BLACK
SMITH
CUSTOM
RAILINGS & GATES
BEAUTIFY YOUR HOME
If you are looking for something different and unique to showcase your home or garden, Neil’s hand-forged set of railings or garden gates can bring that unique, one-of-a-kind look that you are seeking to showcase your home, business, or garden.
Neil’s old-world, blacksmith 100 % hand-forged railing and garden gates and fireplace doors could be exactly what you are looking for.
FIREPLACE
TOOLS & DOORS
FUNCTIONALITY & ARTISTRY
Elevate your fireplace to a work of art with Neil Mansfield's exquisite custom-made fireplace doors and tools. Neil's masterful craftsmanship blends functionality and artistry seamlessly, providing not only a stunning focal point for your home but also enhancing the safety and efficiency of your fireplace.
With custom designs tailored to your unique style and needs, you'll enjoy a one-of-a-kind masterpiece that reflects your personality. Don't settle for ordinary when you can have extraordinary. Transform your hearth into a statement piece – explore Neil's creations today and bring warmth and beauty into your home. Act now to ignite the magic of custom fireplace elegance!
FUNCTIONALMETAL
CUSTOM IRON WORK, RAILINGS,
FIREPLACE SCREEN DOORS & TOOLS
Since I was a young boy, I have been fascinated with what fire does to transform iron from a dull, lifeless state into an elegant, functional piece of artwork. In a way, it was inevitable that I would be drawn to moving and working iron. Growing up, I was surrounded by a family of iron workers, all of whom had a true passion for building skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building, the Twin Towers, and many bridges around the greater New York City and Philadelphia areas. As a third-generation iron worker, it was natural for me to develop the same passion for iron—after all, it was all around me.
The rhythm of the hammer, the flow of the iron, and the experience of watching the iron grow beneath my hands still take me on a mythical journey that I never tire of. The relationship between art and craft enables me to create both traditional and contemporary work while occasionally dipping back in time to the medieval and Gothic periods.
Ideas for my work come to me after the workday, while perusing art books or riding my bicycle on a narrow country road and observing the natural world unfold around me.
My work is seldom forged with one hundred percent black iron. I like to bring life into my iron work by blending metals such as bronze, copper, and stainless steel. This marriage of metals gives me the opportunity to experiment with color, texture, and shape.
MAILBOXES
CUSTOM MAILBOXES & HOUSE ADDRESS NUMBERS
This summer, in-between, bicycle rides, lake swims and hikes and summer yard work around the house, NEB member Neil Mansfield who is a vocational welding & metal fabrication teacher managed to get into his tiny blacksmith/ welding/ sheet metal shop to create a one –of- a- kind copper mail box for his home in Ashland, Ma.
This project took several steps in researching what is currently acceptable for an official U.S. mailbox on any American house which included: sizes, shapes, and designs. I quickly discovered that you cannot just put up any old mailbox of your choice. It must meet strict requirements of the U.S. postal services, with size, shape, functionality, and of course safety, and appropriate designs. Although, you may see many unique one –of- a- kind mailboxes around the country, they all must meet federal mailing standards.
Once I fulfilled all the necessary requirements for a U.S. mailbox, I then proceeded to modify and use my creative blacksmith artist flair in designing a unique mailbox that represents a blacksmith artist that lives at this mailing address: - )
I started with my own hand sketched design, with a range of materials that I wanted to use which included hand forged annealed copper sheet metal, 16 oz. bronze flat bar, forged and Tig welded rosettes, copper and brass rivets and a 16 gauge black iron sheet metal frame underneath the forged and textured copper.
I forged and Tig welded my 655-silicon bronze flat bar that I purchased. I wanted it to look like a pony express leather satchel with its bronze flat bar wrapping design for a pony express motif. In addition, I forged black iron scrolls for a newspaper holder which was also Tig welded to the back of the mailbox.
My design processes needed to include assembly sequence due to my choice of hiding all my arc welds, with a textured copper sheeting which needed to be drilled and riveted to the underneath of the 16-gauge black iron frame. Also, both small 1/8-inch rivets and large ¼ inch rivets were chosen for unique of blending metal colors. The copper, bronze and black iron all complement each other’s native metal colors.
The attached photos show several examples of work- in – progress with design steps, technical metal working steps.
Hope all of you enjoy your last days of summer with a creative blend of fun, happiness, and relaxation. Our summer was splendid while getting into my small one car garage blacksmith shop. I look at my small shop as if I lived onboard a submarine everything must have in its place, and most things are on wheels for flexibility of projects.
