Contributed by: Traditional Building
Organization: Traditional Building
Dated Posted: April 28, 2026
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The Building Tradition series on craftsmanship and the building arts continues. In this episode, host Peter H. Miller talks to Doug Bracken of Wiemann Metalcraft, a blacksmith and metal fabricator of ornamental metals.

Doug and his team of craftspeople hand-forge iron, or work in steel, bronze and aluminum to make custom gates, fences, canopies, windows, doors and garden- conservatories.   Their decorative metalwork adorns buildings of all types, from temples to hotels, houses and apartments.

Mr. Bracken tells Miller, "we have an apprentice, a young man named Neil who comes to us from one of the oldest and most respected crafts guilds in the world-the Compagnons du Devoir. This is a centuries old French guild that trains the next generation of artisans across a range of traditional building trades: metal, stone and preservation carpentry. Neil is the third apprentice we've sponsored. Watching him and our team engage is one of the most rewarding things that happens in our shop."

Listen to a discussion with a blacksmith who combines heritage trade skills with modern technology to produce ornamental metalwork of enduring beauty.

This episode of Building Tradition is sponsored by Pilkington.

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