another bottle opener

[Michael]

this one only took about 2 hours.

Lessons learned,

1- much easier to work on the end of a long bar, just not so long that when working around the tip of the horn, the bar stock hits the ground!

2-When center punching the bar end to mark where the punch will register, half the thickness of the bar from the bar end is good, a full thickness leaves too much material at the end of the ring

3-before half punching the "tooth" inside the ring, make sure all the surfaces are smooth/rounded to avoid cold shuts on the tooth

4-Keep BEER in the house before making beer openers you IDIOT!!

Michael

[Mike Ameling]

Yeah, #4 is the hardest to do! Especially when friends stop over to visit the shop!

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

[divermike]

This is one we learned how to do in Mark Aspery's class, I made it on fathers day at our outdoor hammer in, the wind was blowing and it took the heat out of the stock pretty fast, so some of the finer features were not finished until I have time to go file them out, but I did discover that doing it in 5/8ths instead of 1/2 inch is much easier!! It works, and repetitively!! When I posted this, I did not know it was so dark, sorry bout that.

Edited June 23, 2009 by divermike

[Jorgensen]

Divermike

Very cool!

[divermike]

I need a lighted studio for pics, I had my wife hold the flashlight for this one, but it's a bit better. My buddy's a pro photographer, and he is going to help me build a portfolio, and set up a light box, hopefully soon!