freeman Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 So I was out in the shop this evening plinking away on bottle openers (this is what I do while I'm trying to decide what I'm doing) when I spotted a stack of 10 gauge sheet rectangles a friend had dropped off at my shop six months ago. At the time I didn't know what to do with them but they where an interesting shape so I tossed them on the pile and promptly forgot about them. I had recently read through an article on fold forming in an old blacksmithing mag I had lying around so I decided instead of getting into anything purposeful I'd do a little "free play" this evening and popped one of the sheets into the fire. After doing a few experimental folds and finding myself pleasantly surprised at just how organic the results where, I ended up with a partially folded plate that looked like it wanted to be a door knocker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 I really like the form you developed noodlin around, though I think calling it fold forming is a stretch but I'm not an expert. Deb's much better at fold forming but been away from it for a while. Charles Lewton Brain "invented" fold forming and has developed some really incredible shapes. I was being sufficiently challenged with leaves and slipper/boat forms myself. He's written a boatload of metal working books and is darned famous for his skill and willingness to share. My connection isbeing too slow to look through his site and find some pics but here's the link. http://www.brainpress.com/LewtonBrain.html#Galleries Oh yeah, I admire your verve in noodling with 10ga. Well done, REALLY. Frosty the Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob S Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Neat stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisG Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 amazing! can you add a pic of the back please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Cool looking Allen. I have some scrap lying around. Maybe someday I'll fling it on the fire. I made it to the State fair and met Pault17 at the smithy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 I once used fold forming on a door knocker as well: I forged out a dragon's head from 1" sq stock drawing the "tail" out long and spiraling it for the knocker part and then fold formed sheet metal for the wings that were the mounts for the knocker as they terminated in rounded stubs that fit in a hole drilled in the dragon in the "neck" region. Made the wings much more 'realistic". Last I heard the owner planned to mount it on his mantelpiece, sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I have been messing around with some copper sheet trying to make a decent pair of dragon wings via the fold forming process, still haven't got any that I really like but have come up with some other shapes that I really like. It's a fun process to explore in ones spare time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I started with a tracing of a bat's wings and went on from there---I did do some trials with very thin sheet before moving onto the heavier gauge stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeman Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 I once used fold forming on a door knocker as well: I forged out a dragon's head from 1" sq stock drawing the "tail" out long and spiraling it for the knocker part and then fold formed sheet metal for the wings that were the mounts for the knocker as they terminated in rounded stubs that fit in a hole drilled in the dragon in the "neck" region. Made the wings much more 'realistic". Last I heard the owner planned to mount it on his mantelpiece, sigh. That sounds like a fantastic piece. Do you have any pictures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I tend to not have pictures of anything unless someone else took them. I regret that one though as it's one of my best pieces and the owner is now 1500 miles away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trying-it Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Interesting and great R&D results! Frosty thanks for the external link! :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ornametalsmith Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Fold Forming is one of my favorite processes. From small to large elements can be made SUPER fast. Here's a video I just posted on YouTube of the Making of a Large Fold Formed Spiral, for a sculpture I'm working on. Let's see if I can EMBED the video here..... happy hammering........... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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