clinton Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I made a couple of bottle openers yesterday and took some pictures of how I do it. I learned this from Brian Brazeal, and there are some key points to follow in order to get an opener like this. Mark for slitting Slit a hole Drift to 3/8 inch Drift to 3/4 inch Mark for cutting Work over the horn, chamfer edges Drift too cold and split it open Dimple tab Start over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbcreative Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I like that you showed your mistake. Makes me feel like I'm not the only one. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I've done that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec.S Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Very nice stuff clinton!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 What is the final drift size? 1 inch? Nice work. I love breaking something and having to start over. At least that it is an inexpensive oops! Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Nice work Clinton! Wonna come give me a demo? I'll supply the steel, forge, coke and beer.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 your on Fe- you said the magic word BEER, we can make you some tooling aslo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 What is the final drift size? 1 inch? Nice work. I love breaking something and having to start over. At least that it is an inexpensive oops! Phil Oh ya thanks for bringing that up Phil, I left that out. The final drift is 1 inch- no more or you will not end up with a nice round opener, you can not forge or hammer anymore even at a black heat after you drift to 1 inch, straighten it out and leave it alone. If you do end up with one that is too big thats fine you just take another heat and flatten the end, some people make them like that, I prefer the perfect round myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 fbcreative- I threw that in there for teenylittlemetalguy- he commented in another post that he makes them too thin and the break out on him. This was not too thin I tried to finish the final drift and lost my heat before the drift was though, maybe it was not hot enough to start with - or, I was just too slow, but what caused the break was forging at a black heat, Iron is brittle at black heat and will break easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Thanks for the step by step with pictures. I am a visual learner and the pictures meant a lot in helping me. Mark<>< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstein Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Nice demo Clnton. I try to stay away from drifting once it's thinned out. I like to draw the opener out on the horn while chamfering, i feel i can keep more heat in the thin parts this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanBrassaw Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Great tutorial! Being a know-nothing, I always appreciate these kinds of posts. What was your stock size when you made your slit? Not knowing this, my friend and I made one tonight, and we erred on the large size. Most of my scrap (I work mostly in the medium of rust) is round, so I went with a piece of 1/2 in. We ended up with this after cutting the extra off: Also, for making the actual opening "nub", I used a 3/8 rod for a punch, but for some reason it didnt occur to me to soften the edges, so I had some gouges there. What diameter punch did you use, and what kind of radius or just eased edges did you have on it? Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Round bars work ok, flatten it at one end, then slit and drift rather than just punch and drift, you can then leave the round as a handle or decorate/forge it as you wish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braedon Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Nice tutorial Clinton. Do ya ever get that little voice when ya know ya are gettin a little greedy on your heat,,I do,,It is usually right before something breaks . All I can do is laugh,,I knew better,,,tnx again keep em comming! Braedon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 The material that I chose was flat bar 3/4 x 1/4 inch, but you can use a wide range of stock. I find that this size of material gives me a bottle opener that is stout and still fits in your pocket well. That looks like a pretty good first attempt there Dan, my punch for the nub is just a ball fuller the working end has about 3/8 inch radius. Make the proper tooling for this and it can be done in the number of steps that I showed, if you are doing a demo you can get it done before the crowd falls asleep or wanders off. And yes Braedon I did hear that little voice "Don't do it- Doooon't- Dooooaaaah! good one Hommer" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted April 7, 2011 Author Share Posted April 7, 2011 I made a display piece for my openers yesterday. I have a store that is willing to sell my openers for me that is located in an area where a lot of horse owners live. So I came up with an idea of a display piece so the people can see how much work goes into this item. I have had several people look at the openers and go, "Wow that is neat!" so you think ok easy sale- then you tell them how much you want or it and they just give it back. It seems to me that they just do not understand what it takes, I always get the question, "How long does it take?" that seems to mean a lot to people. I remember seeing some displays that Brian Brazeal did, I think he calls them "story boards" so this is what I came up with, I plan on mounting it to a board and forging a couple of hooks to hold the display piece and the openers, then this can hang on the wall My girlfriend said it was pretty cool, "A work of art" I just hope it will get the message across as to how much work goes into something like this, I do not have a closed die press just stamping theses out, this is hand made one step at a time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Do the finished openers fit over all the "story board" elements? You may be able to put legs on the story board and use it as the rack, but the shop owner may have opinions about that. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillon Sculpture Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 I really wish you would stop adding to the things I need to do! Nice work, I like the display very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphy Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Nice tutorial Clinton, and beautiflul work. I've only made one bottle opener and not as pretty. But hey it's for me so I got a lot to learn. Keep up the great work! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted April 8, 2011 Author Share Posted April 8, 2011 Thanks Dillon- and Ralphy- keep at it I have made dozens of these and have had dozens that just end up as scrap, sometimes you make a mistake and you just throw it in the scrap bin and stat all over. You really learn a lot doing something small like this- you are doing so many different steps and you are not using very much material and fuel to do this, I can forge for a week on one 25 pound bag of coal and use less than 20 feet of metal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillon Sculpture Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 I can forge for a week on one 25 pound bag of coal and use less than 20 feet of metal I just got a quote for 40' of 4" square billet and almost 2 ton of 2" and 3" plate! Oh my aching back! I think it will take more than a week to go through it :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted April 14, 2011 Author Share Posted April 14, 2011 Ok I finished my display piece yesterday, I am going to print a little page to attach to the left side of this display, that will explain the process and give contact info. (Oh boy now a need a business card holder). So this is what I came up with, I was going to just use a hook to hold the story board piece, but it did not hang plumb when I placed it on the hook. So I came up with this idea of a corkscrew type holder, I wanted to keep the piece separate from the board so it can be held. The hanger is a recycled horse shoe, this follows the horse theme. I wanted to try and show some forged items, like the hook and the flower (maybe get some more work) Every thing on here is forged, the nails and staples are driven and clenched so they will not come out, I drilled the wood to avoid splitting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstein Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Nice work Clinton! I like the idea of a story board display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Very nicely done overall. I like it. Hopefully the hook holds enough openers. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Clinton, that is so cool. Step by step all in one pic. Thanks again, Mark<>< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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