Coppersmith trade goes back centuries

Brent Poole, 35, works in a career that is as old as our country.

Coppersmith was one of the occupations of the first immigrants to America, when jobs were concerned primarily with simple, basic survival in the New World. Many of the tools in the historical trade remain in use today – anvils, shears, irons, various types of hammers, punches, chisels, cutting devices and fire pots.

Poole meticulously fabricates custom copper chimney caps, flashing and stove hoods and adds copper accents to beautify a home. His projects range from being selected to restore the metal on Idaho’s oldest building, the Cataldo Mission, to the recent remodeling of Beverly’s Restaurant, to working one-on-one with homeowners and builders.

In addition to copper, Poole has manufactured parts for airplanes with sheet metal and builds railings, spiral staircases and kitchen countertops with iron. The artistic side of the lifetime Coeur d’Alene resident especially shows in his unique hand-made iron bells.

“I saw a bell in a store and thought I could build a better bell,” he said.

He now distributes his bells and other creations from “Ohio to Palm Springs.”

What is your job title? “Coppersmith and owner/fabricator of Boyd Street Anvil.”

How long have you been doing this? “Twenty years. When I was in high school and 15 years old, I would go to the sheet metal shop after school.”

How did you choose this line of work? “My father owned a sheet metal company and he taught me a work ethic that I would trade for nothing.”

Are you paid: (a) well; (b) more than you are worth; (c) slave wages, (d) could be better? “(a) Well.”

What is the best thing about your job? “The best part about what we do is the great people we get to work for and quality of the smiles on a job well done.”

What is the worst thing about your job? “We just don’t have enough time in a day.”

Do you plan on doing this job (a) until retirement; (b) until something better comes along? ”(a) Until retirement.”

Do you have any on-the-job funny stories? Poole showed a photo of one his employees, apparently sleeping on a newly installed countertop. As a joke on Poole, the employee took the photo, making it appear he sleeping on the job, then placed it with the other photos of the project for Poole to find later (he still laughs when looking at it).

Any bad experiences? “Over all the work that we have done, I cannot single out a truly bad experience because the businesses we work with and the clientele that we have, are such good people.”

If there was a movie made about you and your job, what actor should play you? “Chevy Chase from ‘Vacation,’ he gets a plan and goes to the extreme.”