.
Some of the pubs appear to have taken the decision to rebuild or refresh their websites – some now have websites were before they didn’t have ones. There will continue to be hard times ahead for English pubs, but it is heartening that almost all on our list appear to be taking hold of the challenges that the post-Covid will bring.
You can click here to take a look at our English Blacksmiths Arms pub list here.
Some were for one person, there was also a husband and wife, and a father with three school age daughters. He did one forging day with his daughters, and the next Saturday it was just him. He was a plumber and heating engineer and was used to physical work, so wanted a day with just me and him.
There were various metalwork and forging commissions and repairs and during 2020 too.
Quite a few people have bought Forging Experience vouchers hopefully to be enjoyed during 2021.
You can buy a Forging Experience right here on the website, or you can contact me with any questions and for bank details.
Peter has been making tools since he was in his teens.
Here are a set of hand forged tools used to carve a bird bath from the stump of a spruce tree in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
All of the metal in the tools was reclaimed and repurposed. The wood was almost all from very local sources including Abbots Langley’s Tanners Wood, the orchard at Peter’s previous forge in Bushey and the now closed, long established Bushey wood merchant, so the carbon footprint was negligible. Peter collected and cured most of the wood, with some of it being worked in its ‘green’ state – used soon after the tree had been pollarded or chopped down.
The wood included: oak, ash, apple, cherry, pear and purple heart.
The copper top is the bird bath, formed from the bottom of a household boiler, and attached with screws.
Hand forged large axe
Forged by Petefire, handle made from ash, bought from generations-old Bushey wood merchants – now unfortunately closed.
Hand forged scoop chisel
Forged by Petefire, apple wood handle, from the previous Petefire forge in Bushey
Knife
Forged by Petefire, from a metalwork file, handle is ash wood
Small hand axe
Forged by Petefire, handle ash wood Bushey forge
Small wide faced hammer
Forged by Petefire, handle is ash, Bushey. Head of hammer made from a jack hammer
Hand forged 12mm scoop chisel
Spring steel, oak from Abbots Langley, Tanners Wood
Light weight bill hook
Ash wood handle, blade: truck / large coil spring
Large adze
Handle is local cherry wood, head from a large piston
Mild steel hammer head
Abbots Langley pear wood handle
Angle faced chisel
Pear wood, spring steel
Small carving knife
Purple heart wood, blade spring steel
Heavy full metal offset knife
Forged from a digger piston
Small hammer
Name Peerie Dinger
Digger pistol, head, locally sourced ash wood
Small adze
Made from a ball pein hammer, hickory wood handle
Who would have thought so many tools went into the carving of Bruce the Spruce the spiral bird bath?
If you’re looking for a unique tool, or a regular tool, you’re very welcome to get in contact. Peter is happy to meet up and discuss how to make tools for clients, whatever you need.
Here are the various ways to contact Petefire Artist Blacksmith.
Peter will discuss what you’d like to do on a Blacksmith Forging Experience – he’ll be happy to put a bit more challenge into the day and will keep an eye on how participants are coping with all the aspects of the day.
Some alternatives to making a small knife might be a fire poker, decorative heart, flower, toasting fork, bottle opener or a bird feeder hook.
People take their forged items home with them.
All our Blacksmith Forging Experiences are now indoors at the Petefire Chiswell Green Forge – so we’re not affected by the weather!
On a recent forging experience a mother came along with a 13 year old and 9 year old son. They were surprising fast and coordinated with sequential hammering, where two or more people hammer a piece of hot metal, standing in a circle around the anvil. It’s a very efficient way of getting the most out of a ‘heat’. Each second that the metal is out of the forge sees it cooling and becoming less able to be shaped.
A daughter booked a forging experience for herself and her dad. The daughter knew her dad would love it as he was a massive fan of Forged in Fire, the American tv series, he’d spent his working life as an engineer.
Since an early age Peter has been absorbing all aspects of weapon making, sword, axe, bow and arrow history.
If discussing all aspects of metalworking while watching a knife (which you’d take home with you), being formed using heat, skill and strength sounds like a pretty good way to spend a few hours, book a voucher – or put in a gift request with your family to book a Petefire Blacksmith Forging Experience.
You can book to see the hot metal action and discuss metalworking.
An older couple booked a two day forging experience – with the intention of forging house numbers and a small knife. They spent a bit of the first day using the hammers, although the woman realised that swinging the hammers was hard for her to manage.
After discussion with Peter they chose to spend the rest of their forging experience watching the process and discussing and directing the development of the their house numbers and knife.
Although they only spent some of their time doing the physical activity, the couple still had a very enjoyable time and went away with much more knowledgeable about metalworking, its history and the blacksmithing process.
A woman phone with a specific request for a forging experience. They’d bought a wooden trellis for their garden, but had cut it in half at the top to make it wide enough to fit in with their plans for the garden layout.
Peter was very happy to tailor the forging experience to be able to make the trellis bar, and made sure that there was metal that would do the job beforehand.
The dad had been an engineer and really enjoyed being a hands-on part of a different and ancient kind of engineering for a day – they also finished in time to get back for the start of the football!
You can have a great one person forging experience, and all our people who come of their own have really enjoyed the day. People who come with one, two or more people also have an excellent time, as Peter will discuss all aspects of historic and modern blacksmithing and metalworking.
If you want to buy a voucher for more than one person, we’re pretty certain that everyone will have a really good day, with some excellent comradeship and maybe a bit of competition too.
Here’s the rustically painted Petefire logo on one of the 4 large doors that’ll be open on summer days, looking out over the lake to Hertfordshire countryside.
Contact us on peter@petefire.co.uk, 01923 350596, John 0777 999 1551 or Peter 07854 363630.
My connections are with Watford – that’s where I spent my first years until I was 13, we then moved to Abbots Langley. Until spring 2020 my forge was in Bushey, Herts. The new forge is in Chiswell Green – on the outskirts of St Albans, so I’ll be getting to know St Albans a bit more.
We’re keen to make connections with the local community, and want to be identified as a Chiswell Green business. We’ll also be visiting local businesses over the next for weeks to introduce the forge.
Over time we would like Chiswell Green people to become proud that there’s a blacksmith forge in their area.
In the wider area, it also comes from south west Herts, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and north London.
I’m happy to work for people and businesses from anywhere.
You can contact me with enquiries, or to make appointment. Here’s the Petefire Artist Blacksmith contact page.
Hanrox Meadows
Blunts Lane
Chiswell Green
Herts
AL2 3NJ
It’s always a good idea to check what’s on your website – we’ve given our Forging Experience questions page a refresh. This is in response to the questions that are regularly asked. We’re also very happy for people to contact us on email, by phone and on social media.
All our Blacksmith Forging Experiences are now indoors at the Petefire Chiswell Green Forge – so we’re not affected by the weather!
Have you got a question that you think we should add to our blacksmith forging questions page? We’d love to hear from you, you can also contact us with questions.
People have made a small knife, alternatives might be a fire poker, decorative heart, flower, toasting fork, bottle opener or a bird feeder hook.
People take their forged items home with them.
If your family member is a Forged in Fire UK fan, the Petefire Blacksmith Forging Experiences could make a great gift for a family member. They happen in Abbots Langley, next to the Harry Potter Studio, where the films were shot and the Harry Potter experiences happen.
Ready to surprise someone special?
Get your Blacksmith Forging Experience voucher here.
We have experiences for one person, two people and three people. We’re also happy to hear from you if you would like to bring a group along.
You could be very popular with a Forged in Fire UK fan, if you buy a Blacksmith Forging Experience for a family member or friend.
All our Blacksmith Forging Experiences are now indoors at the Petefire Chiswell Green Forge – so we’re not affected by the weather!
People have hand forged a small knife, alternatives might be a fire poker, decorative heart, flower, toasting fork, bottle opener or a bird feeder hook.
People take their forged items home with them.
I recently collaborated with Petefire Artist Blacksmith to explore the neuroscience of touch and proprioception as used by artists and crafters, such as blacksmiths, circus performers, and architectural model makers in an event called Dear Neuroscience.
Danbee Kim, neuroscientist and teacher.
I also recently wrote The First VIRS, a science fiction graphic novel that combines current topics in science and technology with a speculation on how the next 100 years might play out. I’ve been a lifelong fan and reader of comics myself, and now I’m hoping to use comics to make science and technology more fun and accessible to everyone, especially for audiences that are currently underserved by traditional forms of science communication.
You can read the chapter 1 teaser for The First VIRS online, or watch our promo video for the project.
If you are also a fan of comics, or interested in connecting science and technology with arts and crafts, please consider making a donation when we launch our Kickstarter campaign on Tuesday, September 24! Your contribution will help us pay our amazing artists and produce nicely-bound, colour-printed physical copies of the graphic novel.
I hope that together, we can take another step towards making scientific research more open and accessible to everyone. Thanks so much for reading!
…here’s the click-through to the Kickstarter campaign for The First VIRS, science fiction graphic novel website link again!
Smoke, sparks and flames filled the November night air as Watford’s elected Mayor, Peter Taylor lit the 100th Anniversary Armistice Day fire beacon at the south end of Watford Museum’s front garden.
The Watford Armistice Day beacon lighting was one of over 1,000 lit throughout the UK at 7pm on Sunday 11th November to commemorate the end of the darkness of the First World War and a return to peace.
The remembrance ceremony included readings by Mayor Peter Taylor; Hertfordshire’s Lord-Lieutenant, Robert Voss; Watford Borough Council councillor, Rabi Martins and Jan Rees of Watford Arts Society.
Petefire Artist Blacksmith was commissioned to forge Watford’s Armistice beacon by Watford Borough Council. Sarah Kerenza Priestly, curator of Watford Museum said, ‘Watford Museum is proud to support local artists and businesses.’
Peter helped on the evening by filling the Armistice Day beacon with wood, and a couple of strategically placed firelighters with a generous layer of wood shavings near the bottom, Petefire also loaned a decorative forged lighting stick, with paraffin-soaked Kevlar.
Watford’s fire station is just across the road on Watford’s Lower High Street and very kindly loaned a long ladder to assist with lighting the beacon – they commented that their job was to put fires out – not to help light them!
Peter Williamson said, ‘We are very proud to have been commissioned to design and make the fire beacon.’
The beacon will be stored along with it’s wooden pole for future commemorative events in Watford.
Two Peters – Peter Williamson with Watford’s Elected Mayor Peter Taylor
He’d looked on the internet and tried to find different adzes, he found options but the were waiting lists and complications, then he looked a little bit more locally and he stumbled across our website and decided that he would contact me to see whether or not I’d be able to make him an adze.
Here’s a link to the story
Peter, the ‘adze man’ and the round headed adze
We’ve enjoyed being part of Herts Open Studios (we’re in the South West Herts area) for the first time. We’re hoping all our artist colleagues have a successful last weekend. We’ve had quite a few visitors and a good deal of interest in our blacksmith forged work. We are really grateful for the enthusiasm that’s been shown by the Hertfordshire artistic community for our blacksmith forged work. We’ve been reliably informed that Herts Open Studios hasn’t had a blacksmith in it’s ranks for quite a few years.
Our map shows the route for travelling between Abbots Langley artists – Henderson HUB on Abbots Langley’s High Street and Petefire Artist Blacksmith. This will be the last weekend of our exhibition, we’ll be open on Friday 28 – Sunday 30 Sept 2018, 10.30am – 5.30pm.
Look forward to seeing you if you’re free to come along – the six artists at the Henderson HUB are also worth a visit, there’s also Elvira’s Foyer cafe if you fancy cake and coffee too.
We’re going to be part of Hertfordshire’s annual celebration of art – Herts Open Studios for the first time this year. We’ll be joining almost 70 other artists to showing our art during September.
For Petefire this means showing some of Peter’s decorative swords and axes, kitchen knives and hammers. We’ll also have sketches showing the development of many of Peter’s designs.
Bottle openers, cheese knives and heart pendants are some of the small forged items that will be offer for sale. People will also be happy to discuss commissions, if you’ve got ideas for large or small items.
There will be blacksmith forged pendant, cheese knives, kitchen knives and bottle openers available to buy. Prices start from £10, we’ve got a credit card reader if you’ve not got cash.
Peter won’t just be showing his work, he’ll also be forging on Saturdays between 2-4pm. That’s Saturday 8th, 15th 22nd and 29th.
Flapjacks, cakes, coffee and tea aren’t guaranteed – but we’ll be baking regular batches of homebakes. We’ll be collecting donations for the Watford homeless charity New Hope.
Hi everyone, we’ve now started the Petefire news blog to share news about what’s happening with Petefire Artist Blacksmith. Our first post is about Paul’s Blacksmith Experience Day.
Have you got any suggestions about subjects that you’d like me to write about – you’re very welcome to let me know via my Facebook page or email me, peter@petefire.co.uk.
He hadn’t actually decided on what he would be working on so I showed him the usual kind of cheese knife that we’d often make on a blacksmith forging experience day. I asked him how hands on he would like to be, his reply: ‘well I’d really like to get involved as much as possible’. So I said, ‘Why don’t we have a look at some of these other pieces of steel that we have here and we could actually work on something a bit larger than we normally do.’
He was very good and he achieved a lot, keeping up with turning the handle (which is the bellows and inducts air / oxygen regulating the heat of the forge). He was also active with the hammer and showed good dexterity. We actually managed to make a knife about 3 times the size than the smaller knives that we normally make – and in the same amount of time. It was very impressive, we often have a discussion about what we’re going to make on an experience day, this time we got straight into this so we didn’t actually work on any other bit of steel other that one for this project.
It was very successful so now he’s been asking about what other type of projects we could do.
Projects around the house could include:
I realise that not everyone will want to make a knife.
The knife making is very good as there’s a lot of different processing in it:
I use recycled steel for the knives, it would be easy to forge other items too.
A very positive day – all in all and hopefully I’ll be seeing Paul again, where we’ll work on the next stage of blacksmith forging experience day. So here’s hoping and we’ll see that when it comes.
Peter
All our Blacksmith Forging Experiences are now indoors at the Petefire Chiswell Green Forge – so we’re not affected by the weather!
People have hand forged a small knife, alternatives might be a fire poker, decorative heart, flower, toasting fork, bottle opener or a bird feeder hook.
People take their forged items home with them.