Forging a ConnectionHow a skilled blacksmith uses his love for his craft and his garden to create artistic and functional gardening tools

摘要

WHEN IT COMES to beautiful and handcrafted designs, Tuli Fisher of Bozeman, Mont., has mastered the technique. With strong, hand-forged steel skillfully set into stunning, rich walnut handles, his garden tools would fit as well in an art museum as they do in the tool shed.Fisher's career as a blacksmith began in his 20s, when he started using his own tools for a horseshoeing business. He has created tools for more than15 years now, but it wasn't until 2003 that he began to dabble in gardening tools, inspired by an encounter with a farmer in Cottage Grove, Ore., where he and his wife were living while she attended graduate school. "I guess with all the hammering it wasno secret I was a blacksmith," recounts Fisher. "I fixed his tool for him, but realized I could make an even better one."