Tight Scrolls

[Leland]

Greetings, Anvil-Beaters!

I'm pretty competent at turning at varied scrolls (fish-tail, ha-penny, etc.), with a pleasing and symmetrical spiral. BUT...they're usually a coupla turns, tops, just because I find it difficult to turn more spirals with the tools/experience I have at hand. (I use a scrolling fork set in a vise.)

I don't often need a dizziness-inducing number of curls, but when I do, I'd like to make 'em look nice. Tips, hints, mockery, derision?

Thanks,
Leland

[Rich Hale]

Make a hundred or so.....That is not meant to be funny but that is how to build the skill you need for this.......

[Mike Ameling]

Make up a jig for your vice to help you keep a consistent spacing between all the scrolls. A 2 or 3 inch length of metal bent into a slight curve is all you need. And make it thick enough to match the distance you want between the metal parts of the scroll.

Then, after you have started your scroll up to a working size, then heat the next section up, slip the scroll up tight along the inside of that jig, and tap/bend the off part up against the curve of your new jig. Then heat the next section and repeat. A bit of flat bar or plate sticking out on the inside of the curved jig will help support the finished scroll and keep things "square to the world".

And you could always rig up a rotating handle on the off side to pull/bend the unscrolled part against your jig. The longer the curved "jig" part is, the easier it will be to bend the scroll against. But it will also become harder to adjust the curving as the scroll grows larger.

And if you have enough of them, then a full scroll jig starts to become worth making.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

[John B]

Practice making them over the anvil using the hammer, make sure they are hot when you form them, two pairs of scrolling tongs will then enable you to tighten the scroll up to form narrower voids in the scroll, you can get them to look like large watch springs then, be aware of how long a piece of material wil be needed to produce a tight scroll.