Metcalf established and led a community for copper artisans in Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán, Mexico, from the 1970s until his death in 2012.
[1] Metcalf fought in northern Italy during World War II, and lost three of his fingers during combat at Furlo Pass.
[1] Metcalf later married Pilar Pellicar's younger sister, sculptor Ana Pellicer, his fourth wife.
[2] Metcalf opened a studio and forge in 1967, where he taught artists how to create vases with a thick edge called El Borde Grueso.
which would become known as the Adolfo Best Maugard School of Arts and Crafts in Santa Clara del Cobre, to promote indigenous artists and pre-Columbian coppersmithing and forging techniques.