| Caitlyn Davison |
NGXchange is proud to highlight positive stories about the people and places in New Gloucester, including through our NG at Work profile series, featuring local businesses. Read on below about how to share your business in NG at Work.
For the next piece in our NG at Work series, we are delighted to present Tony Stanley’s business Forged by Thor.
Your name and your business’s name?
I’m Tony Stanley and my business is Forged by Thor.
Where are you located?
My shop is at my home on Intervale Road, though I do not have items readily available for sale there.
Tell us a bit about your business—what do you do, what do you offer?
I’m a blacksmith. As a blacksmith I heat metal, shape it with a hammer, twist it, and transform it into a functional item.
My focus is on practical everyday items. I forge things like fire pokers, grill tools, kitchen utensils, outdoor and gardening tools, etc. These are items I sell online and in person at events.
I also do custom work. Some custom work I’ve done include a sign hanger for a local business, coffee table legs, and historic reproduction work, including work for the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village.
How many years have you been in New Gloucester?
I started selling my work in October 2022, so just over two years as I write this.
How many people are employed by your business?
Technically speaking, it’s just me. However, my wife Stacy attends events and shows with me as well as handling the marketing for the company.
What brought you to New Gloucester?
During Covid my wife and I bought our home here in New Gloucester. We moved from Westbrook where we lived for 20 years. With that home came a lot of land and space for me to begin my blacksmithing career.
What are three things you wish people in New Gloucester knew about your business?
1) Everything I make is hand-forged and it’s done one at a time. By hand-forged I mean to say it’s me, the forge, hammer, and anvil – the way things were made for countless centuries.
With hand-forged items comes quality and everything I forge will last for generations. So while my items cost more than what you’ll find in a retail store or online, my items will last forever and won’t need replacing like store-bought products.
2) I take custom orders and if it’s made of metal, then there’s a good chance I can forge it for you. Sometimes someone just wants a longer fire poker and other times someone wants something unique. Other times someone wants something I’ve never heard of.
Regardless, commission work is the heart and soul of what I do. It’s where a majority of my business comes from and it’s also what I have the most fun doing. I’m always looking for an opportunity to make something I’ve never made before. I will say that I do not forge blades of any type (knives, swords, axes, etc.) or architectural work (fences, gates, rails, etc.). Those are questions I’m commonly asked.
3) Blacksmithing is a labor of love. There are absolutely easier and cheaper ways to make the things that I make but there’s no more gratifying way to do it than blacksmithing. Humankind has been blacksmithing since the discovery of fire and it’s something that’s a part of us just waiting to be discovered.
There’s a sense of accomplishment and pride in being able to create something useful from a piece of metal. The work is slow, hot, and tiring, but anything worth doing shouldn’t be easy.
The reason I do this is because I love it. There’s a sense of peace to be found in the chaos of hot metal, hammer, and anvil that I’ve yet to find anywhere else.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your work?
When I deliver a commission for someone and I get to see how happy they are with it. It’s an honor to get to forge something special for someone. Whether they want a simple letter opener or andirons for their fireplace. I’m being trusted to perform a job to their specifications. Being able to deliver that to the customer and see their appreciation for the work, their happiness with it, is why I do this.
What is the most challenging aspect of your work?
Honestly, trying to juggle everything. I handle all aspects of my business from the website to phone calls, emails, quotes, meeting up with customers, doing the work, shipping and delivery, etc. As I said, my wife is a tremendous help by managing the marketing elements of the business, but everything else falls to me and it’s hard to balance it all.
Tell us about your hopes/dreams for the future—what do you hope your business will look like a few years from now?
At the moment blacksmithing is not a full-time job for me. I have a day job and work my business of blacksmithing around that. My goal is to be full time with the blacksmithing and that will allow me more opportunities for work and to grow my business.
With that I need to get a building built for my forge (shop). At the moment I work outside year-round under the overhang of my barn. Not only would a proper shop get me out of the elements, but it would allow me to get some equipment that I can’t currently get since I’m working outside.
How can the New Gloucester community support you and your business?
The easiest way is by liking/following Forged by Thor on Facebook and Instagram. Showing your support by following my business gives me a larger reach on those platforms and allows me to reach more people with it. I know not everyone has the money for hand-forged items, but liking my business on social media is an incredible help and it’s free.
How can people learn more and stay connected with you?
My website is forgedbythor.com and there you will find not only products to buy but events I will be at and a newsletter. My phone number and email are also on my site for means of contact.
Of course there’s social media and you’ll find me on Facebook and Instagram @forgedbythor
Any last words/final comments?
I appreciate the opportunity to share my business with the community. Blacksmithing was a hobby that evolved into the small business it is today. That is in no small part thanks to the people reading this.
The first fair I sold my work at was at Thompson’s Orchard in October 2022 and I was blown away by the support. I figured this would be a hobby that I made a little money at every now and then, but it’s been so much more than that thanks to the continued support I get from the local people.
— If you’d like to have your New Gloucester-based business featured as part of our NG at Work series, please complete the form at https://forms.gle/1A4mnMkpk1NeJZQZ7) or contact Debra and Joanne at editor@ngxchange.org.
