Whoa Basher. NICE NICE!!!!

you have a much simpler way of doing a horse than I do , I like it.
here is one of mine.

Nice!!!!

Owen, can we have some clues on how you made that great horse? As with others, I have mine own ideas, but they may be way off the mark!

Basher, do you fold the bar back on itself in order to make the mane? Hard to tell, but there appears to be a gap betwen the mane, and the neck-correct?

I like it, as it looks ancient in its design. Very flowing, and stylistic.

Basher, Super cool! Please show how you do it.

:( oh dear i appear to have missed this lovliness! wonderful horses heads brian, as usual clear instruction, i want to try the 3d one...
and basher - wow you have dropped my jaw with the beauty of that thing.. i reckon i know how you did it and im going to try :)..... it wont look like that though, and ive not really a proper idea how you make the patterned neck, cut grooves and back and forth twisting or something?
i keep seeing your courses on ebay, i wonder if you get to be shown this.... ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzEtTREbI40&list=UU5Nn5dwrvBlzKYBOivIS5VA&index=12&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aO6BPD5-1E&list=UU5Nn5dwrvBlzKYBOivIS5VA&index=6&feature=plcp
Here are some videos that can help. The animal heads are similar to making tongs. The dies or surfaces that you choose are half of your round top die over your near and far side edges of a sharp 90 degree for hand and, or sledge work. For power hammer work, you just substitute side sets for the 90 degree corners so that all your holds will be horizontal.

ok here is my first try at the basher norse horse :0 i only had about half an hour before i let fire go out, and i have no real animal useful punches so its obviously dog poo, BUT it has totally inspired me, i think its such a cool element and can be used in a lot of ways, i will keep trying this one...
plus, also, the weld WORKED :)!!!!! so i have a spring in my step - it was meant to be :) am really quite over excited about that, which is why i can chillax about the very rushed vague face :)

cheers basher :) hope your not too insulted by my rendition!!

Owen, that really is truly inspirational work!!!!

And Beth, yours is definitely NOT dog poo, just perhaps a little less refined and raw, but beautiful just the same!!!

thanks colleen, it was the method i really wanted to try, i reckon you could do all kinds of things with that idea :)

thats so beautiful brian. i reckon even i have the tools to make that one correctly - i need to write it down :) thanks, the vids are brilliant :)

Vids are brilliant, so why do they not show when I try to access them, is there copyright issues!




OK, Got it sorted now. Flash player went walkabout for some reason.

Good start Beth, new you could do it !

Edited February 20, 201214 yr by John B

good job Beth.
if you cut the main with a hot cut after forming the head it will automatically follow the curve of the neck as the chisel spreads the metal.
Brian,
the beginning of the second vid is wonderful, such economy of action and amazing results , hats off to you thats amazing to watch.

Mark Pearce shows in one of the UMBA DVD library dvds (RD70) how to make a horse head with a mane. He curls the mane which I think gives a nice finish. Below is my attempt on something similar.

very nice with the alternately curled mane jura! also a beautiful chin if i may say so :) i must keep trying with these heads till i can make a stunner like yours and bashers.

Brian, I have made 6 or so of the horse heads and there starting to look alright but I gotta say I love the 3-D horse heads you made. Any chance on a tutorial on how to make those? Or maybe a few step by step pictures to see what the steps are. Thanks!

I don't have any videos, but there is a drawing on the first page of this thread in the first post. It is just like the flat one except you check the sides back on the horn or bottom fuller with your rounding hammer or top fuller.

Thank you, Brian, for sharing your knowledge and experience. As a beginner I recently discovered your work and youtube videos. Thanks for those! I've watched them over and over. Please post more! As a craftsman and artisan, you make every hammer blow count (I haven't seen any other youtube vids that can compare, though you've taught your student Alec Steele well and I enjoy his vids too). This week I tried my first horse heads as per your instructions. Definitely room for improvement, but I'm having loads of fun.

 

First attempt at Brazeal style and Hugh MacDonald style heads.

 

 

And first two hooks....

 

 

Nice job, forginhill! Most of my work when I forge alone is half hammer face blows over the near and far sides of the anvil just like the horse is. For the middle notch on the near side, you should hold the material straight, not down, and it will forge a smaller bar in that area instead of a reverse taper. The horse will help to understand how you can divide up material and displace certain amounts into different forms then go into doing more complex forms. It is not much different than making a pair of tongs.
Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the tips, Brian, I'll work on that next time I forge. That section is a little tough for me.

Here are my last two tries at the horseheads. Getting better but still got a ways to go...

Been working more on those horse heads. Here's number seven....

 

Last night I tried some thinner, smaller steel. And then tried to make a key ring. That didn't go so well. Had to do some cleaning with the file. I need some practice with punching and drifting.

 

Aw, those look better than my attempts. It takes practice, you have the knack so they'll get better fast.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

nice work, definatly better than my attempts. For whatever reason I'm having trouble getting the cheek area to look right. Those last few I tried using horseshoes, they seem to be about the right size.