Whats happening at Torchcraft....

Well, this is brotherly love in true fashion.  A fellow in Washington state wanted to give his brother in Memphis, Tennessee a sign for his new farm.  The brother favors the image on the sign......a chichen playing a guitar.  This may have something to do with the fact that the Tennessee brother is involved in music.  The font used is IRON MAIDEN for you that are young enough to recognize that name.  It was explained to me.  The sign is shown in raw steel prior to painted black. 

Over the years, Torchcraft has made many pieces for gates made by other fabricators and Torchcraft makes gates from time to time.  I recently made a gate to display in front of my store to show the public that I welcome gates and always ready to place names and art on them.  The gate shown here is
a 13 foot gate with a 2" outside frame and 3/4" pickets.  Heigth is approximately 72" at the top of the arch and had 60" sides. 

This is a repeat on an original order from Incarnate Word.  The picture shown is of the crown after it is primed with etching primer and before the top coat of black paint.  The metal this is cut from is 1/4".

In a previous post, my South Texas photographer friend had installed the headache rack art to his pickup.  Now after fabricating his own tail gate, he included a Bobwhite quail and dog scene. 

Customer furnished his own art of a really nice howling wolf.  Cut from heavy 1/4" plate and incorporated the address numbers to new home. 

This order is for two ovals to be inserted in custom made gates.  Cut from 3/16" plate.  The two Fords are copied from photos that the customer sent of his project pets.  The tree is inspired from a painting the wife has of their relationship.

Here is the real deal.   Someone, who we won't name, looked at the new ranch and said "mejor que nada" which translate to better than nothing!  So that became the name of the ranch.  Now that is original and unique. 

Not a brand, but in this case the person's initials are welded onto a Texas plaque.  The plaque is tempered and the 1/4" thick initials are welding on to the plaque from the back side, then they are polished to a silver finish.  The entire piece is clear coated and a hanger in the back for wall display. 

Moore Boys Farm.....This is a sign that was made for a customer in Arkansas.  Actually, I recieved an order for a gate and wings from a lady and this
is from a family member.  The top picture shows the gate topper in my shop after it was primed.  The overhead art was mounted and later I received
the order for the gate and wings.  I like this job and the folks were fun to deal with. 

Bunn Orthodontics in San Antonio - has an established logo that was designed to simulate teeth with braces.  The sun flower was an addon and the peace symbol was added after the flower.  Asked me to make it out of metal.  The circle of teeth is cut from 3/16" plate, while the flower is brazed with brass.  The peace symbol is tempered like the teeth.  A coat of automotive clear coat was sprayed over the entire piece.  Lettering is tempered and clear coated as well.

I recently made the sign for the luxury chicken coop and I borrowed one of the hen designs to create a key holder.  The large horseshoe nails are great for hanging keys, pot holders, ribbons and such.  The hen is heated to give the colors and a clear coat is applied.  This hen is getting ready to scratch the ground and look for whatever she turns up.  

I had the pleasure of hunting on the Kenedy Ranch down at Sarita, Texas for a number of years.  The division we hunted is called La Parra, which means the grape vine.  The size of La Parra is somewhere around 26,000 acres and it is loaded with game.  The recent pieces I just cut and painted for a gate in Giddens, Texas are hanging in my shop and it reminded me of going to the coolers at La Parra and seeing all of the game that had been harvested.  This particular gate will sport  buck, doe, hog, turkey tom, cactus with quail, ducks and flying doves.  I hope the gate owner will send a picture of the finished product.

This order came from a customer who's great great great great grandfather was quite a piece of Texas history.  I looked up Jose Antonio Navarro and there is too much to list here.   He was a statesman, rancher, politician, revolutionary and merchant.  Also, he was one of the original signers of the Texas Declaration of Indepence.  If you like Texas history, look up Jose Antonio Navarro and read about this Texas patriot.  This brand was his.   I like the old brands as they have a style of their own.  This is all cut from 3/16" plate and has 1/4" round rod for hangers.  Painted flat black and holes for mounting on the wall. 

It is a good day when the Cajun girls come through my area.  One of them has a husband that works on the Texas coast and they like to make the trip to visit.  They bring one husband for changing flats and picking up the meal tickets.   It seems that they like Texas Bar B Que.  Well, the cajun queen ordered a sign for her husband.  I could listen to her accent all day.  They are all fun people and I hope they continue to stop by. 

Had an order for two of these for custom gates.  Each oval is 48" wide and cut from 3/16" thick plate steel.  These will be welded in the gate and then the gate will be sand blasted and powder coated. 

A fellow artist, wildlife and life photographer jazzed up his rack with some metal art.  This is a good as I have seen.  He painted the art a nice hammered brown to contrast with the black rack.  I am very proud to see this. 

This cap/hat rack has turkeys.  Four of them.  Two in flight and two on the ground.  Lots of turkeys around this new home and now it sports a Torchcraft fireplace screen and a cap/hat rack.  The rack has 410 gauge shotgun shells for hangers. 

Well, I am in full agreement.   When you need to show your appreciation to a friend, what better way than to call up Torchcraft and have a custom made wall art to express that gratitude.  This one is cut out of 3/16" plate and shown after it was primed.  Finish color was black. 

This sign represents the Texas bluebonnets and Florida's state wild flower, the coreopsis.  Hummingbird is local South Carolinan????   Cut from 3/16" plate and shown after a coat of primer was applied.  The top coat will be black. 

This fireplace found it's home and looks really good on the rock .  A fairly large fireplace, the screen is not light weight but presents the ranch brand and the game that the owners like. 

Large fireplace screen ordered with wildlife scene and ranch brand included.   Scene is cut from 10 gauge steel.  Heavy screen woven wire and framed on the back side with 1.5"x1.5"x.125" angle.  Will add the two feet in the front and one in the back, along with the two handles and paint with high temp black paint. 

Long before the land men, working in the Eagle Ford Shale came to this country, the Mexican vaquero rode his caballo out of Mexico, across the "wild horse desert" and on to Mission San Antonio.   I am fairly sure that the dinner plate size saddle horn on those Mexican saddles had a GPS mounted in it for directions.   Or,,,, maybe not.  Either way, that style of cowboy,  horse and tack is not to be mistaken.  It is puro Vaquero.   A real horseman and cowboy.  This particular one is named  "El Bigoton"  for the big bigote, (mustache). 

This piece is 28" tall and 53" wide.  Hand cut from 10 gauge steel so it can be hung on a sheetrock wall. 

I love making customers happy, however, I believe these two are happy with or without my metal art.  The wife wanted to surprise her husband with a sign to mount on the storage building of their new RV spot on the Texas Coast.  Well, it looks like it worked and it was a joy to make the metal art  and working with them.

Just cut and waiting for the clean up and painting.  This sign will be hung at the entrance of the ranch by chains.  Two chain links will be welded to the top arch for hanging.  Metal is 3/16" thick. 

We have a sign for a customer who has recently aquired an interest in going to the coast with her husband in their RV.  Needed a name on the storage shed.  This sign is regular steel but is primed, painted and clear coated for extra protection against the coastal environment. 

Had a really interesting order for a 48" tall heart.  Iniitals to represent the husband and the wife's names and the reverse cut letters of "I LOVE YOU" in the middle of the heart.  This heart was going to be hung 40 feet high in the fork of a tall tree outside their home.  An LED light would be on the back side of the heart and the small holes drilled around the border would highlight the shape of the heart at night.   The initials painted a light color to show up at night on the brown base.

The heart was a birthday gift for the wife and after getting to know the husband, I believe it was true love.  But it is certainly good insurance, anyway. 

Horseshoes bookends with names have been a long time gift item.  It's a great gift that is personalized with the person's name, brand or initials. This set is an order from a long standing customer that always orders these for wedding gifts.  They can be made with two horseshoes to serve as a letter holder.

Gate is located near Three Rivers, Texas.  I get to enjoy looking at my work when I go to Choke Canyon to fish.

Near Lampasas Texas I recently noticed a sign that I created many years ago. Spanish wording for Flying Diamond Ranch.

When this sign was ordered last year, I thought it was for British Petroleum but it turns out to be the owners initials.  Either way, it was mounted in their gate and looks very nice.  It nicely represents the state of South Texas at this time with the oil boom in full swing.