Metal.

It was the discovery that pulled us out of the Stone Age and facilitated our ability to create complex societies. It’s been used to construct skyscrapers, replace bones and land on the moon. There’s a quality to its craftsmanship that reminds us of an iconic age, when you built something that was permanent – in stark contrast to our newly plasticized world. Columbus is a hub for several different forms of custom metal fabrication. (614) pays homage to the art by highlighting three of the capital city’s prominent and unique metalworkers.

The Blade
909 W Third Ave.
(866) 989-7297
www.blademfg.com

There’s more artistry to sawsmithing than you might think. The blades on circular saws you buy in the store are relatively cheap, designed to accommodate the hobby carpenter or the amateur homeowner, but if you want a blade that can last for decades and stand the abuse of some heavy work, a custom-made blade is the way to go, and it just so happens that we have a shop in town that is solely dedicated to all things sharp.

The Blade Manufacturing Company, now in its third generation of family ownership, was started in 1946 by Charlie, Frank and Steve Callahan to provide custom blades to clients all around the country, which range from the handyman carpenter to manufacturers using them to cut steel pipes. In all, they put out about 10,000 blades a year and sharpen twice as many. Each is the result of a uniquely meticulous process.

“No two blades are the same,” explained shop manager and sawsmith Philip Borloglou. “It doesn't matter if you’re making just one or a batch of 500. You’ve got to read the blade and see where it’s going. Most people think a blade is something that just sits on the motor and spins around, but there’s thicknesses and geometries and speed rates. It looks flat, but it isn’t. It’s gotta snap flat during rotation. It’s gotta be made right, or people can get harmed. If it’s made improperly, it’s spinning at a very high rate of speed, and that could be dangerous.”

And the sophisticated tool Brologlou uses to ensure that a blade is completely flat at maximum rotation? Surely it must be a laser-guided contraption, right?

A hammer. This is all done by hand with a series of hammers and measured with precision hand tools. Brologlou insists that his expertise in sawsmithing stems from having learned from “messing up every kind of blade there was,” before honing in on the process. That may seem like a lot of work for a circular saw blade, but for the discerning buyer, it’s worth it. A few years ago, on a local job site, a man was digging a foundation and found a blade that had been buried in the dirt for decades. He knew right where to take it.

The Blade’s logo was still etched on the side.

Fortin Ironworks
944 W Fifth Ave.
(614) 291-4342
www.fortinironworks.com

Fortin Ironworks is one of the largest custom ironwork shops in the country, and it’s almost impossible to miss their work around town. If you’ve ever been in a Wendy’s, then you’ve probably leaned back on an iron rail while you peruse the menu. You’re leaning on Fortin’s handiwork. They do all the interior iron rails for every Wendy’s in the country. All the new bike hitch posts with the balls on top? Fortin. The archways at Goodale Park? Fortin. The median loops and flower planters along Gay Street? Fortin. Ironworking is a perfect marriage of form and function: an ancient craft designed to be both durable and beautiful, classic and chic, solid and subtle, and no one in town puts out as much of it as this family-owned business in Grandview, which began in 1946 in founder Joseph Fortin’s garage.

“Around here were a bunch of little factories and shops,” explained Dan Fortin, one of the four brothers who run the operation. “You could walk up around here and find a job just about anywhere. It started in my grandfather’s garage. Now we probably make a couple miles worth of fence a year.”

In addition to the fence business, Fortin Ironworks makes decorative pieces that are stored in the front showroom. Fortin says that real iron has a certain quality that can’t be reproduced with other materials – that it just “feels permanent.” The company’s appreciation for the craft of ironworking extends into the old craftsmanship displayed in the city’s historic architecture as well, some of which the company has been commissioned to repair.

“You look at some of that old iron work from the 1800s downtown and there’s not a lick of weld on the entire thing. They just heated the iron up and pounded it together with hammers. As an ironworker, when I look at that stuff … to me, it’s priceless.”

Mac Worthington
749 N High St.
(888) 296-7817
www.macworthington.com

On the other end of the spectrum is Mac Worthington. His work is largely functional artistry. Everyday objects around a home or business – a dining room table or an office desk – are re-imagined in highly polished aluminum, which causes them to gleam and create compelling optical illusions. By far one of our city’s most well known artists, he got his start making “junk art” out of steel and iron, but those materials failed to capture the desired effect.

“I grew up in a family of artists,” said Worthington. “My father did the football hall of fame busts. [He was] fanatic with details. That’s what I wanted to accomplish with my art. I’d go to the scrap yard and pick up some heave metal. It was all abstract. Iron and steel – enormous outdoor pieces. Aluminum was a big step into creating what I call giant jewelry. Steel is fine, but I wanted to do finer work. The finishes are so much more beautiful.”

All these pieces are created in a huge studio in Ostrander, Ohio, and shipped throughout the world. Some of the more notable locations include The Sheridan in New York, Salon 7 in Sussex, England, and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission building. His work has also been featured on HGTV and the Food Network, and according to Worthington, appreciators of his artwork “expect perfection.”