Essential Craftsman - From Hand Forging Pans to Full-Time Blacksmithing w/ Stagecoach Forge
Ryan Sandon, owner of Stage Coach Forge, transitioned from a 25-year welding career to blacksmithing, focusing on niche kitchenware. He began blacksmithing six years ago, leveraging his welding skills to create high-quality, handcrafted kitchen tools. His business model emphasizes small, shippable products marketed through Instagram, allowing him to reach a global audience. Sandon initially attempted larger projects like barn door hardware but found them impractical for shipping. His focus shifted to smaller items like carbon steel skillets and titanium spatulas, which are easier to produce and ship. Sandon highlights the importance of using high-quality materials, such as stainless steel handles for their low heat conductivity and titanium for its lightweight and flexible properties. His products are designed to be durable, non-stick, and suitable for various cooking surfaces, including induction cooktops. Sandon emphasizes the artistic aspect of his work, particularly in knife making, which he views as functional art. Despite the potential for business expansion, he prefers to keep operations small to maintain quality and personal satisfaction. His wife plays a crucial role in the business, handling administrative tasks and marketing, allowing Sandon to focus on production and innovation.
Key Points:
- Ryan Sandon transitioned from welding to blacksmithing, focusing on niche kitchenware.
- He markets his products globally through Instagram, emphasizing small, shippable items.
- His kitchenware includes carbon steel skillets and titanium spatulas, known for durability and non-stick properties.
- Sandon values the artistic aspect of blacksmithing, particularly in knife making.
- He aims to keep his business small to maintain quality and personal satisfaction.
Details:
1. 🔨 Discovering Blacksmithing: Ryan's Unique Path
- Ryan began blacksmithing six years ago after 25 years in welding and fabricating, bringing extensive experience in structural welding and various techniques like Tig and Mig.
- He started making knives three years ago, focusing on kitchenware and eventually expanding to kitchen knives, finding the craft addictive.
- A pivotal business decision was shifting from large items like barn door hardware to smaller, shippable products, allowing for global market reach.
- Ryan effectively used Instagram as a marketing tool to build his niche kitchenware business, emphasizing the importance of online presence for small craftsmen.
- He highlights the necessity of having products that are easy to ship to expand market access, demonstrating strategic adaptability in product offering.
2. 🔥 Mastering the Craft: Creating Functional Art
- The creation process merges precise machining with organic handwork, allowing for the production of a functional art piece that is both aesthetically pleasing and practical.
- A traditional round-bottom wok is transformed into a 'Western wok' with a flat bottom, optimizing it for stovetop usage without additional supports, thus enhancing its practicality.
- Craftsmanship involves scientific methods and intuitive techniques, like 'eye measurement' and manual adjustments, crucial for achieving desired shapes and balance.
- Blacksmithing techniques are employed, emphasizing the reliance on visual assessments and hand adjustments to perfect the wok's form and functionality.
- Design features like ripples and cool marks are not only visually appealing but also highlight the handcrafted nature of the wok.
- Post-creation adjustments ensure the wok sits level, demonstrating meticulous attention to detail and dedication to functionality.
- Challenges in crafting include maintaining the balance between aesthetic appeal and functional utility, necessitating continuous adjustments and refinements.
3. 🥘 From Farm to Forge: Culinary Inspirations
- The segment lacks specific actionable insights, concrete metrics, or data points. To improve, the segment could benefit from including detailed examples of culinary methodologies, such as how farm-to-table practices can enhance flavor profiles, or data showcasing the impact of locally sourced ingredients on meal costs and quality. Including interviews or case studies from chefs who have successfully implemented farm-to-table or forge-inspired techniques could provide valuable, practical insights. Additionally, metrics on customer satisfaction or sales growth after adopting these techniques would offer concrete value.
4. 🔧 Turning Challenges into Opportunities: A Story of Adaptation
- The speaker finds great satisfaction in creating kitchen tools used daily, emphasizing the importance and personal value of these items in cooking three meals a day.
- The integration of self-sustained farming with tool crafting is highlighted, showing a holistic approach to food and tool creation.
- The transition from welding to blacksmithing was driven by a search for new challenges after 25 years in industrial welding, indicating a professional pivot motivated by personal interest.
- The onset of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns prompted a shift to blacksmithing, as traditional work was halted, highlighting adaptability and resilience.
- The pandemic acted as a catalyst for exploring blacksmithing, turning a personal hobby into a business opportunity, showcasing innovation in the face of adversity.
5. 💪 Exploring Materials: The Strength and Beauty of Metal
- High smoke point oils like coconut and grape seed oil are recommended for seasoning metal cookware because they have a smoke point of about 500°F, which is essential for creating a non-stick surface.
- The process of seasoning involves coating cookware with oil and baking it at 500°F for an hour, embedding a polymer into the steel pores, resulting in a smooth, non-stick surface without microplastics.
- Carbon steel is favored by professional chefs for its quick heating and excellent heat retention, making it a reliable alternative to non-stick skillets.
- Carbon steel has advantages over cast iron, including a smoother non-stick surface, lighter weight, and durability, as it does not crack or scratch glass cooktops and is compatible with induction cooktops.
- Using stainless steel handles on carbon steel pans reduces heat conduction, allowing cooking without an oven mitt, as stainless steel is less conductive than other metals.
- Grade five titanium is used for making spatulas due to its lightweight, flexibility, and strength, making it ergonomic and comfortable to use.
- Stainless steel, while difficult to forge, is durable and does not yield easily, requiring skill to work with, which adds to the quality of the product.
- Transitioning away from plastic spatulas to metal ones helps reduce microplastic ingestion, as plastic spatulas can shed microplastics into food.
6. 🔪 Functional Artistry: The Passion for Crafting Knives
6.1. Crafting Knives and the Artistic Process
6.2. Business Strategies for Knife Making
7. 👨👩👧👦 Family and Entrepreneurship: Finding Balance
- Ryan developed a successful business in six years focused on crafting cookware, while prioritizing maintaining a small size to avoid burnout.
- The business has potential for significant growth and revenue but is kept intentionally small to focus on the craft rather than managing large teams.
- Ryan's business maintains a good profit margin by keeping overhead low and staying efficient, with no debt involved.
- An initial investment of $80,000 was made by selling a tiny house, which was used to purchase essential tools for the business.
- Ryan's wife plays a crucial role by handling shipping, website updates, marketing, and administrative tasks, allowing Ryan to focus on production.
- The partnership between Ryan and his wife is highlighted as a key element of their success.
- Finding balance involves clear role distribution where Ryan handles production, and his wife manages business operations.
- The choice to keep the business small is strategic to ensure quality and personal satisfaction, as well as to manage personal stress levels effectively.
- Challenges include balancing work with family time, requiring both partners to communicate and adjust roles as needed.
8. 🌟 Inspiring Growth: The Journey Forward
- The endorsement and encouragement from a supportive partner can be crucial for personal and professional growth, as evidenced by the speaker's experience of being fully backed by their spouse.
- The speaker's multiple appearances on the show highlight a journey of learning and progress, with each appearance providing new insights.
- Strategic use of social media and a website, such as Stage Coach Forge's Instagram and online presence, can significantly enhance business growth and customer engagement.
- Promotion of products through various platforms can lead to increased customer interest and sales, as shown by the speaker's invitation to explore Stage Coach Forge's offerings.