One Ohio shop has been producing copper kettles for 150 years

A large piece of metal blazes with fire inside the Bucyrus Copper Kettle Works shop in North Central Ohio.

Flames sweep across one side and stray sparks float like fireflies, as owner James Patrick uses a long rod to twist and tilt the copper over the heat.

“That's our fuel oil forge,” he explained. “It burns at 2,000 degrees.”

The process, called annealing, makes the metal less brittle, Patrick said, so it’s easier to work with later. It’s just the beginning of the hours-long undertaking to create a copper kettle.