"... Verdigris; where engineering becomes art ..."
Blacksmiths have traditionally used collars
for joinery for thousands of years.
A suitable length of metal is heated in the forge,
then wrapped around the pieces to be joined. As the collar cools
it shrinks, which causes it to strongly grip the pieces together.
These days, electrical
welding has largely
replaced collars for mass produced work. However, many contemporary
blacksmiths find collars more aesthetically pleasing than a welded
joint and use them as a design feature. In particular, a collar
can be used to great effect as a contrasting
metal detail,
as the above image shows.
