Scotty Camper Project, and Actually Getting to Use It

We finally managed to take a weekend off in October for our mid-summer week trip. That is what kind of summer it has been. But we got to see the awesome fall colors and find lots of creatures, including a spotted salamander with magical powers. And we cooked all our meals over the camp fire. Of course we brought our "Canned-Ham-Liner". It’s a huge 15 ft. 1975 Scotty Serro Sportsman Camper I bought off some dude in Royal Oak that just got out of jail and needed to pay off his bail. It smelled like a dead goat and cheap hooker perfume. It was riddled in rot, duct tape, liquid nails and dead bugs. But we saw a glass half full of "holy shit this is an awesome camper!" So Peaches and I got ta puttin some serious love back into this smelly p.o.s. and now it gives everybody camper envy.Creepy Salamander!!!

Double Trouble.

Bigger than you head Mushrooms.

"Canned-Ham-Liner"

Before Photo.

This is all we could salvage from the old camper.

Putting it all back together, sept better.

Fresh Paint Job

First Day Home.

3 Hours in Chicago and Other Junk

So I rendezvoused with my Bro from Cleveland, in Toledo, from Detroit, to go to Chicago for 3 hours, then back to Toledo and Detroit and Cleveland. All to pick up a sculpture of mine and some painting of Chris’s. They were all in the Art Dorks Collective’s "Enjoy it While it Lasts" show at the DVA Gallery. We pick up the junk, went to Rotofugi and ate falafel then left.

My sculpture was a big alien plant life form. All steel, rusted, painted with nasty-ness and love.

Thanks Chris for all the support.

Fun at Rotofugi.

Chris being an art-hole. ( and mak'n $$)

As for the other stuff. Here is a big leave sculpture.

Here is a pretty table. I think is weighs 150 lbs w/out top.

And here a funny face to you and the end of summer.

2008 Birmingham Show House Metal Work

Recently I had made five pieces for the Michigan Design Center 2008 Birmingham Show House formal dining room. This was a great project and I got to work with an awesome, awesome designer, Jennifer Taylor.

The two side tables had a sweet mosaic onyx top. I decided to make a matching detail at the leg brace joint, which was a pain-in-the-onyx to create, but well worth the extra 20 hours. The metal has an antique gold painted multi-layered finish.Table in Driveway. (Attractive)

Table in Show House. (Enhanced Attractiveness)

The sconces were so minimal they appeared as if they should not have worked. Created by framing in an old salvaged botanical iron piece. Again with the antique gold.Sconce on plain wall.

Sconce & curtain rod on pretty wall.

The curtain rod seems simple, but proved a welding challenge. I don’t think I will be welding any more curtain rings unless somebody wants to pay huge $$$ for them. Guess what color . . . yep antique gold.

You gotta see the video of the interview with Jennifer Taylor. She is the designer for the dining room whom I worked with on this project. You can catch a glimpse of the metalwork. CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO.

Also check the Birmingham Show House 2008 page HERE.

Precious Memories

Here is a hart-warming story unrelated to metal.

So my retired mother-in-law from Florida stayed with us and watched our daughter for six weeks during the weekdays wile we waited for and opening at daycare. This I am grateful for. The only thing that we asked of her was not to cut her hair. We told her that after her second birthday we were going to take her up to my friends barbershop and make it a cool event for her first hair cut.

But on her last day here SHE CUT OUR DAUGHTER"S HAIR after we asked her NOT TO DO IT. AAAAAHHHHH! When I called her out, she gave me nothing but shit talk and hung up the phone like a sissy. For the sake of my wife, and the fact I don’t carry enough hate, I did not shit talk back (yet). And on top of it all, SHE THREW THE CLIPPINGS IN THE TRASH. Thanks for the love grandma scissors-hands!

So, what do you do with irrational Mother-in-laws? Help please y'all!

It Ain’t All Gorgeous.

This is a brand new 200 pound window grate to replace the old one. It has a satin black powdered coat finish. Not ugly, but very utilitarian.
This is the old one. Very ugly. Makes your prestigious home look . . well not prestigious.

This is a recent table I made. It's ok.

This is a tripped out, self portrait of me welding a tank for Kurt Bovensiep, a friend of mine. It is very, very ugly. But it's awesome once I tell you that it is used to make bio-fuel. Good luck keep'n it green Kurt.

Life has been crazy lately so my blog has been lame. I’m slowly learning how to meet the needs of an ever demanding business while finding time to be a father and a husband (the most important stuff). It is defiantly a struggle, but we will all make it, we have no choice.

I have got a few awesome projects that I am currently creating so stay tuned. I will try my best to not make this blog as lame as it has been.

Berkley Art Bash 2008

The Berkley Art Bash last year was our first art festival ever and I think I was so nervous to really enjoy it. This year was a whole different show. It was way more fun. Got to meet a bunch of cool people from my neighborhood.
Our booth was at a sweet location right in front of the Berkley Chop Shop. There were also a few other Berkley artists showing their goods that are worth checking. Jim Fritsch from Fritsch Glassworks Studio had some impressive geometric Frank Lloydish glass pieces. Nancy Heinzmann from Leland Wood and Wool is all about reusing wool. She makes some very cool pillows and sweaters. A big THANK YOU goes out to April McCrumb from Catching Fireflies for putting on an awesome bash. It was great!

The tiny mollusks were my favorite.

I bought a SWEEET tie from Taryn Boyd at Talking Squid. She makes some cool rugs out of old t-shirts.

Berkley's best metal sculptor, Willie Hahn, snuck in our booth to say "Sup Dog!"

Giant alien plant life crawled onto 12 mile.


I guess every town must have a drunk, like the one sitting in MY chair, harassing the patrons trying to sell his stupid mirrors for booze. I had to kick him out of my booth several times. Other than this guy, everybody was so cool and I'm glad I got to hang with you all.

Grosse Ile Alliance for the Arts Chair Arty Event 2008

Back on May 30, 2008 I entered a super heavy chair that I call “Neptune’s Throne” into a charity auction being held by the Grosse Ile Alliance for the Arts. They call it the “Chair Arty” event. The chair I submitted won third prize! This was a down-river crazy fun evening out, especially once everyone got a little wine in their bellies. Irene Will, one of the curators of the event, helped us get into the event and really made it a positive experience. Thanks Irene! Hope to do it again next year.

Neptune's Throne

Hey Dad! Third aint bad!

I got to meet a lot of people like Rebecca Green (illustrator) and her boyfriend Dustin (metals) who drove for hours just for this event. Rebecca deservingly took first prize with her “Big City” chairs. Be on the lookout for her artwork in the future y’all.

Rebecca Green & one of her cute little chairs.

Berkley Art Bash, June 14

Come over and visit our booth at the Berkley Art Bash on 12 Mile.
June 14. 2008 Berkley Art Bash 10am-5pm
Art, Food, Music, Kids Activities MAP

Putting Your Best Friend to Sleep Sucks

We put Dookie, our dog to sleep today at around 1:30pm. He was losing a battle with his Pemphigus and we couldn’t let him suffer any more. I am writing this with Dookie’s cremated remains, literally still warm from the crematorium in my lap. Today was a beautiful day weather-wise. Not to hot, not to cold, just the way Dook liked it. He got a big grilled medium-rare porterhouse steak today. We just laid in the yard and looked at the cloudless blue sky and listened to the noises of a peaceful day.

Thank you once again Dookie. You will be so missed.
Love Dan, Beth, & Brinley

DOOKIE

Best dog ever! Last picture taken earlier today.

Eastern Market Flower Day 2008 in Review

The people of Detroit are awesome. It felt like everyone at the Eastern Market gave us a big hug. I got a great response to the new pieces. People loved the pressure hollow forms and I sold out of the organic trellises. But don’t worry, you can visit me again at the Berkley Art Bash, June 14th. This is the only other festival I am doing this year, so come on down. I will also be at the Grosse Ile Alliance for the Arts "Chair-Arty" event. May 30, 2008 showing "Neptune's Throne", a very heavy steel chair.

Coming Events:

May 30, Grosse Ile Chair-Arty

Live Auction at 6pm VFW Hall MAP

June 14. 2008 Berkley Art Bash 10am-5pm

Art, Food, Music, Kids Activities MAP

This is a new hand-forged steel sculpture blocking the road.

Lots of new stuff made their debut.

It didn't rain long enough to get our spirits down.

Dan Carmody from the Eastern Market Corporation properly enjoying the Bath Tub Chair.

"My dad makes the coolest metal stuff!"

Rockoutwichyabucketout! Nothing is more tranquil at 8 in the morning than Detroit style bucket break beats y'all.

Mollusk-like bean pod planter.

Crawling alien plant life planter.

See ya at the Eastern Market this Weekend!

So this weekend I will be at the Eastern Market unavailing these new organic, hot metal pressure forms I have been working on. They are like alien plant life forms that are made into functional object like planters and birdhouses. It is the market’s flower day weekend. It runs May 17 & 18 from 7am to 5 pm. So come on down and buy some METAL!!!

I recently built and installed this custom fireplace screen. It has a rusted and distressed paint finish. It also has hidden latching hardware to keep it closed without any visible junk in your video.

My two favorite hairballs, Willie Hahn and Mike Gray were down at the Royal Oak in Bloom show on Mother’s Day selling their super sweet orbital and gravity defying metal sculptures. If you knew how much thought and work went into their sculptures you would slap them upside the head for selling their pieces so cheep. This photo was taken before it rained and they turned ugly. Never get them wet and never ever feed them after midnight.

Arts and Crafts Handrail

The owners of this arts and crafts home wanted a handrail that would stay true to the style of their home in the Royal Oak area. The rail is all steel with a black patina. I had the biggest design block in the initial stages of this rail. The challenge was that craft style is all about simple and functional, and incorporating this into a relatively small metal piece without it looking to under designed was difficult. I spent many hours at the library looking for inspiration, but any metal references I found were just stock bought lame metal junk. As a design solution, I focused on the simple shape of a square, which was already incorporated throughout, the house. I aimed the shape of the square at the functionality of the bolts and stacked two different sized squares for the hand grip giving it an art-deco cross section. The result, a very happy customer.

Square bolts are so funny!

Poor Dookie

I really believe that you have only one chance to have a dog as awesome as Dookie. So my much loved Lab-Wookie mix of 10 and a half years of age was just diagnosed with Pemphigus Foliaceous. It is kind of like Lupus. It is not curable, but manageable. A third of his hair is gone and he has sores over 98% of his body. It took ten weeks and a lot of $$ to find out what it was. Our regular vet was baffled. A specialist narrowed it down and has a plan for the old man. After two days on the drugs he is look better already. The doc says his hair will come back too. It is just nice knowing what it is and how to treat it. I really thought it was going to be "that time" for Dook. I was an emotional wreck. He has been the most kind, loyal and crazy companion to me. Yea, he’s nutz.

Warning Strange Dog

Give Me a Sign!

First of all I am going to say GO TO THE BERKLEY CHOP SHOP. There is no other place to get your hair cut. These are the nicest down to earth guys and are serious about their craft. They offer awesome yet affordable hair cuts for men and women without the stuffy salon atmosphere. The vintage barber chairs and Craftsman tool boxes that they store their barber weapons in go with the sweet rock-a-billy motif. This barbershop is like no other so go there now!
(248) 546-2237
2980 12 Mile Rd.
Berkley, MI 48072
Berkley Chop Shop

Now that I’m done plugging . . . . The other week I helped Jason, the owner, hang his sign. We picked an awful day to be climbing up on ladders with a 100-pound steel structure over his customer’s nice hair dews. He had the face of the sign already made sitting in his shop for a while built by his friend Dave. I built an arcing dimensional framework for it as well as added the sparkly diamond plate to give it volume. Jay loves his diamond plate, and rightly so. Now everyone knows where the Berkley Chop Shop is! Look for it next time your driving down 12 mile. It's right next to that little old neon marquee the reads "Berkley Theater".

Jay is so old school and badazz he rode in the bed of the old pick-um-up as we transported the sign. His pomade might have frozen but not one hair went out of place.

Jay's pole done broke!Simon says "put your hands in your pockets".
Metal!!!Shredded Bark? I have lived in Berkley for thirteen years and have driven past this sign thousands of times. I was feeling honored, seeing the sign and the downtown from a perspective not many get to see. Thanks Berkley.Roxy awaits a pompadour.

Ink spills all over the place as Jay shows of an epic hair-cutting pose. No, that is NOT beer I’m drinking.Thanks Jay. Best wishes to you, your family and everyone at the Chop Shop.

Tanks A Lot, Ice Jam!

While visiting my family out on Harsen’s Island the other weekend I stumbled across an old tank hiding in the marsh. I think I am going to try to salvage and reuse it. It was an old horse drawn water tank and would make an impressive bench.

Also saw the first Spring Peeper of 2008. We did not eat him.
In the morning when it was time to go the ferry was not running due to the ice flows from the spring melt. So my wife and I had to leave the car behind. Put on some survival gear. Get on an airboat with a 19-month-old, and an old dog and four inches of bilge water sloshing around. Slide across broken chunks of ice half as big as my house in fifty feet of water. Wait an hour outside for a cab to take us to Sterling Heights, then take the work truck home. A trip that normally takes 75 minutes took us five and a half hours. But we made it home safe considering the adventure.
And somewhat confused by this sign in Algonac?

Reception Window Project

This is a decorative security window for an accounting firm that I recently installed. I designed a rail system that allowed it to be slid open when the receptionist was present. It is all steel with some hand-forged elements. Its finish is simply media-blasted and clear coated with some chemically blackened areas. The overall design was loosely motivated by their logo. I also installed the curved countertop. It is all steel with a blackened finish and clear coat.

Lara and Peter liked the window. Peter said it made him feel warm and fuzzy. But he is kind of a basket case. Umm . . yea.

Blizzards, Sharks, & Rum

I don’t want to bore anyone with my vacation photos, but I am going to do it anyway. So we had to drive to Cleveland to fly to Nassau on a Friday night. Our flight was canceled twice due to the blizzard. We then drove to Detroit Sunday evening to fly out on Monday morning. But on the plus, we stopped at Tony Packo’s on the way in Toledo.

Tony Packo has nice buns.

When we finally got there we saw some fish.

We took a ride.

We ate some conch.

We swam with sharks.

We danced in the streets.

We drank some rum.

And all the girls had fun.

It was good to hang with the fam for a couple of days. Swimming with the sharks was crazy crazy crazy and it was way awesome to do nothing for a couple of days. My bro has some cool photos of this trip on HIS BLOG.

Now back to the metal!!!

White Sandy Beaches

So we made it to the Bahamas. Wait! No we didn’t! We got stuck in Cleveland for two days as mother f…..nature dumped on our plane rides.

Representing the finest Polish-American gene pool. Word.

MAD RUSH

Amongst a ton of projects happening, this was the last job I installed before I left on vacation. It still needs the cable system installed so we will revisit this project in a later post. OK. Yes Dan.
Also there is a wild beast living in the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle. Not sure if it is a pet or a crafty stray. Either way, if I were a cat this would be an awesome place to live. Then again, if I were a human, this would be an awesome place to live.

Of Coarse, A Horse.

What the heck happened to February? For me it was filled with all that administrative junk that you have to do when you are self-employed like taxes, TPS Reports, 27B/6’s and all that boring paperwork. But all is not mundane, I was engulfed in three of my biggest proposals to date. They are super huge, but more on them later. I also created this maquette of a horse sculpture to ride me into March. A big "Thank You!" must go out to the Mirror for the niiiice article on us.

Front Page! Check it out here. Thanks Megan Pennefather and congratulations!

Now I must weld myself out of a pile of projects. I’ve got a couple of railings, some sculptures, some stainless back-splashes, and a decorative window panel to build. Back to work!!

The "E" Store

So we decided to start selling some ready made items as part of an expansion of North Forge’s capabilities. Phase one was to open an e-store, which we finally did. We have been talking about it for a year and finally took the time to do it. The items in our store right now range from some our garden and tiki items that we were building in our garage years ago, to a lot of new furnishings more geared toward the a new direction of North Forge designs. All of the items in the store are designed by us and they are all hand made one at a time. We are using Etsy for our store hosting. Etsy is a forum for people in the crafts to sell all hand-made goods. It is a very cool concept and they have been so good to us. They wrote a cool article on their blog to help promote us. Check out the article HERE. Thanks Etsy! So go to the store and buy all kinds of good stuff right now. Baby needs diapers. Thanks!

Link to the North Forge e-store Here.

Bath Tub Chair. Yes it's an old bathtub.

Dot Table.

Crazy Leg Crate Table.

Garden Hose Guards.

We Made It!

Yes, we made it through the holidays and they were awesome. I've been super busy in the studio with a lot of little projects. A lot of quoting and design work is going on for some exciting projects in the near future. Stay posted for that. For now check out these sweet tables and consoles I made for Marianne Jones. She is incredible at finding worthy antique metal pieces that all seem to come from a cool abroad location and with an interesting history. She then designs these striking vanities and consoles to showcase the original piece in a functional form. You should check out HER SITE and buy a vanity from her. Tell her Dan sent you.

Now some personal stuff. We got some snow, like eight inches of it. The way I see it is you can either stay at home and complain about it or you can go to the zoo. I only saw four other people that saw it my way.

Christmas was so cool. Brinley, my daughter, was with the program enough to open her presents this year. Magical stuff!

Then off to Cleveland to visit the family for New Years. My brother and his family took us to a cool nature center wear the bats we found in the last post are now living. They say that it cost about $1000 to feed a bat for a year. Don't get a pet bat if your tight on cash.

Beth, my wife, rocked out 07 and into 08.

And the Cleveland Zoo was chilly on New Years Eve, more popularly known as Chloe's Birthday.

Nephew Ben, Niece Chloe 2nd B-Day, Daughter Brinley, Monkey.

Animal, Mineral, Vegetable Eater

So where can I get some brushed stainless steel with a custom leopard-print cut out? Well, right here at North Forge!! Come on down!

Also, I went to Cleveland, OH this weekend to do some restoration work on my brother’s Dutch colonial and we woke up some hibernating bats. Three in all. We did some quick research and found that a disturbance like this in their hibernation depletes their fat reserves about one week. So they are going to live in a jar in my brother's basement for the rest of the winter. Only to be set free in the spring to wreak havoc, spread rabies and bite peoples necks.

That's my brother taking pictures for his blog. . . NERD!

Gobble Gobble . . .

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! The Holiday season has officially come to Detroit. The tannenbaum was lit at Campus Martius and the parade was nice and cold. Nothing a little festive hot chocolate couldn’t fix. And we ate dead bird with all the fine fixinz at our friend’s home, Amy and Jamie.

Hey, the DIA finally opened this weekend. Last time I went was about four years ago and I was so discouraged by all the construction and all the art that you couldn’t see. I vowed not to go back until the construction was done. It’s been six long years total, but now you can see everything (except the Asian gallery). They did an awesome job on the new floor plan and the rearrangement of the collection. It was cool to see my 15 month old daughter walk into Rivera Court for the first time in total awe. You should go.

Mirror Mirror, Whats Cook'n?

I got the opportunity to build a demonstration mirror for Two Unique Caterers in Royal Oak. They have been holding classes in their kitchen and needed an over-head mirror to give everyone a birds eye view. It is a stainless steel construction, welded on-site to the existing stainless table.

The deposit for this job was made in cookies. Some of the best I have ever had. These are super cool people with a serious passion for food. Chef Kelli Lewton, the owner, always hooks me up with some incredible tasting organic goodies whenever I do work for her. They are also starting a home delivered organic food program after the new year. Check it out at Twounique.com

Chef Kelli Lewton (left) in action with her new mirror.

Notice the purple scrolling adjustment handles at the top. Crazy!

Lighthouse Handrail, Installation

The installation took place on the weekend of November 3 and 4, 2007. The crew included Chuck Brockman from SOSCL, Willie Hahn (Detroit’s own international metal sculptor), my own dad Jim Ryniak who has worked with me on other installations on Harsen’s Island, and I (Dan Ryniak from North Forge) came along with a hard-hat and a clipboard to boss everybody around. All of us have donated our time for this install, but not as much time a Chuck (18 years and counting).


I think we used up all of the beautiful days left in 2007. There was little wind, the lake was like glass all weekend and the temperature was nowhere near cold.



One element that we had to deal with was the record low lake levels. We probably spent and extra 3 hours total battling the shallow water. Our launch site was really shallow and when we got all of the torch tanks, tools, railings, generators and 4 people on board our barge, we were sitting on bottom. I had to get in the water and push while everybody else pushed with 2x4s.



Other than that, the install when pretty smooth. We did not forget to bring anything, no one got hurt, and the railing looks good. All before Old Man Winter swallow the lighthouse whole.

Thanks once again to Chuck Brockman for the opportunity to be apart of this project.


The barge with all the equipment sitting on the bottom of the lake at the launch site.
Left to right: Jim Ryniak, Chuck Brockman, and Willie Hahn.Approaching the lighthouses early Saturday morning.At the lighthouse an old nest provided extra protein for a long day of work.Willie only bashed his bean 700 times. Yes he is standing flat on the ground.Willie drilling a mortise.The holes were then countersunk from the top in the event we had to grind down the riveted tenon ends.Heating the tenon.Peening over tenon into a rivet head.One done. A whole bunch more to go.My Dad pre-fitting the railing.Because the wall was not a perfect cylinder, a little bending was in order.
Getting ready to rivet the scarf joints together.
We used ceramic insulation to protect the wall from heat. A little more heat please. Some painting touch ups.Final product.

Thank you South Channel Lighthouse!

There are five total posts for the Lighthouse Project documenting it's construction. Check them out here.

• Lighthouse Project Part 1, Taking Measurements
• Lighthouse Project Part 2, The Design
• Lighthouse Project Part 3, Handrail Construction
• Lighthouse Project Part 4, Bracket Construction
• Lighthouse Project Part 5, Installation

Lighthouse Handrail, Bracket Construction

The brackets for the handrail were to be a mortise and tenon style. Their location were to be determined on site so they could be slid up or down to hit the mortar line and keeping the rail at a consistent height. This means a lot of drilling mortises and peening over tenons on site.

Using a knock down fuller to start the tenon.

Stage one of tenon at the treadle hammer.

Stage two of tenon in power hammer.

Stage three in a spring swage or tenon die at the power hammer.

Tenon going into a monkey plate.

The last step of the tenon is to upset the shoulder in the monkey plate.

Stage one of the mounting bracket.

Stage two.

Stage three.

Stage four.

Final stage. I used a jig to keep all the brackets consistent.

Final product. I then drilled a hole in the mounting surface then cut the tenon to length with a band saw.

There are five total posts for the Lighthouse Project documenting it's construction. Check them out here.
Lighthouse Project Part 1, Taking Measurements
Lighthouse Project Part 2, The Design
Lighthouse Project Part 3, Handrail Construction
Lighthouse Project Part 4, Bracket Construction
Lighthouse Project Part 5, Installation

Lighthouse Project, Handrail Construction

The handrail was made of simple ½ x 1.5 steel with the edges knocked down with a flap wheel.

The on edge bend was formed hot with a jig.

I like to use big steel angle for on edge bend jigs. The wide surface gives you something to forge against to keep the workpiece flat.

All of the on edge bends after final tweaking.

Next is the fishtail taper for the ends. I used my Detroit style anvil for most of the hand forging. It is just a 275 pound block of steel. Its shape allowed me to use the flat sides to forge the scarf joints on the long pieces.

I heated the angle with a torch then upset it into a right angle.

The first angle of the bracket end. Don't hate my vice, one day I will be able to afford a real blacksmith vice.

Heating the second bend of the end bracket.

Bending the third and final bend of the end bracket.

Starting the scarf joint.

Forging the scarf joint in the big hammer.

I was able to control the width of the scarf joint with the power hammer with one of the short pieces. The long pieces were done by hand on the side of my Detroit style anvil.

Willie Hahn and I forging a scarf joint on one of the long sections.

The final scarf bent back into shape with jig.

Holes were drilled into scarf ends.

The final twist was done cold. I tore up my shoulder doing so.

Chad Vader did the sandblasting before a zinc primer and two coats of industrial black rust-inhibiting paint was applied.

There are five total posts for the Lighthouse Project documenting it's construction. Check them out here.
Lighthouse Project Part 1, Taking Measurements
Lighthouse Project Part 2, The Design
Lighthouse Project Part 3, Handrail Construction
Lighthouse Project Part 4, Bracket Construction
Lighthouse Project Part 5, Installation

Lighthouse Project, The Design

This job is for a handrail on the inside wall of the lighthouse accompanying the spiral staircase. It is to extent from the first step at the base to the last at the lantern house.

To be historically correct is impossible because there was no railing historically. The handrail is needed because there will be future public tours of this lighthouse and liability insurance requires it. The design could have been dictated be the patterns and scrolls in the existing cast iron stairs, but understandably the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office required the railing to not look like a custom job. Ultimately the design was to be a very simple utilitarian one, using some traditional constructional methods that I still frequently use in my craft.


Modern building codes also played their role in the design. The end of the rails needed to return to the wall per code. The code also dictated our railing height and the cross-section of the railing for gripablity.

Another element to consider was to have as less of an impact on the structure’s historical integrity as possible at installation. To do this all of the mounting bolts were to be anchored into mortar lines and not the brick. This meant that all of the bracket locations and the end brackets holes were to be determined on site.

The bracket in the foreground is the utilitarian design that was decided on.

The brackets are to be a mortise and tenon construction. Their location is to be determined on site to avoid hitting any bricks.

Here are a few samples of the end of rail brackets that mount to the wall. We went with the simple fish taper. The bracket is long enough to give us two mounting holes in line with the mortar lines.

There are five total posts for the Lighthouse Project documenting it's construction. Check them out here.
Lighthouse Project Part 1, Taking Measurements
Lighthouse Project Part 2, The Design
Lighthouse Project Part 3, Handrail Construction
Lighthouse Project Part 4, Bracket Construction
Lighthouse Project Part 5, Installation

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween Earthlings! My wife and I got to take our daughter trick-or treating for the first time. I had not done so since I was a kid. Definitely a cool experience."Hey you there, I come in peace. Now give me your candy"

Lighthouse Project, Taking Measurements

What an awesome project! I have been given the opportunity to build a handrail for a super incredible building. Incredible because it is a historical lighthouse built in 1859. Also because it is indisputably the most remote job site in the Detroit area. To get to the South Channel Range Lighthouses you need to take an auto ferry from Algonac to Harsen’s Island across the North Channel of the St.Clair River Delta. From there you take a privet boat on a half –hour ride (if the waters is calm) out into the middle of Lake St.Clair.

I would like to thank the Save Our South Channel Lights Association and Chuck Brockman, a man of dedication, who has spent the last 18 years committed to the restoration of this historic treasure. I definitely recommend checking out their site. History buffs will enjoy the video.

Currently I am at the tail end of the entire forging for the railing and will post photos when it is 100%. The following photos were taken September 05,07 (a most beautiful day) when Chuck Brockman and I went out to the lighthouse to take measurements and come up with a game plan. It is a rare opportunity to visit this lighthouse so I am posting a lot of photos to share with all.

Photos taken September 05, 07 before project started.


Both of the range lighthouses.

This is the one that needs a handrail.

View from door looking in.

View looking up from inside door.

Looking down thirty steps up is a landing with a window. And I have cool shoes.

The last eleven steps to the lantern room are steep.

Standing on the highest steps looking down. Again, SHOES!

The hatch I just climbed through in the lantern room. FYI: Watch your melon.

Casting restoration around the top. The view up here is vast. I can see the Renaissance Center.

Random cool photos took on the way.



There are five total posts for the Lighthouse Project documenting it's construction. Check them out here.
Lighthouse Project Part 1, Taking Measurements
Lighthouse Project Part 2, The Design
Lighthouse Project Part 3, Handrail Construction
Lighthouse Project Part 4, Bracket Construction
Lighthouse Project Part 5, Installation

Good News

I just wanted to thank the Troy-Somerset Gazette for the NICE article they published on October 22. Thank you so much. I got some good response.

Photo printed in the Troy-Somerset Gazette. Hey is that an original Willie Hahn sculpture in the background?

Always a fruitful harvest at the Eastern Market. Even on this cold rainy morning. Lots of good and cheap Michigan produce. We love it.

Some Serious Stainless Steel

Here is a railing that I have been working on and installed last week. It was for a residential home in Troy Michigan. All stainless steel with a brushed finish. It was a super clean look with all its horizontal lines.

A lot of love went into this spiral section.

The true test was in the miter, and all the "measuring twice" paid off.

It just doesn't look as good in the studio.

Hey Geese! Careful of that giant hard-boiled egg slicer, yo!

So I'm starting a blog...

It's been a long time talking about starting this blog. So here it is.
I have a lot of cool things coming up in the future and this is the perfect way to let everybody know what's happn'n. Hope you all enjoy.
Thanks,
Dan Ryniak
North Forge

It was hard to decide on the best one, but my wife and I picked out the perfect pumpkin earlier today.