When a blacksmith decides to ... tinker ... on some trinkets

[Mike Ameling]

OK, I decided to tinker around at the forge today. Nothing too important. So I made up a number of keyrings. (I've got a small town festival coming up that needs a few little "prizes" to hand out.)

The leaf keyrings are forge up from around 1 1/2 to 2 inches off the end of a 3/8 inch diameter rod. They are a fun project to demo also. You can generally get one made up in 10 to 20 minutes - depending upon how much you show/explain what you are doing to people. So the attention span doesn't get stretched too far. And the little kids are really amazed when you spreat out the leaf from that blob of metal.

At one event, a small girl somewhere around 5 or 6 was intently watching and listening as I made up a leaf keyring. I showed and explained each step to her and the rest of the crowd. And when I had finished it, I handed it to her to look it over. And then I told her she could have it. She smiled, thanked me, and went "bubbling" off over to where her parents were. A minute later, she came back and handed it back to me saying: "I don't have any keys." Well, I gave it back to her and told her that maybe her mom had some keys and would like it. She smiled and thanked me again, and went "bubbling" back over to show it and give it to her mom. A kid's point of view.

The fish are an interesting little project. A friend used his computer guided plasma torch to cut them out. I then cleaned up the cut-outs, and then forged them a bit for more depth and dimension.

Ah, the toys we play with.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. That Brass/Bronze finish on some is just one of those little blacksmith ... tricks of the trade!

p.p.s. OK, I confess. I also made a half dozen strikers. There, happy now? It's an ... obsession. I can't start the forge without making at least ONE striker!

 

[EdS]

Very nice, especially like the leaves.

What you need is a palmate type leaf design that incorporates a bottle opener - it would be a winner around here.

 

[hiraeth]

Nice work as always there mike, i really like the leaves

 

[Mike Ameling]

A number of female friends pointed out to me that they use their's to help open up the "pop-tops" on their beverage cans. It "saves" their fingernails! Of course, they were referring to their ... adult malted beverages!

The stem part could easily be "adjusted" to work on bottle caps. That's one project that a lot of blacksmiths make up to "show off" when we gather for a weekend Hammer-In. And get them properly "tested" of course.

Thanks

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[EdS]

let me know if you do a prototype and I'll test int for you

 

[Mike Ameling]

About a dozen years ago, I made up this little ... story board ... of the various steps to forge up a leaf keyring. I made it up for a young lad who was doing a school report on the old crafts, and he chose blacksmithing (because he knew somebody who did that kind of work - not just because I is OLD!)

The bottom is just that 3/8 round rod I start with. I then point it.
- Neck in to isolate a "lump" of metal at the end of the rod - to become the leaf
- Flatten that lump
- Stretch the metal out to the two sides to form the leaf
- Mark in the veins in your leaf if you want them. I use a dull/rounded chisel. And then cut it off of the main bar.
- Hammer that "lump" left from cutting it off. You hammer it square, and then start tapering it out to become the stem of your leaf.
- Round out the stem.
- Curl your stem however you want it, and "dish" your leaf by hammering it down into a slight depression in a wood block - to give it some depth and dimension.
- Wire brush it, use a stone to smooth over any sharp edges or points, cool it, and add that keyring.

The brass/bronze look comes from brushing the leaf with a Brass brush as it cools. While the iron is still aroung 900 to 700 degrees, it will melt the brass and "plate" it on a little. If the iron is too hot, it won't stick. If the iron is too cool, it won't melt the brass. You are doing a simple version of brazing. And you can use one of those brass brushes they sell to clean the grill on your bar-b-que. But the welding supply shops also have some.

To little kids, putting the brass finish on makes it look like ... magic! Turning Iron to Gold!

But that brass finish does wear off in time. It lasted about 2 months bouncing around in my pocket with all the coins. But my iron leaf now has developed its own semi-polished patina.

Of course, you can always use those leaves to create whole bushes and trees. Just weld bunches of them together. And you can spend extra time forming/filing/chiseling the leaves to very closely resemble real leaves - like oak or maple. Jay and I did a "grapevine" project for one couple's bathroom - frame around the mirror, brackets to support the sink, even a free-standing TP holder - all with grapevines and leaves. It's what they wanted, and they paid well. (The paid $200 USD just for the TP holder! They especially loved it!)

You can see a bunch of Jay's and my work on Jay's web site. www.bigriverforge.com
He did the main design stuff, and most of the modern cutting/welding. I did most of the traditional blacksmithing stuff.

Fun projects.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[jojo]

Very nice work Mike, especially the leaves :notworthy

 

[Eric_Methven]

Wow Mike, just had a look on Jay's website. Some awsome stuff there. That plasma cutter is brilliant. Imagine trying to do all that cutting with a hacksaw and file!

Thanks for the mini tutorial on the leaves, and the iron into gold 'secret'.

Eric

 

[Mike Ameling]

Thanks for the comments. It's fun to "play" once in a while - and still make something other than more contributions to the scrap pile.

One little "technical" observation.

When I dish those leaves, I heat them up and hammer them down into a little depression in a wood block. If you hammer them on metal, you would smooth out any "detail" you put into that leaf. So you hammer it down into wood. Yes, the wood will scorch and burn, but it won't distort the metal.

I did these leaves on the side of an oak block. I usually use the end grain of that oak block. Well, I noticed that I get a smoother surface from hammering down into the end grain of the wood. That side grain left a little of its texture on the leaves. It has it's place, but that end grain just gives a smoother finish.

Just a little ... technical ... detail.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. Eric. I've hand chiseled out some pretty complex shapes before. It is the historically correct old method, but a real pain in the rear to do. But doing some repair of old ironwork, or when replicating some things, it becomes necessary to do it that way. It's all in the "look" you want, and how well you want it to look like the old stuff.

 

[Celt_Ginger]

Looks great Mike. Any pictures of the strikers you made as well?

 

[spamel]

If you make the stalk longer, you could curve it right round and make a forged version of a well known Bushcraft websites' emblem!

 

[Mike Ameling]

If you make the stalk longer, you could curve it right round and make a forged version of a well known Bushcraft websites' emblem!

When Jay and I were working on some Grapevine stuff, I made some leaves with stems almost a foot long. I shaped the leaves a little to more closely resemble grape leaves, and I then "corkscrew'd" the stem and wrapped it around a rod I had hammered/textured like a grape vine.

If you make the leaf and stem large enough, you can turn it into a wine bottle holder to attach to your wall. Just spiral twist the stem like a progressively larger corkscrew that you can slip the tapered top of a wine bottle in. Then attach the leaf to the wall, turn your wine bottle upside down, and slip it down into that spiralled stem. 3 or 4 wrapped around a textured vine stand, and you have a free-standing wine bottle holder. Or hang it from a loop at the top. Jay has pictures of some of the stuff we made, but doesn't have them on his web site - yet.

He also hasn't gotten the pictures up yet of that coffee table we made. Clear glass top, with the stand forged up to look like a tree. The "branches" coming out to hold the glass top, and the "roots" curling down around a bunch of rocks for the base. Or pictures of that 2xlarger than life deer skull with antlers that we made up for another couple. Interesting little ... projects. I need to bug him about getting pics of those things on the web site, or at least send me copies!

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[Mike Ameling]

Several people have asked about a pic of those ... 6 strikers ... I just HAD TO make. I HAD TO, I tell ya, HAD TO! An I gotta make MORE ... MORE ... (sob ) more ....

The bottom two were the new experiment. It's a 1700's French style. But I didn't get those extra little loops large enough. They really need to be large enough to stick your fingers through.

The middle two were playing around trying a new way to forge up versions of the English Monkeytail striker - mid to late 1700's. I would still like the striking bar to be a little wider. They just look a little ... thin ... to me. Yeah yeah, picky little details.

The top left is an English double curl style - 1700 up through the late 1700's. But they also collected one on the northeastern border area of Italy. Don't know if it was made locally there, or traded down there from Britain. But there was a lot of "borrowing" of ideas all across Europe.

The top right is one from Burgundy - mid 1400's on up through 1600's. But now I have found a very similar one that was dated to the 1700's in Ireland! The only real difference is that it does not have that little "peak" in the center - just flat straight across. So now I HAVE TO make up a couple of them! A "documented" 18th century Irish flint striker! The "museums" generally just give them that generic "British" or "English" designation.

And a friend has located a copy of that Medieval Fire Steels book for me. His book seller ended up having to get it directly from the author over in Italy. He picked it up from her today. Now I gotta wait for it to get here. Can't wait ... can't wait ... can't wait!

Did I mention that this is an ... OBSESSION? And that blacksmithing is ADDICTIVE?

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[Celt_Ginger]

Ohhh no Mike, you just had to find an Irish striker after I got the last 4 off you, lol. I suppose I'll have to get one .

 

[Mike Ameling]

Ohhh no Mike, you just had to find an Irish striker after I got the last 4 off you, lol. I suppose I'll have to get one .

Yeah, it's one of those known hazards of doing that thing called "research" in those strange artifacts called "books".

And then comes the HARD part - replicating that original based upon a small b/w photo of it, or sometimes only a brief description. Kind of like that snail shaped Scottish one.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[Gailainne]

Very cool, especially the leaves, interesting how you use a sacrificial softer material to keep the detail.