Relight the Forge joins independent American machine and fabrication shops into one network, so the work that left this country has somewhere to come back to.
America's machine shops average about fourteen people each, and between them they can make almost anything. What they don't have is a way to go after big work together. That's what we're building.
One dot for every ten shops the country had in 2014. The dark ones have closed since then. More than half of small-business owners with employees are 55 or older, so the next ten years decide what's left.
BLS QCEW, NAICS 332710: 20,734 in 2014, 18,734 in 2024. Gallup, 2024.
Jobs come from American manufacturers and from the federal government, starting with spare parts for the Defense Logistics Agency. You see the drawing before you commit, and you take only the jobs you want. Defense work is never required.
We send the drawing, the quantity and the due date. You set the price, or pass.
We go after the job with your number. When it's ours, you get a purchase order with every requirement spelled out.
You run the parts in your own shop. We take care of the packaging, the marking, the inspection records and the customer's paperwork.
We invoice the customer and pay you when they pay us.
Send us your drawings. We place each job with a shop in the network that runs that process, hold every shop to the same inspection standard, and ship with the paperwork your program needs.
The 2026 defense bill set up a Civil Reserve Manufacturing Network, modeled on the airline fleet the military can call on in a crisis. On August 25, 2026, the SBA and the Department of War created the [Smaller War Plants Commission]. The last time America leaned on its small shops like this was World War II. We intend to have ours ready.
Your shop keeps its name, its prices and its customers, and joining is free. We'll call, come see the shop, and send the first drawing when a job fits. Nothing is binding until you accept a purchase order.