Dead Head Forge Ornamental Ironwork

Dead Head Forge Ornamental Ironwork Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Dead Head Forge Ornamental Ironwork, Metal Fabricator, 2850 303rd Street, Menlo, IA.

Hand Forged, Hand Filed, Handmade.

• Full-time business specializing in custom ironwork, sculptures, and historical restorations of original pieces.

• Contact me today for any gates, railing, or other exterior ironwork that you may want!

If you planned on seeing me at the blacksmith shop in West Amana today I do apologize I will NOT be there. Last night ab...
09/05/2026

If you planned on seeing me at the blacksmith shop in West Amana today I do apologize I will NOT be there. Last night about the time I was closing the shop up I was notified about a family emergency and I had to get home. Again I apologize for not being open if you planned to come, but hopefully soon I’ll be able to host some new events out of the shop to help bring in some more people out to see it. Thank you to those who stopped by yesterday it was really nice to see and meet some of you!

09/04/2026

Forgot to mention that a portion of what I sell the mailbox for, will go towards helping repair the shop!

Swing out and see me!

09/03/2026

If you plan to attend Handwork’s in Amana Iowa please watch this video!

Even though it’s stated in the video I plan to be here from 4-7:30/8:00 this afternoon along with 9-3 both Friday and Saturday here in West Amana at the Blacksmith shop!

Ever since I started doing patina’s on dead heads I’ve been eager to do a buffalo skull. Well that dream came true when ...
09/03/2026

Ever since I started doing patina’s on dead heads I’ve been eager to do a buffalo skull. Well that dream came true when I was commissioned to do this one for one of the business owner’s in Walnut. I’m extremely happy with how this turned out, the finish is aged bronze that I hit with some acid to give it that nice green color.

If you have a head that you want done please feel free to reach out!

Blacksmith friends and those setting up for Handwork’s I’m planning on being at the shop later afternoon Thursday to set...
09/02/2026

Blacksmith friends and those setting up for Handwork’s I’m planning on being at the shop later afternoon Thursday to set up and give some private tours before the big couple of days in the case you can’t make it in time swing by. I’m not for sure of the exact time I’ll be there Thursday as of right now, but by around noon Thursday I’ll have a better idea (it’s about a 2 1/2 hour drive for me). For those who plan to attend to see the shop over Friday and Saturday as much as I planned on demonstrating forging some woodworking tools I’ve decided against it since I don’t have the proper materials. Instead I’ll be starting a project out of my “Dream collection”. I’ll be posting more about it tomorrow! While in the shop for the event I’ll be taking donations to help us restore the shop and bring in new events too once it’s fixed up better!

09/01/2026

A decent mornings worth of leaves and feet.

September is going to be one hell of a month or a hell month haven’t decided which yet, and it’s not just because this w...
09/01/2026

September is going to be one hell of a month or a hell month haven’t decided which yet, and it’s not just because this week decided to get hot again. Tonight I went through and figured out my schedule for working on these larger jobs and what I want to have done by when. Along with figuring out all of my events I plan to attend this month such as the demo in West Amana while Handwork’s is going on this weekend. Also for those with the smaller orders don’t worry I plan to be working on them as the month goes by. Though this may come off as a little bit of a complaint it’s definitely not. I’m extremely blessed to have all of this work!

While working on my larger jobs over the last week, I’ve been waiting on these catalogs to show up. The last fence I res...
08/31/2026

While working on my larger jobs over the last week, I’ve been waiting on these catalogs to show up. The last fence I restored used completely different joinery that how this one is assembled and I questioned on how the pickets were joined to the channel since the last one I did was a mixture of tenons and screws to hold them into place along with some lead setting. This fence doesn’t have that. So like most things I do I had to research, and what I found was completely different from what I assumed. This fence was pressed and caulked to ensure they didn’t move though they did electrically weld them around 1930+. The top catalog has a lot more information on the process of how they were set, along with talking about the company’s own patented 3 ribbed channel iron that they built them with. In situations like this I’m happy to be able to find catalogs like these that helps me understand the company who originally made these along with seeing other styles they build in the case I ever restore a different style. The top catalog is from 1934 and the bottom is from 1915.

Zoey and I took a little trip to Walnut yesterday to check out the antique shops and while we were there I picked up thi...
08/30/2026

Zoey and I took a little trip to Walnut yesterday to check out the antique shops and while we were there I picked up this goat skull. Now that the patina is applied and it’s finished I have it now up on my website if anyone is interested in it! Also while I was there I was commissioned to patina a head for the store owners so stay tuned to see how that one turns out!

https://www.deadheadforgeornamentalironwork.com/store/p/ecumvra28paw6axr7hvv6x21xroh3h

08/28/2026

Material is cut and I’m ready to start forging! Looking forward to doing some punching and drifting on these rails since each one will have a pass through spindle. The plan is to keep this rail as simple as possible, but it’ll still use traditional joinery for a good chunk of it.

Address

2850 303rd Street
Menlo, IA
50164

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 6pm
Tuesday 8am - 6pm
Wednesday 8am - 6pm
Thursday 8am - 6pm
Friday 8am - 6pm

Telephone

+15152499210

Website

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