BP0924

I made some quickie animal heads today out of 3/16"x1/2" as a suggestion of something for others to try. They are made with half hammer faced blows over the near and far side of the anvil on a sharp edge. This picture shows the steps of a horse head and if you look you can see where the round hammer makes sudden divisions in the metal while holding the material on or over the anvil. The horse can be done in one heat with practice. They are similar to making tongs. You can make many other shapes and animals with this same technique. I'm including a drawing I made over 15 years ago of how to do a 3D horse head which should help to see the angles that you hold your material. With the flat stock you leave the top and bottom round dies step out and just check your material on the flats.

Hi Brian,
Here you go again! Surely many people appreciate your creativity and generosity. and I believe you could write a book on tutorials. Today I was showing my wife the humming bird you forged in one hour time. When I get my propane forge going I`ll give it a try and sure would be glad to get something close even if it takes me whole day or more, LOL. Thanks for sharing so much experience. Nelson.

Thanks Brian!!!

I really want to try some animal heads soon!

Adam

Thanks again Brian.

I'll have to practice a couple times before your sketches make complete sense but it'll be a good trick for the old magic bag.

I especially like the seahorse.

Frosty

Brian, Thank you for posting the process and picture!! You can count on seeing how I do. I need to make a couple tools first. I don't have a domed hammer yet and I want to make a couple punches for better detail. Also a blunt chisel. Can't wait to get at it!

Dick

I'm glad to hear that you guys are going to try these things out. I may do a book some day, but that's a big job. I saw Mark Aspery the other day and he was telling me how much work it was to do a book. I've got to hand it to him; he's done a great job! I'll try and take some more pics tomorrow of the tooling for the animals.

Thanks Brian you are the 'man'. As a beginner your knowledge and explanation of tech etc are fantastic, love the drawing and the fact that with a bit of patience, effort, creativity...did I say patience maybe one day I may come within a whisker of what you can do...did I say creativity???Thanks heaps appreciate your time..cheers stay safe Bully

OK Brian,
now I gotta tell ya, you are adding to my stress. All of you guys have so many cool ideas, and you share them here, and of course, I have to find a way to go try them, and pretty soon it's all too much! aggggh! the animal head diagram is very cool, and I agree with all sentiments posted on this thread, but I may have to crawl into a dark cave and shiver for a while, so many projects so little time, grumble grumble mutter drool.

Looking good Brian. Gives old blacksmiths like me a chance to try something new! After all the tongs I've made over the years it is refreshing to try some of the things that others have done. Thank you.

Terry

Here are the tools besides my hammer, anvil, and vice that I use to make animal heads out of flat bar or square stock for the 3D heads. Notice that the eyes and noses are made from square punches that I leave 2 corners so I know how to oreint my punch except for the round ones where it doesn't matter.

I going to try your method of making horse heads. They look a lot better than mine. Thanks for sharing.

Brian ,
Thanks for the photo of the chisels and punches ! Your not leaving us much room for excuses I can't wait to get some made up and give them a try.
Dick

that is way cool, now i have to try it out!

Well I said I'd post when I gave it a try and here it is. I can tell you I'm a long ways away from a one heat horse head. This is about 6-8 in all the excitement I lost count. I still need to make a rounding hammer like Brian's drawing shows but I did do some punches and chisels. I would have gladly gone for #2 tonight but the rain has reached central MA. and I still work under the stars.:)

Good job DickL, that's a whole lot better than my first horse head! Karen really liked it too. She said to give you a Whoo Hoo!

Edited April 2, 200917 yr by brianbrazealblacksmith

Thanks, Brian + Karen ! It is a great exercise to do with many challenges.
On the next one I'll pay close attention to the near and far side strikes so it doesn't have the crocodile snout...
Dick

Hey Dick, nice horse head, just tell em he's bread to win roaces by a "nose".

What do you use the bent looking center punch for?

[quote
What do you use the bent looking center punch for?

Well I went at it again tonight paying close attention to the anatomy of the head and trying to get as much done per heat as possible. I used 8 heat to get it to this point and if it weren't for the giraffe like neck I would be pretty happy. This is 3/16 X 1 stock and it cools pretty quick.I am walking about 10 ft from the forge to the vise. I don't have a portable setup yet. The anvil is right there close up though. I think I'll concentrate on getting things arranged better so I can work more efficiently.

Dick

Dick, You're doing fine, but I would suggest starting with 1/4"x3/4". It is a much easier profile to manage. The proportions will come. Think about forging the rectangular profile to square at the chin and the base of the neck and a smaller rectangle at the first notch in front of the cheak. The first notch sets up your proportion, and you can take less than you'd think from the start. The cheaks are basically a square of the material. The half hammer face blow allows you to isolate the material, as I can see you've already got that down. Keep up the good work. Karen gives you another "Whoo Hoo!"

Here's one I did today. I'll do some pictures of the notches tomarrow.
This bottle opener started from 1/2"x 1/4", but that is not the easiest profile to start with.

Hi Brian + Karen,
Thanks for the words of encouragement and the tips ! That bottle opener is 1st class !

Dick

that is cool, every time i open a new thread i see something i have to try!:D

Dick, My computer wasn't working yesterday, so here are the pictures of the first steps of the horse head before you check it back to the dimension you start with and do the diagonals. I'll add the pics I showed before so no one has to go back to see them.

Thanks Brian,
I really appreciate the photos because it removes all questions, but you keep raising the bar and I'm barely on the first level.
Your level of experience is something many of us would like to some day achieve I'm sure.

Dick