Cel-Tec MetalWorks LTD foundry engineering

04/10/2026

02/10/2026

We’ve been working with artist and sculptor Stephen Skrynka on these giant bronze spanners for an exhibition he’s involved in.

They’re cast in solid bronze and have quotes from two industrial speakers and writers cast into them.

Stephen made and patterns himself and got involved with the moulding here at the foundry.

He came back the following week, we gave him a workbench and a bit of basic guidance, and he got stuck into fettling and finishing the castings himself.

He’s now doing the final finishing and patination at his studio, giving them an aged look so they look like they’ve had a lifetime of work.

Great project to be involved in and a nice change having the artist getting stuck into the foundry work himself.

30/09/2026

A quick mock-up of one of the lanterns in steel, made while we waited for the brass and copper to arrive.

It was a useful way of checking that all our templates and formers were spot on before starting on the final lanterns. The brass and copper turned up today, so we can get stuck into those now.

I’ll probably finish this steel one off when I get a chance and put it up at home.

30/09/2026

Out with the old and in with the new!

29/09/2026

One village, 20 new gates — and unfortunately, 40 old concrete-in gate posts to remove!

This is going to keep the team busy for a few days. Removing old timber gates and replacing with fully galvanised steel gates that we freshly made 20 miles up the road

As Seth said we’re Putting the M on Etal too make Metal🤣

18/09/2026

Been a hell of a lot of hours in these!

All made by hand here in the Scottish Borders using steel, brass, bronze, copper, lead and cast iron.

Still plenty to do, but another step closer to getting these lanterns finished! 🔥

18/09/2026

Another busy week for the team

A load of railings finished off and delivered to the galvaniser and a return load of gates!

Loads of gates — enough for a whole village! These were made a few weeks ago and are now ready to install after being galvanised and powder coated.

Also back from the galvaniser is a dome that was made to support a cover for a fountain.

We cast some huge solid bronze spanners and some dainty little brass chest of drawers handles, which will be fettled up next week.

We also made big progress with the lanterns we’ve been working on, finishing off the bases and making the top vent details. They’re all looking amazing!

So is Sam with his lead crown 😂

15/09/2026

A set of 4 cast iron faces for a sculpture that blacksmith Brandon Beck is creating.

The patterns were sculpted in clay by local school students from Jedburgh, which we then used to create the castings.

Here are some photos showing a bit of the process, from the original clay patterns through to the finished cast iron faces.

12/09/2026

For this project, we worked inside a dust containment tent with dust filtration units to help keep the dust contained and away from the rest of the room.

We started by carefully removing the rear brick hearth, with the hope of saving the front marble hearth. Unfortunately, it was too badly damaged and also had to be removed.

We cleaned and restored the inner marble cheeks and cast-iron back plate, before carefully restoring the carved marble chimney piece. This involved removing some poor previous repairs and damage, followed by gently cleaning away years of dirt and grime.

sourced and fitted a new marble front hearth and rear hearth using refractory mortar.

The existing decorative cast-iron back plate was removed and brought back to our workshop, where it was restored and extended to make it suitable for the fire basket. The client supplied the original fire basket which was also in need of restoration and modification to fit correctly with the back plate.

As part of the project, we also made new ceiling hooks for the chandeliers and carried out some minor repairs to the chandeliers themselves.

11/09/2026

Another busy week in the workshop and out on site.

Sam and I finished the restoration of a stunning fireplace at Bowhill house
Seth’s been busy fabricating some safety railings for a Scottish Water site
Some castings finished off and polished for a set of lanterns.
Moulding a set of 14 giant sculptural spanners ready to be cast in bronze next week for an artist from Glasgow.
Started the restoration of a Georgian fire basket.
And a lovely new plaster pattern was dropped off by a sculptor for a set of four column capitals to be cast in cast iron.

Not to mention turning a fairly tidy workshop into complete mayhem! 😂