We’d be happy to give you a shop tour pretty much any time – whether you zip up on a four-wheeler or tune in by video from a conference room. (Both of these occurred recently.)
Actually, we’ve had visitors arrive in all manner of ways over the years. Some ride up in the back of pickup trucks, some arrive in very elegant vehicles (our apologies for the rough road), some show up on ATVs, and some stroll up on foot whilst sipping drinks. (The strollers and ATV-ers are typically various neighbors.)
But no matter how you arrive, we are happy to show you around (though we do ask that you call ahead). It will likely be dirty and dusty, and you will have to watch your footing (for the metal scraps tend to be lying about) – unless of course you’re sitting comfortably in a room far, far away – but we think you’ll get a little something out of it.
That recent virtual tour was with the kind people at Artful Home. We used a video conferencing service, paired with our phone, to “tour” them around our shop. We walked them through the process of creating a piece – Ben cut out some metal, hammered it into shape, and welded it up for them (the “light show” of sparks may have been a highlight!). Then they asked questions about our ideas for new designs, where the metal comes from, and more. While it might not have been exactly what they imagined, I think we gave them a pretty real feeling for “here.”
Another recent visitor, the grandson of a neighbor, rode up on his four-wheeler to talk metalworking. He is currently working at a local foundry, and is very interested in blacksmithing and setting up his own forge. Evidently his dad had told him, “If you want to work in metal, go up and talk to Ben.” And so he did. Ben showed him around the shop and told him about what we do. Hopefully he was encouraged by what he saw, and left thinking that he could do it, too. Afterall, it’s definitely not fancy and it’s certainly not complicated once you know how to run things.
So we’re confident you would leave your tour with a positive feeling – whether it’s because a light show made you smile, the experience made you feel you could give it a go yourself, or you simply enjoyed the scenery. However you get here, wherever you came from and whatever you think – we’re happy to give you the shop tour.
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And if you’re interested in a tour (or, you know, a Gatski piece), email us at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!
