Hello everyone. Here are some things I did this weekend. I was supposed to be cleaning my shop in preparation for hosting our monthly club meeting next weekend. I did get my daughters closet doors repainted and the door knobs that I forged for her put on and the doors hung. At least that got those items out of the shop. But the forge and anvil was calling out to me.

The first piece is a bottle opener for the trade item for the meeting. The spatula is from Mark Aspery's First book. And the last item is a coffee mug tree that a customer wanted. I finished that last weekend. She said she wanted something twisty.......Hmmm....I was having a hard time coming up with something and my daughter and I was talking about it and she came up with this idea. She drew a picture of it and the customer liked it. I really thought it was going to be easy. But I have to say it kicked my rear for a while. It took 2 try and several hours of anguish but I finally got it like the drawing. I finally got it to work by taking the rods and making them into a circle and then pulling the circle out. This gave the twisting effect i needed.

Nice job, Todd. The mug holder is cool. Thanks for sharing. :D

Nice job on all three. Really nice twist on the bottle opener.

I was the same way today. Things to do but the forge beckoned. I just can't say no to the forge. I'm weak.

Mark<><

I made a nail header for next Sundays "into to smithing" class, finished off a dragon headed cubical hook, (hangs on a cubical wall to hold a coat---spiraled tail on one side for the coat dragon head on the other), straightened some heavy iron wire for future projects and assembled two small wind bells using gas bottle valve protectors as the bell, scrounged chain, the aforementioned heavy iron wire for the suspension hook and chain holder on the inside , and some chilies forged from pipe as the dangles at the end of the chain. Not a bad Sunday Afternoon's work.

Thanks guys. Wow Thomas! You are much faster than I am! I guess I should cut down on the dancing in between heats! That darn radio! Lol

Naw; just all gung-ho as I spend Saturday moving my daughter's apartment about 100 miles north of here. So after I got back from church I was afire to get some smithing done!

Very nice, thank you for sharing.

Nice work Todd, i really like the twist detail of that bottle opener.

Nice work Todd, i really like the twist detail of that bottle opener.

Thanks. My wife says I do too nice of a job for the trade items. I told her I should always do my very best. If I cant do a nice job then nobody gets anything!

Great work Todd! I especially like the design on the "working" end of the opener.

I made a dragon headed cubical hook, (hangs on a cubical wall to hold a coat---spiraled tail on one side for the coat dragon head on the other)

Any chance there's a picture of this? I'm always looking for smithing projects that I can use in the office.

thank you,

I don't have any pictures; I can see if my apprentice can take and post one though; may be a while.

Pretty simple to see based on the description. The one I just finished is a bit more "spiky" than I generally do for a workplace; per the customer's request.

I generally forge the head first and then bend it to fit over a cubical wall---a 2x4 works as a stand in for some walls. Then I draw out the "tail" to a long taper, octagonalize it, twist it, etc and then curl it up into a spiral to make the coat hook.

I generally soak in vinegar, wirebrush and then run temper colours on it and spray it with a clear lacquer---rattle can.

For metal walls I space it a bit bigger and glue felt on the inside to protect the pain on the wall.

Run with it and post a pic of what you come up with! I currently have 3 in my office 1 for me, one for my officemate and one just for show.

Great tip on the 2x4! I measured the cubicle walls before I left today and whadayaknow, 3.5 inches! Any wings?

Thanks, I'll see what I can come up with.

That bottle opener is cool !! It makes me think one-legged elephant...now I wanna try making one, only shorter, bent 90, and with a flat foot so it will stand on it's own :P