Randy

If you use it as it you could put that pattern throughout a pattern welded blade!

Spears, Boy does that sound familiar! Did a local art show and my pieces were almost on the floor! Lesson learned. First off in dealing with the art community I never use the word "blacksmith". Maybe "artist/sculptor in hot forged metals", but not "blacksmith". Second, any show that I get into I take my own pedestals to insure that everything is placed at the right height. I usually ask what color their pedestals are so I can paint mine the same color beforehand. I also have my name inside fo them so I'm sure to get them back. When signing the drop off sheet I put the pedestals on there, too. Usually when I deliver my work I stand around until I see what they are doing and if I "can be of assistance". They seem to like that.

So you have an idea of how the wet fines work: Using hardware cloth (large screening) or an ash sifter, sift out the fines from your coal and put into a bucket. Sprinkle with water until wet. You don't want a soup, but more like mortar. The longer it sits the better. I used to do this the night before. Take a shovel (coal shovels work best) and scoop up the wet fines and place on the forge. You don't want this running with water. You can use a 4" x 4" board about 12" long and stand this up over your grate. Hold in place as you pack the wet coal around this and use a hammer or the back of a shovel to pack it tight around the wood. Pile it up about 4" to 5" high all around the wood. Make it like a hill around the wood. Let it set for about 15 minutes to allow any excess water to drain off. Take the shovel and using it up and down cut open the front of this mound to the same width of the wood. That will be your front door. Carefully wiggle the wood and raise it straight up carefull to not to bust up the coal. Your fire is built in the area left by the wood. You don't touch this coal at all through out the day unless you need a long heat in something and then you cut out a back door like you did the front. As you burn the sides will coke up into a big solid piece of coke. Great for starting your next fire. It also keeps your fire contained and protects your forge.

I hope this helps.

Thanks all. I had some ladies in one of the forging groups get a bunch of laser cut discs about a 5/8" oval and made the hats into earrings. They then sold them to make money for their group.

See. Your wife knows art better than they do. Great piece!

Bigfoot, you're totally right! bigfoot in my mouth. Gottem mixed up. Can I be dyslexic with metals?

Stewart, too bad we can't show an icon for sarcasm, as you would have seen it in my post, too. Sarcasm meets sarcasm. Too bad you didn't see it. That's why the smiley face was put after the statement. Oh, well just my sense of humor I guess...

I've been making metal hats for over 30 years. In the beginning they were small ones, 1" to 1-1/2" long. Now they are around 4" long. I started making the larger ones when I was going to do a demonstration of how to make them for the North Texas Blacskmith Asssociation. Good place to do a cowboy hat demo, don't you think? I have now done the demo many times around the country and I'm surprised at the number of other people now doing that demo and how many people are having fun making hats.

Here are a few of my hats. I wear many hats in this business. :rolleyes:

This is Lasso Larry, circa 1985.



This one I did in some damascus/pattern welded sheet that I made. I did this just before the Texas demo.



This one is a more recent one.



They are fun to do and not hard either. Maybe this will give you some inspiration?

Stewartthesmith, if you have the reincarnated master smith in you, just do it! You don't need us. :D If it was only that simple.

I do see the point of a juried show and I'm glad they do it. It's to try to keep the rif raf out. The people who buy kits and assemble them to sell and the very low end stuff that doesn't belong in a craft show. I did those in the beginning, too, and didn't sell a thing. I did one juried show and we spotted a guy selling stuff he got from overseas. He was immediately thrown out! No, for what we do you want a juried show even with the hassles of getting in.

I've been teaching an Amish shop about forging. They do some real nice work but mainly with King and the like parts that they weld together. Now they want to make their own. They do a show that is indoors in winter so the first year they had a propne forge. Well, that's not allowed any more. They called me to get an alternative heat source. So last year they contacted Grant and bought an induction forge. They do what it takes to get the job done.

Phil is right, but again it is not required. I have done the same thing with my old sheet metal rivet forge by using the coal fines, wetted down to form the fire box when forging. It didn't have caly in it when I got it and I've had it for 40 years and still don't use it.

It is used a lot for sculpture. They let it rust and when done creating a surface rust it will not rust any more. One of the famous sculptors, Caldor or someone did a piece for the front wall of a building, seems like it was a museum. They were in a hurry but were told not to hang it until all the rusting was done. They didn't wait and it bled right down the wall. They had to remove it, some how get the rust stain off of the building and then re-hang it. Plus it weighed a ton or more. You'll see more of it fabricated than forged, but even Yellin's shop did gates and the like forged from it.

Not coins, but when Yellins' closed on Arch Street a number of smiths, me included, took the scale off of the floor just to have a part of the Yellin energy to take to their shops. A lot of us dug deep to get the oldest we could find. That's why my shop is never totally clean.

I'd love to have some of the actual Yellin work, but the scale is all I can afford right now.

Haven't heard of it under the anvil, but my house was built in the '50's and the bedroom doors still have coins on the door header trim. I was told to keep out spirits and protect one.

No. Any refactory will just break up and get in your fire. You don't need it.

Colleen, looking good. I'd love to see some stamping or strong looking carving on the top, but that won't happen in an hour. I'd take a file or hammer to the underside to knock off the edges so it's not sharp on the skin. I used to make Celtic coins and armbands, rings, etc. Actually more Middle Earth, but that's Celtic. I used stainless to keep the dollars down. The coins were copper. I still love that stuff. I'm even in the process of doing some belt buckles in brass and some t-shirts of Regin the Smith from the Hylestad portals. Finish wise, just fine emory paper over the surface will make it shiney yet still leave the texture. Makes a nice contrast.

Check out the Bonnevile Forge Council in Utah: www.bfcsmiths.com

They can help you. They have classes, hammer-ins, a newsletter, etc.

As another idea, since it is for steel roses who says it has to be solid? How about a framework in the shape of a vase? Either as a spiral, solid or open or a vertical framework. Or a combination of sheet and bar.

Somehow this seemed fitting...

Thomas hit it on the head. Ouch! I've seen the steel bit lap welded on, too. The birds mouth weld is a better solution.

Well, more expensive than a rock, but look at the difference!

Beautiful work, Mick! The press squish just added so much life to the pieces. Expertly done!

What? Are you talking about the "me" generation? The spoiled ones who just want everything handed to them because they deserve it? With no effort on their own? I see them every day. BUT in regards to blacksmithing I am impressed with how many are bit by the forging bug and what they will do to learn it. What they will do to make their own forges and anvils and pound on something. They are learning the hard way and picking up some bad habits along the way, but they are learning. And for those I will do what I can to guide them along the way. Yes, there are those who still try to take what they think will be a shortcut but at some point, hopefully, they will see that doesn't work. They'll see that you can't hand someone a skill. They'll have to work for it. They'll have to pry some of that money from their hands and put some energy into it. I've been frustrated with some that just ask on every thread catagory how to start instead of reading what's already there for them. But those I don't expect will be around long as they aren't sincere. Just a momentary adrenaline rush." I want to make a sword..." So I brush them off and focus on the others. Some of those others have impressed me with not only how much they've learned but also with what they've done with it. Already passing it on to their school or museums, helping to preserve old shops and forging factories. They have so much energy. I think it will be amazing to see what those that appreciate this craft do with it.

I don't have it, but check with ABANA as I believe he is on the board.

Yea, you don't want the bar with holes in it. The monkey wrench is great, but for up to 5/8" square it's not needed. Just use plain hot rolled mild steel, 5/8" square is big enough and round each end for handles. Bend the piece in the center to match the size stock you want to twist in each side. So the drawing shows 3/8" sq. on one side and 1/2" sq. on the other. Two wrenches like this and you have twisting bars for 3/8" to 3/4". This was the way Francis Whitaker taught us. The second photo shows how they hang at the vise. With this style you can reach any where along the piece to twist.

If you want to do your own lettering instead of using stamps look up Fritz Kuhn and his books. He used a thicker plate and set tools and hammered down everything that wasn't the lettering leaving the letters higher than the plate. Beautiful!