Ferromorphics Blacksmithing

Ferromorphics Blacksmithing is Joshua Swalec's forge, listed at 243 Stafford St in Worcester. It makes one-off forged steel to order — staircases, fences, railings and gates, furniture, home and commercial decor, restoration of existing metalwork, and blades — and it also runs beginners' blacksmithing courses. This is bespoke fabrication rather than a general contracting outfit: the site's line is 'if you can dream it, we can build it', and it quotes free estimates. Swalec's craft credentials are unusually well documented for a shop this size. He trained at Worcester Vocational Technical High School, certified in stick metal arc welding of mild steel in all positions in 1998, took bladesmithing courses at the New England School of Metalwork, and is an active member of ABANA, the American Bladesmith Society and New England Blacksmiths. He has taught in the Metals Department at the Worcester Center for Crafts since 2015 and has been head blacksmith and instructor at The Worcshop makerspace since 2016, won the Fitchburg Forge-In professional division in 2008 and 2010, and holds a Massachusetts Cultural Coalition public-art grant awarded in partnership with the Higgins Armory Museum. Worcester Magazine profiled him in December 2024, describing work that spans 'customized designs for construction, including railings and gates, to swords'. In April 2020 four separate outlets — the Worcester Business Journal, the Telegram, Clark University and Worcester State — named Ferromorphics among the local shops making face shields for the Worcester Face Shield Project. The customer record is very thin and it is split. Google shows 3.7 stars from three ratings. A January 2025 reviewer had a long phone conversation with one of the blacksmiths, called him 'very knowledgeable on historical swords' and said that if you want a sword made 'this is the place'. A December 2023 reviewer left one star alleging being scammed — 'Small $ loss but I'm not rich so it stings' — while adding that the shop 'appears to be a skilled pro'. That allegation is unresolved on the public record and no reply from the business appears alongside it. So: an accomplished, verifiable craftsman with almost no independent record of how commissions go from deposit to delivery. If you commission work here, do it on a written contract with staged payments tied to delivered work, and ask directly about the one-star complaint.