The Spring 1999 Issue is now available To Order:

WOOD CARVING IN MILANI'S DEN
Tools of the Toolmaker
by Jill Burkee

Enveloped by the Italian Apennines, the Milani toolmaking shop, known by sculptors worldwide for its handmade tools, is near the town of Pomezzana and about 20 miles from Pietrasanta.  It is much the same as it was twenty -five years ago when I first visited it in search of a special tool.  The two-story building is tucked between chestnut trees next to a mountain stream at the end of a dirt road.  Inside, the smell of forged steel and the alternating rhythm of tapping and pounding pervade the black air.  Once run by Pietro Milani, the plant is now operated by his sons, Marcello and Giorgio, and his brother Romano, who have opened a storefront in Pietrasanta proper.  Although most of my tool needs can be met at that store, I find myself preferring to take the winding mountain road to Pomezzana.  It must be the alchemy of the Milani forge that draws me there.