January 4, 201412 yr Ooohhh, I like the guitar, Sean. Mind if I 'borrow' ;) that idea? My brother may like that one better than the steer's head opener I gave him a couple of years ago.
January 8, 201412 yr U need 1 :D This is a very functional item! I like it My latest. I have landed on this concept lately for whatever reason. Kinda on the big side. Kinda on the manly side. Not lookin for a mini. The other piece is done on both ends in a similar fashion. Just need to cut and add the opener. I love making bottle openers, so here's a bunch: These make me think of... Chess and Aztecs For whatever reason.. I like!
January 9, 201412 yr Here's one of my steer's head openers I talked about. PS - I just realized I forgot to add the hair details :blink:...Doesn't really look like the Highlanders I raise....oh well
January 12, 201412 yr I find myself still screwing around with bottle openers. I guess I just like them. Recently I sold one on Etsy and the buyer asked me if I could make something that had some sort of blade on the end to allow for opening these new fangled wax sealed Stouts and Barley Wines. After testing a few different approaches, I came up with this simple solution http://i.imgur.com/peUqEaU. I was just trying to test the blade portion but needed to do something quick on the handle for looks and grip so I did this reversing twist, which I have seen before here but had never actually done before. I liked it so much I decided to do another one with that twist for practice. http://i.imgur.com/yg9MVwl.
January 12, 201412 yr Thank you, Easy to hold the bottle and simply push with your thumb. Not sure why they posted sideways
January 15, 201412 yr Sean St. I love your guitar. Any tips on how you got the working end so perfect. I would like to know how you got the hole oblong and what did you start with? Just starting out and any help would be appreciated if that's O.K. Thanks Randy
January 16, 201412 yr Usually I just do it by hand, but what can help is after you stretch out the hole, tap it down over a cone hardy to make the hole as round as possible. Then just tap it gently straight back towards yourself, off the anvil. Does that make sense?
January 16, 201412 yr One more thing about punching the hole, you've got to keep it hot. If you try to strech it out once it cools it will tear.
January 16, 201412 yr Here are some church keys I made. These are tight. How did you do the little key bits? Is that flat section squeezed off the mass?
January 16, 201412 yr These are tight. How did you do the little key bits? Is that flat section squeezed off the mass? Thanks. I flatten out a piece of 5/8" square, then shoulder in front and behind the bit, and thin and draw out the bit with a narrow cross peen. Once the stem is drawn out it's rounded off. I cut the slots in the bit with a thick hacksaw blade.
January 17, 201412 yr Usually I just do it by hand, but what can help is after you stretch out the hole, tap it down over a cone hardy to make the hole as round as possible. Then just tap it gently straight back towards yourself, off the anvil. Does that make sense? Thanks I'm going to give it a shot tomorrow. Randy
January 17, 201412 yr I am a little curious about how folks create and then expand the hole in relatively thin stock. And also how much metal you leave towards the outer edges/sides of the hole? Then what tooling you use to get the hole big enough to fit the horn.. or however you finish? I punch about a 1/4" hole. Maybe a bit more... Then I drift with a 5/8" drift by hammering into the pritchel while moving the drift about 90 degrees after each hit. Not too many hits or the hole wants to waller downwards and you can get a cold shut if not careful. Pop it off, tap it flat. flip it over and repeat. But yes don't get too cold. If to cold back to fire. My challenge is to get it big enough quickly to work on the horn. Then... Work it on the horn, when it fits.... Sometimes I squat and look into the point of the horn and tap gently to make it right sized. Making the hole uniform is a bit of a challenge. Not hard but for me requires slow, thoughtful, attention to detail to get reasonably right. So this is a tired ramble from me at this point. Just got back from a work related travel/meeting. Does anyone have advice on how they make, drift, Make concentric, roundover the edges.... of the hole?
January 17, 201412 yr BTL you are going the hard way... I've done that too! Try slitting and then opening the slit to make the hole! Also, once you can work on the horn it's easier to draw out the thicker areas than to try to get an even stretch! If the hole gets a bit overlarge you can always flatten the outside edge as much as needed!
February 28, 201412 yr Here is my first one. This was a scrap crank arm from some old bike. Thank you guys so much for the inspiration. Greetings to all Gergely
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