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Iron Stand - A Beginner


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Hello everyone - much Googling has led me here!

 

I currently work with a store through which I sell pendants and rings - these are made by designing them in a computer and then 3D printing them in Stainless Steel. However, this method is limited in its application, and prohibitively expensive, especially when making something that ought to be quite simple (relatively speaking) to do the 'honest' way.

 

I don't know how many Skyrim players we have here, but I'm attempting to recreate the 'horn candles' that populate the game. Images below.

 

725438-1339982913.jpg4528538-1338842146.jpg

 

I have my wax, I have my cow horns, and I was planning to 3D print plastic 'holders' and paint them to look iron. The results of the iron spray paint, while certainly fine for their purposes, simply do not satisfy me. I love authenticity and want to deliver it. With that in mind, can someone direct me where to begin learning? Due to both the store's rules on handmade and my own stubborn pride, it won't suffice to simply have someone else make them.

 

The thing I love about handmade and doing it yourself is that the designs will lead you to skills and opportunities you wouldn't have considered otherwise. I do not intend to simply learn how to do this so that I can make this one product; being skilled in blacksmithing will open a whole new world to me that I intend to use to its fullest.

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hmm, interesting...someone could knock out a bunch of these and with as many people who pop up on this forum asking to make swords & such I assume there is a market out there.  You should put your location in your profile as there's probably a member in your area that might be interested in helping.  The skill required to do this is a little above that of a beginner.  You'd need to either forge weld or rivet the legs into place.  You could setup yourself up to do this, but it's gonna take time to get the tools together and then develop the needed skills.

 

Search the forum for building a forge and anvil alternatives.  You want to learn the basics first, The Backyard Blacksmith is a good book for a beginner which projects build the skills you'd need for this.

 

Where do you get the horns?  I might want to knock some of these out myself if it's cost effective and they sell.

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Welcome aboard, glad to have you. Please put your general location in the header so you'll find out how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance.

 

There's a world of difference between CADD & 3D printing and forging steel. The holders in the pics aren't particularly hard projects and well within a beginner level. Provided of course the beginner is good with their hands.

 

The legs aren't going to be a snap unless you can already forge weld, I'd go with rivets or more likely change the layout so I could make the whole piece from a single length of say, 1/4"x1/2" stock.

 

Making the candle holders is pretty straight forward but learning enough of the craft to do them will take time and some help. Then again, you have access or own a 3D printer so money isn't a big factor. Seriously, a person can appoint a blacksmith's shop handsomely for the price of a 3D printer. Take a couple classes, pick up some basic tools, practice and you're golden.

 

Of course by that time you'll be fully addicted to playing with fire and beating innocent steel into submission and not so interested in playing Skrym. (not that I know what Skrym is, still . . . )

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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C'mon Frosty, don't you already have these in Alaska for the darker months of the year?  My kids have some interest in these games, though they've been spending more & more time in the garage with me wanting to learn how to make things.  I'm thinking these candles could be a good father/son/daughter project that we can sell to their various video game friends.

 

Wouldn't be too hard to redesign it to avoid forge welding or riveting the legs.  Just wondering now about the cost of the wax & horn...maybe we need to know more about Skyrim to target that market.

 

Another option would be to lookup the local ABANA group in your area & attend a meeting.  Someone there might like the idea and help you make the holder you need.

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The holder should be simple to make.  It is not a straight ring but a ring with tapered sides to match the angle of the horn.

 

As dcraven said, a little thought and it could be made with out fire welding (rivets) and could even be made cold.

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C'mon Frosty, don't you already have these in Alaska for the darker months of the year? 

 

Naw, we have these things on the wall we call switches. If we need something with fire coming out of it we like torches with a side of pitchfork. Of course a .357 H&H is a good alternative when  a torch just won't do.

 

I haven't played RPGs since the D&D and Traveler days.

 

Frosty the Lucky.

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Good grief, Traveler, there's a blast from the past.  I remember Chainmail, D & D's progenitor.

 

  That looks like a nifty project.  I bet it would be fun to do and well within your abilities.  You will need basically four things.  Something to get metal hot with.  Forge, OA torch ect.  Something to hold the hot metal with.  Tongs, vice grips, channel locks.  Something to hit the hot metal on.  Anvil, big hunk o'steel, large rock.  And something to hit the hot metal with.  Ball peen, cross peen, rounding hammer, or even a smooth faced claw hammer would do in a pinch.  And that's about it.  Make a bow shape, think omega,  Ω  and fasten in the middle with a small bolt and nut.  Or as was suggested a rivet.  Good luck and post pics.

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that was pretty much the description I was going to go with KBM :) lets you skip all that pesky technical connection stuff :P you could even do a wire wrap (or some kind of natural fiber) as an added design element.  put a twist in the legs on the way down for extra credit.  extra extra credit: hammer the horn out of copper or bronze and cap the point and rim with some real thin sheet steel, riveted connections a plus :)

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Very nice solutions indeed!  So where do you come up with horns and a inexpensive resource for the wax or candle?  I know there's a local taxidermy place nearby that sells lots of leftover antlers & stuff.  That could be a resource or go for Chinobi's extra credit points : )

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I had another thought on the horn candle concept... How is the candle 'installed' (shall we say)? Is the horn filled with wax and wicked? Or is there some kind of vessel countersunk into the horn (below the lip to stay out of sight) to contain it? If uncontained, how do you prevent the wick from burning down and either bringing the path of the flame/hot gas closer to the horn, or otherwise conflicting with a flammable (and nasty smelling I presume, if it burns anything like hair...) container? Or is the horn more treated/processed/preserved than I am giving it credit for?
Of course maintaining it and extinguishing before it gets to that point renders the point moot, but for the sake of argument it is within reason that it could go untended to burnout.

Edit: (infernal phone, laptop battery is bingo)
Nice work ronin, are the legs tenoned on from the inside? Or is that a butt weld(bump? Am
I using that right?)

I think if you are unable to source decent candle wax in the raw from the usual marketplaces (random onlines, eBay, michaels or other craft stores($$$)) you could probably just pick up old candles at swap meets and garage sales and (caaaarrreeefffuuuuullllyyyyyy!!!) melt them down and recycle the wax.

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I had another thought on the horn candle concept... How is the candle 'installed' (shall we say)? Is the horn filled with wax and wicked? Or is there some kind of vessel countersunk into the horn (below the lip to stay out of sight) to contain it? If uncontained, how do you prevent the wick from burning down and either bringing the path of the flame/hot gas closer to the horn, or otherwise conflicting with a flammable (and nasty smelling I presume, if it burns anything like hair...) container? Or is the horn more treated/processed/preserved than I am giving it credit for?
Of course maintaining it and extinguishing before it gets to that point renders the point moot, but for the sake of argument it is within reason that it could go untended to burnout.

Edit: (infernal phone, laptop battery is bingo)
Nice work ronin, are the legs tenoned on from the inside? Or is that a butt weld(bump? Am
I using that right?)

I think if you are unable to source decent candle wax in the raw from the usual marketplaces (random onlines, eBay, michaels or other craft stores($$$)) you could probably just pick up old candles at swap meets and garage sales and (caaaarrreeefffuuuuullllyyyyyy!!!) melt them down and recycle the wax.

Firstly... Thank you.

 

 As far as the candle... If I used a wax candle I would fill in the majority with either plaster or silicon and then form a thin cup of sheetmetal to fit in the horn to set the votive candle in it. But what I am going to do is seal the small holes in the side and the end where someone drilled it for either a mouthpiece or to make a powderhorn (not sure which) and then shape a piece of brass plate to fit down in the horn about an inch below the lip, drill a 5/16" hole in it, insert a glass wick tube and wick and make it an oil candle.

 

The legs are square tenoned from the inside. Unfortunately when I heated the collar and hammered it to adjust it's fit better for the specific horn I had, it loosened the tenons, the legs wobble when you are holding it but sit stable when it's on a flat surface.

 

BTW, the job took me (a novice metal masher to say the least) about an hour and a half. I'm sure the time will decrease with experience. This was my very first tenons and the whole project was very fun.

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I could get a lot of ideas of off that game... Yes I play it!

Maybe I should try it too! I'll ask my buddy if he has any horns. (He's a butcher.)

 

Buy's his stock with horns and tail? Whoa I thought we "in Africa" had exclusive rights to "roadside abattoirs and butcheries :)

 

Looks good LR.

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Buy's his stock with horns and tail? Whoa I thought we "in Africa" had exclusive rights to "roadside abattoirs and butcheries :)

Looks good LR.

Yes indeed. Everything but game animals comes in "on the hoof".

LR, good job! Looks nice.
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How did you know it was an RPG there, Frosty? Huh?

Lol

 

How did I k now it was an RPG? Heck I grew up when there was hardly anything but RPGs, card and board games. We went out and had to imagine ourselves as good guys bad guys, cowboys and indians, WWII games, spaceman, pirates, deep sea divers, etc. Man, the first guy to call dibs on the cardboard box got to be the tank and got to win the battles. Oh, unless someone found a cardboard tube and had a bazooka. We bugged our parents endlessly to take us to the army surplus store so we could buy real army stuff, a helmet was usually our first buy;our hand grenades were dirt clods or rocks so a helmet kept many of us from being REAL casualties.

 

Oh yeah, My first experience with modern RPGs was Gygax's first published version of D&D about 20 pages in a paperback that outlined the idea and basic rules of D&D. As I recall it was called the Basic D&D book.

 

Hey Bryan, my Mother found Traveler and sent me the game for Christmas one year but I had a heck of a time finding guys to play. Most of my gamer friends were all D&D guys. the couple times we played it didn't occur to them they could have the computers do the figuring and ask them questions that space weapons could track a target, etc. Stuck in a magic realm they were. <Sigh>

 

Uh, I guess a couple words about the topic under discussion would be called for eh?

 

I'd use a glass candle holder to hold either votive candles or a small oil candle. It'd allow light to shine through the horn and keep it from burning.

 

Sure feels good to be back on IFI!

 

Frosty The Lucky!

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Thanks Weltall.

 Frosty: Using the glass cup or oil lamp would severely limit the size and shape of the horn that could be used, but if you can be picky about the horns you get, then that does sound like an excellent idea.

Oh yeah... I still play tabletop RPG's. Everything from D&D to Star Wars to Champions (a superherogame) {The entire list is too long to type here}. We have a small group of friends we play together with... it's our version of "Poker Night".

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