Posts by Site Administrator

In March, Compass Ironworks participated in the prestigious and world renowned Architectural Digest Home Design Show in Manhattan. We featured an estate gate, that utilized a replicated English design, originally built in 1862. Interior Iron Main Foyer railings were another big hit, and a property security fence replicated from a project from 1927 but built…

Compass Ironworks hosted the NOMMA community during this most recent conference for a shop tour and demonstrations. Craftsmen from across the country browsed through the shop, oohing and ahhing over equipment setups and innovative tooling and forging demonstrations. We shared some of our creative forging techniques, railing table layouts were discussed and there was a…

The Design intent was to portray new Ironworks as “antique” to fit the original estate. The designer was upgrading a 100-year-old house for a client. All upgrades needed to look original to that era. We proposed utilizing 97% recycled Iron material, immersing it in liquid zinc at 835º to prevent rust, then heating the material…

Gold and Bronze at NOMMA’s National Conference Compass won a Gold award in the Non-Forged Driveway Gates Category. The award-winning project was a replication of an English design from 1861. The client submitted a grainy photocopy of a sketch of the historic design and the craftsmen, who were well versed in the techniques and methods,…

Thank you to all of you that made it a great weekend to remember. We loved having you!! To those of you that couldn’t make it, maybe next year! On Friday evening September 19th Compass Ironworks had their client appreciation dinner. Demonstrations started shortly after 5:00. We demonstrated texturing a wood grain effect onto a 5/8”…

How does a salt spray chamber help me sleep better? For years, we have been paranoid of a poor powder-coat job, which could result in an unhappy client and that would leave us with a poor reputation. Now, we have built a salt spray chamber, we can accelerate and monitor finish longevity and I can…

The National Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metals Association (NOMMA), a trade association of the ornamental and miscellaneous metalworking industry, presented Compass with two awards — Silver for “Interior forged railings” and Bronze for “Interior railings with less than the 5% hand-forgings.” Both projects were created from 97% recycled content and located in the Greater Philadelphia and…

The Valley Forge Convention Center will be hosting the 2014 Historic Home Show, on February 28 through March 2nd for anyone who wants to learn about, restore, renovate, decorate, or care for old houses and preserve our architectural history. This show is an invaluable tool for both professionals and homeowners! The Designer Craftsmen Show celebrates…

Hello, We hope you are having a good start to 2014. We wanted to invite you to visit us at Architectural Digest Home Design Show, held March 21st-23rd at Pier 94 in Manhattan, NY. We will be showing our work and samples as well as answering any questions you may have. We are participating to educate and…

It is my experience that good food with good friends have no calories.” We had a very successful 2012 client appreciation dinner. About 75 people enjoyed the shop demonstrations, viewed the pretreatment process and experienced forging techniques. A delicious meal was served; people raved about the ham balls, homemade whoopie pies, and ice cream with…