Finding a seat at the table

Since the founding of the business, Wiskel estimates the shop has produced a few thousand sets of table legs and bases. Images: Black & Smith Ironworks.

It started out as a side hustle. Barry Wiskel first got his feet wet as a metal fabricator while working at Kawartha Metals in Peterborough, Ont. He started off on the saw and drill press, and as his experience and time at the shop grew, he was trained to weld and perform fabricating operations. However, metal fabrication was not Wiskel’s primary focus at the time. He and his wife, Michaela Brown, both attended the University of Guelph, where Wiskel studied accounting and Brown microbiology. The duo successfully graduated and began work in their chosen career paths.

"I wasn’t your typical office worker, and with that I realized how much I liked to work with my hands," said Wiskel, co-owner of Black & Smith Ironworks, Cavan, Ont. "And although I was working in accounting, I started a side hustle fabricating custom metal projects including railings, table legs, and anything my friends and family needed."

In 2017 metal and wood furniture manufacturing was on an upward trend, and Wiskel seized the opportunity to transform his side business into his primary focus. Initially he put his products on Etsy and created a website where he could promote and sell his work.

"That’s how we got our start," he said. "That year we got our first big project, producing all of the store fixtures for a dancewear studio in Toronto. And with that, I left my job in accounting to do this full time. As more and more work came in, Michaela decided that she, too, wanted to leave her job in microbiology and start learning the trade. With her background, she brings a focus on detail and quality."

The two decided to rent a space in Brighton, Ont., where they began to grow the furniture fabrication business. It wasn’t long after settling in that they outgrew the workshop and decided to build their own 4,200-sq.-ft. facility on Brown’s family farm in Cavan. By December 2018 the shop was up and running.

"It has really been growing ever since then," said Wiskel.

The Shop

Most of the shop is focused on metal fabrication, with 3,000 sq. ft. designated for metalworking. The facility includes a number of fixturing tables for welding, grind tables, and fume extractors mounted to the walls. It also includes a hydraulic automated band saw and standard shop equipment. And as business is continuing to expand, requiring more stock steel, Wiskel is currently working on building cantilever racking for bundles to free up more space.

The other 1,200 sq. ft. is dedicated to woodworking, an area of opportunity the duo hopes to capitalize on.

"We are probably a bit smaller than your usual fabrication shop, but we have big ambitions to grow as we want," Wiskel said. "Right now we do the odd project with wood, but we aren’t fully operational yet. With the move into woodworking, that will give us the opportunity to produce more finished goods."

And as for wood machinery, the shop includes an automatic sliding table saw, a wide belt sander, a CNC router table, a jointer, and a planer. Currently everything is hooked up and ready to go; the shop is just waiting to have its dust-collection system installed.

Brown is responsible for cutting and drilling everything needed for the furniture components, while Wiskel is focused on welding and grinding operations.

Furniture Fabrication

"Our goal is to have the best quality products and outstanding customer service, as opposed to selling anything and everything," said Wiskel. "At the start we would agree to almost any job, but now we’ve adapted and learned to stick to what we excel at and what we can perfect."

For the most part, the shop works with tube, flat bar, and angle, all of which tend to be fairly light as the furniture needs to be able to be moved and carried. The square tube ranges from ½ by ½ in. to 4 by 4 in., but the most common bundles are 2- by 2-in., 0.100-in. thick wall and 3- by 3-in., 0.100-in. thick wall.

"For the top mounting plates on table legs, we used to stock a lot of flat bar, but now we’ve become so busy that we outsource all of our top plates," said Wiskel. "We get them laser-cut at another local fab shop. That way we don’t have to worry about milling slots or drilling holes. Everything’s already precut to size with slotted holes."

At Black & Smith Ironworks, everything is built to order. This is because most furniture components—table legs and bases—are customized to meet project needs, especially in height and width. It doesn’t make sense for the shop to stock standard products, as they may sit on the shelf. With space at a premium, the shop has found the build-to-order model makes the most sense. Once a person places an order, the shop is able give the customer an estimated lead time. Currently, the shop is working at a six- to eight-week production lead time for table legs.

"Once it’s on the order board, it goes into queue," said Wiskel. "We try to batchwork the table legs. We will fabricate batches of 15 sets of table legs at a time. Michaela will cut and drill everything needed for the components. Then I will do all the welding and grinding and ensure that we have a nice smooth surface and clean finish. Once we fabricate a batch of table legs, we ship [them] out for powder coating, which usually takes about a week. Once the legs return, we will hand-box the legs and ship them across Canada and the U.S."

Since the founding of the business Wiskel estimates that the shop has produced a few thousand sets of table legs and bases. In the early days there were not a lot of companies competing in this space, but as the industry moved in an upward trend, more shops are now doing custom furniture fabrication work.

However, Wiskel is not worried about competition. The shop is focused on its quality work and meeting the needs of its customers however it can. Today the shop has a constant stream of table leg batch work while still being able to take on custom jobs like railings, municipal work, and residential projects. There is quite a bit of work being done for interior designers, cabinet makers and contractors.

"Typically we strive to accommodate everybody, and we work with a lot of customers who need specific sizing to suit their homes which they can’t find in a department store," said Wiskel. "We have a high willingness to take on custom projects. A lot of fab shops have a large overhead, and they don’t have the time to deal with every single customer, especially on a small project. That’s where we differ. We want to provide top-quality products while also building strong relationships with our customers, whether they are individual homeowners or a municipality."

For example, the shop recently took on a 20-ft. fireplace surround for a cottage. The customer had an idea of what they wanted but couldn’t find a business to do it in Canada.

"Custom projects typically require a lot of research and experimentation, for example with the patina finishes for this project," said Wiskel. "In the end the result was really great, and the customer was really happy with it. If we were to do it again, we could do it a lot more efficiently, and now we can likely build the same fireplace in half the time. But the experience was worthwhile, and we were able to learn new skills and now oTher it as part of our portfolio."

Wiskel’s favorite project, a 10-m-long 3D block letter installation for a waterfront park, required the duo to fabricate 11 letters that sat individually on plates.

Another notable project, and one of Wiskel’s favorites thus far, is a 3D block letter installation for a waterfront park. With 11 letters sitting individually on plates, the installation spans 10 m long. The team built an exoskeleton using laser-cut sheets that were welded together, ground flush, and powder-coated.

"It was such a cool project to work on," he said. "And every custom project is really a learning tool."

Business Opportunities

Right now the shop is focused on producing table legs and bases, which makes up 80 per cent of all business. The other 20 per cent is primarily custom work like railings and municipal work. However, Wiskel believes that if they can move into the finished good space, they will be able to grow profit margins significantly.

"We figure if we start offering finished tables, both the bases and the tops, then it will really change the focus of our business," said Wiskel. "The market demand for finished goods is much greater than the market for selling table legs and bases. Right now we are selling to DIYers, woodworkers, and some retailers. However, with finished goods, it opens up our potential to sell to every homeowner. That being said, we’re not planning to get out of building the stand-alone table legs. We have built a loyal customer base and we would never leave them hanging. Instead, we plan to continue our operations and expand where we can."

Before the pandemic, Black & Smith Ironworks also employed a full-time welder to work alongside Wiskel. However, the restrictions made that more challenging, and because of safety concerns, Wiskel and Brown decided it was best to continue the operations alone. Although the shop was down a worker, business never really slowed; if anything, it got busier for the duo. In the fall they hope to bring on a full-time woodworker.

"We are very lucky to work with a number of different local fab shops as well," said Wiskel. "We can bounce ideas off of them or even get some mentorship if we decide to take on a project requiring a new skill. With Michaela’s background in microbiology, she is highly skilled in quality control and ensuring everything is perfect, which is really important to us and what sets us apart. Going forward, our emphasis will be on producing high-quality dining tables, coffee tables, game tables, and office furniture. I think this will open us up to more retail locations and expand our market reach. And from there I’m sure will be a cascading effect."

Associate Editor Lindsay Luminoso can be reached at lluminoso@canadianfabweld.com.

Black & Smith Ironworks, www.blackandsmithironworks.com

This custom 20-ft. fireplace surround project required the shop to research and experiment, especially with patina finishes. But Wiskel was very happy with the finished product and confident in the shop’s skills to take on similar projects.