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An Amish craftsman uses time-honored skills to meet the needs of today’s homeowners, writes Art Petrosemolo
Old Order, new ideas: An Amish craftsman uses time-honored skills to meet the needs of today’s homeowners.
Unlike Superman, nationally recognized Amish metalworker Amos Glick not only can bend steel with his bare hands but shape it into award-winning, functional works for one-of-a-kind homes.
His railings, gates, doors and sculptures incorporate the traditional workmanship of the past century with the needs of modern houses. His Compass Ironworks’ craftsmen work with many of the same tools and techniques of their 19th- and 20thcentury predecessors.
In recent years, Mr. Glick has become a leader in the growth of “smart homes,” incorporating new technologies so owners can communicate with visitors and operate gates and doors electronically, using mobile phones and electronic devices from around the world. He early recognized one of the hottest, recent home design trends — modern, unique stairways — and his work in that area is drawing acclaim.
Also, because of his groundbreaking work on preventing corrosion on the metalwork at New Jersey shore homes, he has been contacted by a major construction firm in California and will undertake an oceanfront project there, taking his business coast to coast.
Mr. Glick and a new generation of metalworkers, including one of his sons, are bringing back the craftsmanship of the early masters to meet the needs of millennials who are discovering the beauty of the past in classic, decorative and functional art.
* Historic metalwork still is visible in older homes in Philadelphia and along its Main Line suburbs. It is usually the work of early-20thcentury Jewish Ukrainian immigrant Samuel Yellen, a master blacksmith known for his handmade wrought-iron work. Yellen’s one-of-a-kind gates and railings were groundbreaking for the time, and he fashioned customized gates up to 30 feet high and other unusual pieces, such as a headboard with an intricate religious motif.
Today, tucked away in the small Lancaster County community of Gap, the 43-year-old Mr. Glick, an Old Order Amish craftsman, has studied Yellen’s work and in many ways taken it to the next level with stronger steel and different metals.
Homeowners learn of Compass Ironworks primarily through referrals or at architectural design shows.
A visit with Mr. Glick many times leads to a conversation about a far-off project. “We can talk for months or even years,” he says, “before a client has firm plans with architectural drawings for us to begin work.” Compass’ projects have now been completed in eight states.
The creations are labor-intensive and the schedule to complete projects is measured in weeks or months. The company’s longest project took 19 months, and the six-figure invoice reflected both the craftsmanship and time involved. The company’s most complicated work to date was a circular stairway for a Washington, D.C., home that had to be made in three pieces. The pieces had to be negotiated through narrow doors and then assembled on site.
Ken and Linda Hickey Chern spent several years building their dream home in Colts Neck, N.J. The nearly 13,000-square-foot home includes 450 feet of exterior and 140 feet of interior Compass Ironworks’ railing, including a spiral staircase in the library.
“Amos’ railings are more like sculptures, pieces of art, than simply hand railing,” says Ms. Chern. “Our friends rave at his handforged work throughout our home. It is truly unique and something they have not seen before.”
The Cherns visited the Compass Ironworks facility with their children a few years ago during the production process. “We were amazed to see how all the work is done by hand,” she says, “and we came away with an appreciation of both Glick’s operation and the skill needed to handcraft the detail on all his projects.”
The company’s production facility is a 15,000-square foot building off state Route 340, next to the Glick family home, itself showcasing the owner’s work. The home’s railings include elaborate scroll work accentuated with seven colored tulips, one for each of his and wife Suzie’s children.
Adhering to his Amish heritage, Mr. Glick’s company and home are off the grid. He creates the power to operate metalworking machinery and his powder coating oven through hydraulics, air pressure and a generator. The work space is illuminated only by large skylights and propane-powered lights.
Many customers are surprised to learn that just 11 full-time and a few part-time Plain Community craftsman, most under 30, are responsible for all of the production. It might take a new hire up to two years to reach the skill level to work on some of the company’s big projects.
One of the unique features of the Compass operation is a proprietary salt spray test tank that exposes metals to conditions similar to those at the beachfront homes where Mr. Glick’s work is in high demand. Some metal pieces and finishes have been tested for more than two years.
Decorative railing, even with the best finishes, will last five to 10 years before showing corrosion in an oceanfront environment. That isn’t good enough for Mr. Glick, who believes that 20 to 25 years is possible with the right finishing materials and coatings and he is working in that direction.
* Mr. Glick’s road to master craftsman was helped along by strong metalworking skills, a philosophy of providing the best work and, as he puts it, “guidance by the Almighty.”
He grew up watching local blacksmiths as a child in Bird-inHand, Lancaster County, and like many Amish boys, learned the basic skills. “Amish men use those skills in farming to repair equipment without having to replace it,” he said.
At 17, he started repairing farm equipment. At 19, he sharpened his skills at a manufacturing company, and by 22, he had a successful wholesale landscape art business manufacturing metal garden sculptures.
“Unfortunately,” he said, “cheap, copied Chinese imports in the late 1990s forced local craftsmen to find other businesses.”
A friend suggested that if Mr. Glick could fashion railings, he might look for customers at the home show in Harrisburg.
Instead, Mr. Glick chose to exhibit at a similar but larger venue in Philadelphia and there met the wife of former Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle and onetime U.S. Rep. Jon Runyan of New Jersey. The couple gave him a big commission to provide railings for a new 13,000-square-foot home in Moorestown, N.J. It was the start Compass Ironworks needed, and the business has grown exponentially.
“Stairways are one of the hottest design trends today,” Mr. Glick said, adding that he uses “rustic, contemporary and traditional materials, and new engineering techniques to provide awe-inspiring floating looks.”
When clients, designers and architects don’t even know what they want, they consult with Compass for inspiration and learn the customization options.
A breathtaking Jersey shore three-story elliptical staircase was built recently by the company using 51 tempered and laminated glass pieces nearly 2 inches thick. It was the second glass stairway completed by the company.
Mr. Glick also has developed a strong, trusting relationship with the finest builders and architects in the East. His work has not gone unnoticed — his craftsmanship was recognized in 2016 by the National Ornamental and Miscellaneous Metals Association.
Besides functional art, Mr. Glick has found time also to do purely decorative sculptures, including a 6-foot exterior vase for a home in Villanova. He also produced spectacular metal trees, with intricate leaves, for the Clinic for Special Children in Paradise, Lancaster County, a facility that was the subject of the Jan. 21 Next Page. The trees were family projects that gave Mr. Glick a chance to teach his craft to sons Benjamin, who now works in the business, and Aaron.
Mr. Glick calls his operation a “niche” business. It can’t be otherwise when so many of Compass Ironworks’ projects take years to complete. And yet there’s no shortage of customers willing to wait.