brianbrazealblacksmith Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 This is the same as forging larger stock. I am using 1/4" round stock, and I marked it at 3" to show how much material I'll be isolating. I'll only be using a little over 1/2" to make the ring. First I isolate about 1/4" with a far-side half hammer face blow on two sides. Then where that taper stops I'll isolate from the rest of the rod with near-sided half hammer face blows on the other two sides. I'll forge back and forth on either side of the anvil and forge a square bar, then forge that round. Flatten the end out to form a pad, then round that up. Chisel the pad. Mark with round eye punch. Fuller petals. Forge with round eye punch. Forge a square then to round taper with near sided half hammer faced blows. Bend on round rod. Twist it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecelticforge Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Bravo! They are beautiful! I really like the overall effect. They are very pleasing to the eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 Hi, it's Karen. Came home from work and thought I would check out IFI and see what Brian did today. So even though it's my guy, I want him to read- WHOOHOO ! ( ring mine) I even understood what you were talking about! haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 You do great work!! gives me the highs and lows. high because I can shamelessly borrow that idea, low because I can't come close to that for inspiration or creativity.... Keep it up, because you are a master of the craft, and something to aspire to. Cliff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRobb Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Really nice! I really like the step by step photos. Thank you! A picture is worth a thousand words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicusJoe Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Whoa that's really well made and thought. really got to try that! Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don A Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Remarkable. Thanks for allowing the rest of us hacks steal your ideas! Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 That was a GREAT idea, Brian. Saw it on last nights BPs. Excellant job. Thank you for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 lovely lovely pictures and instructions too - thanks for being generous enough to share your skills - you make it look so simple:) the pictures make a huge difference to understanding the techniques, thanks again. lucky you karen - the rings are so pretty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 Thanks everyone. Beth, it is as simple as it looks. It's just not that easy. It takes practice, but understanding what will happen when you strike a piece on an anvil is what it is all about, and anyone can know that by thinking about it. Forging is very simple. You just hold your piece under the dies [hammer and anvil], and it practically makes itself. When forging such a small piece, it is important to hit squarely and accurately so you keep the heat in the material. I also never use the full face of the flat side of my hammer. I mainly use my fuller side of my hammer especially when doing half-hammer faced blows. The same applies to larger stock also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 realy enjoyed the class nice work. I have to get more patent to do real small items this will be a good way to accomplish that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackbeard Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Really nice work! Thanks for sharing! Bb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 brian your calm confidence is something i aspire to - thanks for the posts. you are not only a gifted blacksmith but also a natural at explaining - i will watch out for more lessons ! what are the lessons that people are reffering to ? are they something that i could look at in uk or would it be in the middle of the night? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Thompson Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 When it goes as well as that you are not forcing the metal into shape, you are persuading it that that is the shape that it always wanted to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 brian your calm confidence is something i aspire to - thanks for the posts. you are not only a gifted blacksmith but also a natural at explaining - i will watch out for more lessons ! what are the lessons that people are reffering to ? are they something that i could look at in uk or would it be in the middle of the night? Hi Beth, This is Karen (the GF). Brian went back to the forge. Are you reffering Brian's posts? If so you can click on his name and then on statistics it will show you all the links to Brian's posts and threads. If you are reffering to a class to attend, you can look at the IFI calendar. If we ever get to the UK it should be posted there. I would have to charge extra for any of that middle of the night business though. (haha) IFI offers a wonderful place to share blacksmithing, thanks for the nice words Beth. Keep asking questions! Brian loves to talk about the metal! KM ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Looking good! Very authentic. All you'd have to do is forge a very small rose ontop and you'd attract women from all four corners :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rokshasa Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 those are great looking rings, very clean like evrything i see you make ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hofi Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Nice ''rings'' brian but there are the first and second necking (shoulders) that may be some do not understand -- why you did the necking in 180 degrees from one to the other-- I think that to finish the lesson you should give some more pic's and explain the process. from my humble opinion this is a very importent process in forging,we use it in many places againe thanks for the nice rings Hofi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 Thank you, Hofi. You bring up a very important aspect of forging. I don't have any pictures showing the hammer blows and what occurs during the forging. [i need someone to take pictures while I'm forging.] The pictures I take are always after the forging. I will try to explain why the sholders are forged 180 degrees to each other. I already said how I isolated the material that became the flower with half hammer faced blows over the far side of the anvil. I can only hit two sides when I do this because of the sholder that the half hammer faced blow creates [turning 1/4 turn back and forth]. I will take some pictures of this today so everyone can see that stage of the forging. Now, because of the sholders on the two sides, I isolate the material with half hammer faced blows on the other two sides on the near side of the anvil. This creates two sets of sholders that are 180 degrees to each other. The material that will become the band is now isolated. To forge out the band to under 1/8" round and maintain structural integrity I have to keep the sholders off the anvil. I can only hammer on the two sides that allow this, so I go back and forth from near to far side of the anvil. The band starts out very short, but I can hit the spots I choose either by tilting the flat side of my hammer or using the fuller side of my hammer. I go for the high spots and create low spots which creates high spots ... until I get to the dimension I choose. This allows me to isolate and control the forging of whatever amount of material I choose. I'll take some pics today where I'll stop in between heats or steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 hi karen thanks for the reply i will def look up on brians posts sure their will be more diamonds !! wot i meant about the lessons was a live blueprints thing i keep seeing mentioned - its probably really obvious to everyone else but i dont know wot it is! the reason i thought it might be late night or early (too early!) for me is only coz im in uk.. i can do late night ( at huge cost;)) less so early morn.. ps do you do any forgework yourself?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 OK, I took some pics of what occurs while forging the stem or band. I still can't hold the steal, hit the metal, and take a picture at the same time. I used 3/8" square stock for this so it could be seen better, and I made a chisel mark at 2" to show the amount of material that I isolate. There is 7/16" of the 3/8" material isolated on the end and 1 1/4" left on my side of the piece leaving about 5/16" that I'll be working on. That is not that much material, and that is one major reason why this can be done so efficiently. I take a little and do alot to it. The 5/16" forged out to a little over 3", and I could have done that in one heat if I wasn't taking pictures of what happens along the way. I use my fuller side of the hammer to do all this work except to straighten in the end, then I will use my flat side. If you will notice the picture where the piece is curved, that happens while running the taper from the edge of the anvil towards the center. The material lifts up off the anvil, and if you use a gentle fuller it will only curve slightly to your advantage, keeping your material hotter because it is not laying on the anvil. This is what I would call a two sided taper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick L. Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Thanks Brian, Great illustration and explanation as always ! Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 hi karen thanks for the reply i will def look up on brians posts sure their will be more diamonds !! wot i meant about the lessons was a live blueprints thing i keep seeing mentioned - its probably really obvious to everyone else but i dont know wot it is! the reason i thought it might be late night or early (too early!) for me is only coz im in uk.. i can do late night ( at huge cost;)) less so early morn.. ps do you do any forgework yourself?? Hey, I sometimes think I am funny. Thanks for the opening. I do not forge but I sometimes understand what Brian talks about (constantly), haha But life is pretty much all about blacksmithing. KM :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy k Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 (edited) Thanks Brian - I just had to try one..... This I made from 1/4" Stainless. I didn't count the number of heats it took due to the fast cooling rate of small stainless - just figure alot - JK Edited July 24, 2009 by jeremy k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 Alright! Jeremy K, That's what I like to see! Good job! I know what you're talking about with the stainless. You should try some pure silver or copper, they are nice to move around. P.S. How did you like that hammer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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