Hand Forging: At home at the anvil.  Blacksmithing is an art and as you know that takes skill and determination.  This in particular also requires some good physical strength as well.  Hand forming wrought iron is not easy!  There are many blacksmiths out there but a hand full of them have the ability to create high-quality, beautiful representations in wrought iron.  It takes an eye for design, real skill working on the anvil, and shear determination to get that piece just right.  Chuck really enjoys creating custom work for his clients.  

Metal Forming & Bending: Chuck makes allot of his unique tooling himself.  Many of the gigs and scrolling tools must be hand made for each unique job. The metal can be either cold formed or hot formed and bent.  Specially designed gigs allow the artist to bend the scrollwork cold.  While the tips are formed under heat.  Some elements like the leaves are first made into a pattern, cut out and then brought to life using the anvil.  Tendrils are all hot formed and twisted and contorted using hand tools before the item cools.

Welding: Welding can be done by using the following methods.  Forge welding, stick welding, TIG welding, MIG welding.

Forge Welding - is the proces of melding two pieces of iron together using the heat of the forge to bond the two elements.  This is a very old traditional process that was developed in the middle ages.  Many artisans still use this method to join elements of design together in a seamless traditional way.

Stick Welding - is a common method used to weld together metals of the same iron content.  It is the least precise of all welding methods but is also the fastestest and easiest method.  (we do not stick weld any of our products)

MIG Welding - is a more precise welding method.  It also alows for a cleaner and stronger weld.

TIG Welding - is the most difficult of all welding forms.  It also allows many different types of metals besides steel to be joined together in a very clean and smooth manner.

From the forging to the welding each piece takes its unique shape here in the Cross Custom Works studio & workshop. You can be assured that all welding is of top quality and all welds are certified or better.  Chuck takes great pride in his welding abilities and continually strives to surpass any expectations.

Some Common Questions About Wrought Iron

Is it rod iron? Is it rot iron? Or is it wrought iron?

Many consumers spell the metal "rod iron" or "rot iron." The correct spelling is "wrought iron".  The term "wrought" comes from the process that is used to form the iron.  It is heated and drawn out which is what the term "wrought" means.  So true wrought iron is the iron material that leans itself easily to being wrought or formed.  True wrought iron is very malleable (easily formed) and has "taffy" like bending properties, it is also very weather resistant, unlike the steel used today for wrought iron work. The actual metal "wrought iron" has not been available in the United States since the turn of the century.  And is very expensive to acquire there are only a few small factories in Europe that make this metal and do so for very high end refurbishment and restoration of antique iron gates and fence.  All of the wrought iron items available today are actually fabricated from steel.  Plain steel is silver in color so a black paint is applied to give it the look of the antique material "wrought iron".   Steel is however much stronger than "wrought iron" and allows the fabricator to use half the amount of material and have the same strength value as old wrought iron twice it's thickness.  However, in instances where extreme force is applied to the metals where the old wrought iron would just bend, steel with snap. 

So ironically all wrought iron items available whether they are the cheaply made items from China or the exquisite craftsmanship of a renown blacksmith they are actually fabricated steel.   To try and change this consumer perception of what wrought iron really is would be like making everyone who asks for a "Kleenex" to refer to it by it's proper brand name like "Puffs".  " Could you please hand me a puffs"?  No one would no what you were talking about and if you were selling Puffs, you would also have to advertise them as "Kleenexes" even though they weren't truly made by the founding company "Kleenex".

So for the sake of sanity we will also continue to call our fabricated steel products "wrought iron" as will the rest of the iron fabricating industry.

What is true wrought iron?

When the public talks about wrought iron, they could be referring to one of three things - actual wrought iron, hand forged or hand wrought items, or simply the "look" of wrought iron.

The blacksmithing art has seen a rejuvenation in recent years as consumers search for new products from unique and varying materials.  This has lead to the creation of some unconventional uses of the material as well as the emergence of many very talented metal artisans and blacksmiths.  Among these renown individuals is metal artist and fabricator Chuck McIsaac he has created an amazingly diverse styling in metal work. From his realistic "Black Widow" chandelier to his "Calla Lily and Vine" series of furniture.  Tribute to the under appreciated Art Nouveau styling.  It consists of free flowing life-like vines, tendrils and flowers.  He has also produced work in an old world medieval style. items include custom lighting, chandeliers, furniture, and entrance and garden gates.

 A product can be considered wrought iron...hand wrought iron, black metal,  most cases they are referring to an item that has the look of When someone calls your shop and says he wants a "rod iron table," that person has something clear in mind. Chances are, he's thinking about an old piece of metal furniture that his grandfather made. The table he envisions is black, full of scrolls, and pretty.

Are all wrought iron products really hand wrought iron?

No, probably about 90% of all "wrought iron" items are actually mass machine made cheaply constructed foreign steel that is machine bent, not heated and painted with a thin coat of black paint.

True hand wrought iron is actually heated hand formed using an anvil and various other blacksmithing tools.  The actual "wrought iron" material has not been available in the United States since the turn of the century. Alternatively, most artisans that create wrought iron work use basic hot rolled or cold rolled steel. 

Unfortunately as with any product in high demand it is not long before the market is flooded with cheaply constructed imitations.  The consequence to this is that most of the publics perception of the wrought iron product is now just a thin, cheap metal that is not very weather resistant.  But really these hand forged steel "wrought iron" items can be made properly and have amazing strength value, great corrosion resistance and beautiful construction.  The Chinese have flooded the market with poor quality, cheap mass produced items that are anything but "wrought iron".  Many consumers do not want the genuine wrought iron material, which has not been available in the US since the turn of the century. Instead they are looking for the silvery black finish characteristic of wrought iron?

What is the difference between wrought iron and hand forged wrought iron?

All of our work is hand forged on the anvil...there are some pieces that may contain cast iron components but all custom work is hand wrought.  The term "Hand forged wrought iron" is actual steel bent and formed on the anvil.  Many foreign manufacturers promote their cheaply made metal products under the "wrought iron" heading but they are anything but hand forged wrought iron either in construction method or material.