John NC Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 I've been playing around with bowls lately, and decided to do a footed one. What kind of foot though?.. Hummmm... How about actual feet! It's about 6" across, 3 1/2" high and has a cold blue/Danish oil finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Very Nice- good lines and proportions How did you attatch the feet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John NC Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 Thanks for the compliment, Fe. I MIG welded them on, then ground down my bubblegum welds. I'd love to come up with a better way to attach them. Anyone got any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Thanks for the compliment, Fe. I MIG welded them on, then ground down my bubblegum welds. I'd love to come up with a better way to attach them. Anyone got any ideas? rivits!! they work good and look good ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Ameling Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 (edited) I've generally just used rivets. Here's a pic of several spider frypans, and a tabletop brazier or chafing dish (I think that's the name). That little brazier is designed to have live coals from your fire put into it, and a pot/pan/kettle then set on top - to keep food warm. You can cook over it, but it takes more work keeping the heat up. The legs on those frypans are pretty simple/straight forward. But I went much fancier on that brazier. I based them on several mid to late 1700's originals. The basic leg shape before scrolling is somewhat Keyhole shaped. The top is flared out to the sides to spread the area where it gets riveted to the pan. Then it is necked in fairly tight, and then slowly flared back out to form the feet. I then rolled/scrolled the ends and gave the whole legs a gentle curve. Sorry for the poor pic. My digital camera is a cheapo/junker that does OK snapshots, just not closeups. Just a couple more options for feet on your bowls. Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands p.s. The shovel is a 1700's style repro. The two parts to form the top and handle socket are riveted together instead of forge welded. Both methods were used on the originals. The main shovel blade is 14 gauge, while the front of the socket and blade is 18 gauge. Cold formed, fullered, and swaged to shape. Then drilled and riveted. Plus the top edges of the shovel are bent over 90 degrees - to be "kinder" on your shoe when digging with it. Another fun historical project. And that smaller size is very handy when working around the campfire cooking, moving coals to a dutch oven, or filling a brazier with hot coals. But I still do need to make one into a "frypan" like that one Rev War original. Edited June 11, 2009 by Mike Ameling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John NC Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 Thanks guys, great idea. I've got some heavy gauge copper wire at the shop that should work and look good, anybody got tips and tricks for riveting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andgott Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Very nice... I love the 'toes' :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Ravizza Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Nice work. The "toes" are a nice detail. What did you use to form the bowl? I made a smaller footed bowl out of copper with polished steel legs. I silver brazed them on. Not sure I would do it that way again. Riveting would be easier. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Riveting Tips; use a set or spacer (proper thiickness flat bar with a hole in it) on the off side of the rivet. Sets are for the side with a finished head while you work on the other side. Spacers keep the stock centered in the hole while you form the first head. Use a small to very small hammer (depending on rivet size) and fairly gentle taps but very many (when riveting cold). For hot riveting you have to move swiftly so hammer a bit harder but even quicker. Heavy blows will upset the rivet and tighten the rivet in the hole... maybe good maybe bad depending on what you are riveting. Too heavy blows will bend the rivet stock especially when cold riveting. Practice on scrap with the same rivet stock and techniques before risking ruination of your projects. When you have to set a rivet where only one side will be easy to work on (like when riveting a ladle handle) use a header to preform the rivet head on the hard to work side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.Willis Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John NC Posted June 12, 2009 Author Share Posted June 12, 2009 D Ravizza, the bowls are formed in a swage block. Bigfootnampa, thanks for the tips! I'll be trying them out later today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrispy Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 I like the foot idea. You asked for suggestions, how about parting the toes and rivetting to a ball bearing (or make your own ball). If using ball bearings, (impossible to drill unless annealed) chuck a few into your forge (Coke fired) just b4 turning it off to get them red hot. Then turn off for the evening. Next day recover the handfull of annealed balls from the extinguished fire, Whack with a hammer to creat a flat spot on opposing sides, centre punch and drill hole to suit rivet size. Rivet through the foot and into the ball for better appearance. Smooth off the bottom side of the ball to prevent marking furniture. Hopefully it might look similar to the ball and claw often seen carved into the legs of period furniture. Better still make the foot a Talon. Food for thought. Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evfreek Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Hi. bigfootnampa gave some good tips for riveting. I like to use reclaimed copper wire to do decorative rivets, but it is not strong. It is also hard to work with. Don't bother using 14 ga wire from junk romex. It is just too thin, and any goofing around will cause it to bend, and the head will come out off center. 12 ga is the minimum, and 8 ga or better grounding wire is even nicer. To make the head come out in a more controlled way, make a little steel header plate. Drill an exact size hole, chamfer, and set it on top of your machinist vise jaws. Pinch the wire sticking out the hole below in the jaws, maybe using paper to protect the shank. Do not use soft jaws. Many people will think these are great for avoiding scarring the shank, but they will create a tiny bit of slop between the plate and the jaws. This will cause the shank to bend while upsetting the head, and make it difficult to extract the rivet. Also, it will make a nick in a critical area which will weaken the rivet considerably. When the rivet has a decent head on one side, gently persuade it out of the header. If you started with 12 ga, it will be bent and stuck. Do not nick the shank. Put the rivet through the piece(s) and cut it off at the correct length (1-1.5 X stickout). File the cutoff burr unless you are really good at the trimming. Use a fixed rivet set to protect the first head, and peen the second head over. Copper rivets add a touch of class to blacksmithing work, but some customers do not like them. Hmmmm One other tip, given to me by a repouse artist. If the head starts to split as you are doing the final peening, that means that the copper is work hardening and needs to be annealed. Hit it with a propane torch, but do not get too wild on it. Copper will start to anneal at 700F, which is too low to show color. If you get the head red, you are asking for trouble. Homemade copper rivets are troublesome. I have had good luck with commercial rivets. Once I had a commission which required a lot of rivets. I wasn't able to get the size I wanted quickly, and I ended up making them. After doing several of them, it got kind of boring and unpleasant, but not nearly as bad as watching TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John NC Posted June 12, 2009 Author Share Posted June 12, 2009 Chrispy, the ball/claw foot sounds cool, but you just quadrupled the forge time and retail price of the bowl. I'm trying to keep these under $50 retail. Although you got me thinking... I've got 3 bags of glass marbles in the shop... Evfreek, while you were typing I was in the shop doing my first rivets. These are annealed #6 ground wire. Learning Curve Some of these I premade the head and some I didn't. It didn't seem to make much difference, but of course I had access to both sides of the steel here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evfreek Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Lookin' good, John, lookin' good! #6 grounding wire is well behaved and beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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