July 31, 200916 yr Here's one of mine similar to BBrazeals ring, with a different approach. This technique makes upsetting fun. Pic1 - 3/8 round stock (is that rebar? everyone knows you can't forge rebar. blah blah blah) Take it to the far edge of the anvil and isolate about 1", rotate 90 degrees and then back to your original position. Repeat until you have a thin strand attached to a nice hunk of meat. Pic2 - take the strand to round Pic3 - Bend the meat to 90 degrees as shown Pic4 - Now the fun part, upset the blob. Don't worry too much about overlaps, concentrate on getting the thin strand to the edge of the mass and not under the lump. This is better visually and things don't get weak. This part is the crux. You need a few off kilter blows until things settle down. Pic5 - Decorate as you wish Pic6 - Cut Pic7 - Draw out (Is that rebar? Can't be, I mean thats a pretty delicate operation for junk metal. That taper must be 'bout 1mm or so. (blah blah blah) Pic8 - Bend the eye with a needle nose. Pic9 - The finished piece, after a little deformation. Adapt and enjoy
July 31, 200916 yr Nice control over your forging, good job! [This is Brian Brazeal, Karen got on here and now I can't]
July 31, 200916 yr I saw the thread title and thought you'd finally learned to fake charm. Oh well. . . Nice job. Nobody is saying you can't forge rebar, just that it's less predictable than A-36 let alone 1018. Unpredictable means more problems for beginners. Hmmmmm. Wonder if I could fake a little charm. Frosty
July 31, 200916 yr Author Nobody is saying you can't forge rebar, just that it's less predictable than A-36 let alone 1018. Unpredictable means more problems for beginners. My point is that rebar has a bad rap as a forgeable material and I want to do all I can to dispel that idea because as scrap it's everywhere and in quantity (and almost free). Use the cutoffs and you're green! I have forged a lot of it and never had any problems that couldn't be traced back to human error. Work it hot and you're good (whats better for beginners than this mantra?). I have a huge love for "found" materials. In fact, one of my favorite things about the craft is that you can find a rusty hunk of something on the side of the road and chances are you can heat it and squish it. If I could only fake charm I'd probably get more jobs. Edited July 31, 200916 yr by nuge i'm an idiot
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