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!
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!