AFTER A WHILE, many of us cannabis smokers can’t help but become collectors, often searching for the next perfect glass piece or dab tool to add to our collection of cannabis contraptions. Aside from a massive glass blowing community creating incredible bongs and pipes to smoke with, there’s also a growing community of craftsmen creating smoking tools like custom dab utensils and accessories.
Recently, I got the chance to meet with Alex, the forger from Smoke & Hammer Forge of Toronto, who specializes in handmade sterling silver and titanium smoking tools made for the cannabis connoisseur. We met at a local lounge for a chat and soon after seeing his work on his instagram page (@smokeandhammerforge) and some of his products in person, I just couldn’t wait to try them out and show them off to my fellow cannabis lovers.
Distinctively different to your typical smoking apparatus, these products are incredibly tough and rugged, yet elegant, and even classy. What really caught my attention were their line of roach-clips. Even the term “roach-clip” doesn’t do these lovely things justice! Far from your typical make-do crocodile-clips from your garage, think more along the lines of beautiful mini scepters designed to secure a spliff fit for any king or queen to smoke. Say hello to your royal highness! I never smoke with roach clips, but after seeing these gorgeous pieces, I was eager to take up a new (or old) method to to toke up!
Handcrafted with passion, each tool is unique and truly a one-of-a-kind. Each tool is different in purpose and style, and each tells a story in its design. I am thankful to Smoke & Hammer Forge who were kind enough to let me walk away with The Sterling Royal, a sterling silver roach-clip decorated in an embossed filigree pattern, and The Shepherd, a mid-size titanium dab tool shaped like a shepherd’s crook. Quite appropriate, as I certainly won’t feel like I am amongst common sheep with a piece like this.
I sat down with Alex to to ask a couple of questions about his company and his craft.
What is unique to Smoke & Hammer Forge?
As an artisan, I have the pleasure of making one-of-a-kind items that merge art and function. Artisans who work with glass have enjoyed making functional art for smoking for decades, but metalworking has been cut out of the loop. I love having the opportunity to take another ancient and storied trade- blacksmithing- and adapt it to serve new and novel purposes for a modern crowd. When I sit down at my bench to hammer out a dab tool or joint clip, I’m picking up a torch once held by an unbroken chain of craftspeople stretching back tens of thousands of years.
I see what I do as making beautiful and useful accessories for smokers (and dabbers), of course, but I also see it as introducing people to a whole new craft they have little exposure to. Being able to touch and hold and use something hand-crafted is a joy, and I expand the ways cannabis users can experience that. It’s work I do gladly.
Where can your products be purchased?
My tools should soon be available at Sea of Green Dispensary at 2140 Dundas St. West in Toronto, and you can contact me directly at smokeandhammerforge@gmail.com or via DM to @smokeandhammerforge on Instagram. We’re expanding those options quickly, though our online store at www.smokeandhammerforge.com which will be going live soon, and more retailers should be on board soon too.
Pricing range?
I’ve got something for everyone, no matter your budget, for example The Traveller, a petite and compact tool great for when you’re on the road, retails for a very accessible $14.99. The Steadfast, a handsome and robust joint clip crafted from polished brass, is $29.99.
The products up for review, The Shepherd dab tool and The Sterling Imperial joint clip, are some of my finest items, and the ones I’m most proud of. The Shepherd, with its elegant twist and blacksmith-traditional styling, retails for $39.99, while the Imperial, crafted from solid sterling silver throughout, is $199.99. You can’t put a price on the impression that showstopper makes on people, though, or how it makes you feel a little like royalty whenever you use it.
Full pricing information for consumers will be available on my website shortly; feel free to contact me for wholesale pricing.
It was a pleasure getting to learn more about Smoke & Hammer Forge, and it was even better getting to use some of their products! For more information, visitwww.smokeandhammerforge.com or follow them on their instagram page @smokeandhammerforge.