In 1983, Mike Tanner opened Yesteryear Forge. From behind the anvil and with his wife, Linda, behind the finances, the forge began to blossom into a successful, family-blacksmithing business. Through a combination of clever sales techniques and functional, yet unique hand-forged pieces, Yesteryear Forge arrived on the market ready to offer both special-order and wholesale items for its customers in specialty shops throughout several states in the East.
His expertise, vision, and craftsmanship reach beyond the creation of high-quality items born from the fires of Yesteryear Forge; a passion for the preservation of the blacksmithing trade is echoed in all of his philanthropic endeavors in his memberships in regional blacksmith organizations. Today, Mike is taking Yesteryear Forge into the future by focusing on form and function in his forged work as well as custom tooling for blacksmiths around the world.
Yesteryear Forge's tooling is not only designed and machined in house, but was also born out of necessity within the needs behind the anvil. Every tool offered must perform it's given task in our shop before it is considered to be ready for sale. For example, the VERSA Jig is well over 20 years old and was designed to allow for repeatability and efficiency that was essential in the mass production of hooks for large wholesale customers. We pride ourselves on offering the best custom tooling in the world. Made by blacksmiths for blacksmiths.
In the forge with Mike is his wife Linda who enjoys the practice of repousse under the treadle hammer. The patience and attention to detail in this area of metalwork is also apparent in her running the financial side of the forge.
In November 2003 Mike picked up an "apprentice", Peyton Anderson. With no experience behind the anvil he has been learning in the forge ever since. Today he is Mike's "right hand man" in the forge. He maintains all things digital and is also the salesman at area conferences and events.
We are proud to be an American family business with customer service and high quality standards in all that we do.
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Mike Tanner
Linda Tanner
Peyton Anderson
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