Randy Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 I have a job that is a restoration of an old gate that was originally made from a piece of fencing, make the hinges, spring catch and latch, plus they wanted a large pineapple on either side. The pineapples are about 18-1/2" high by 9" wide and forged out of 16 ga. sheet. It took about 50 minutes each to cold chisel the shapes out and belt sand and file the edges. Then figure out how to get the pineapple "bumps". I made a top punch out of mild steel that I then hardened to make it hold up longer. Mild is soft enough that tempering wasn't required. Then using my press I pushed the punch, with a piece of 16 ga. sheet in between to make the bottom die. I then made a spring out of mild steel to keep the punch lined up over the die and long enough of a spring that the pineapple would fit into it so I could reach all over the pineapple with the tooling. Using a rosebud on my oxy/acetylene torch I heated up small areas on a test piece and hammered the "bumps" to see how it all lined up. It worked well so then went about doing the same thing to the flat pineapples. Once that was completed I then heated up large sections and hammered it into a swage block until I had the shape I needed. BTW, the swage block depressions aren't only for making ladles. If you raise the piece while hammering the shape can be extended to produce what you want. In this case a 4-1/2" ladle depression was used to create the whole pineapple shape. It's a bit over 2" deep at the deepest place. I'm now making the mounting brackets that will be welded to the back of the pineapples and removing the scale for finishing. I like how it looks with the natural metal against the black gate and I've purchased a can of Diamond Clear which is made to keep the polished metal look. We'll see how it holds up. This job was a challenge to figure out, but once the tooling was made the rest of the process went pretty fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenylittlemetalguy Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 impressive! thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob S Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Very nice! Great looking pineapple! Very nice job on the tooling, the pictures of the tooling and the write up. First rate stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 You do good work, Randy. Nice looking gate and pineapple. I'm sure that the customer was pleased. Thanks for sharing the pics. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Hmm; there is a piece of armour in an Italian book I have that is decorated with rows of truncated pyramids. Tempting to reproduce it using a system like yours... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzonoqua Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Neat!!! Yum, I love pineapples, it looks good enough to eat!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Neat! How did you manage to form the bulge on a hard swage block with the ladle depression and not bugger up the surrounding diamonds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 It looks very nice. Impressive work. Without any criticism meant, did you know that the scales on a pineapple are roughly hexagonal and there are five spirals to the right and eight spirals to the left? Fibonacci number patterns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted November 22, 2011 Author Share Posted November 22, 2011 Thanks, everyone! Macbruce, if you're hitting in the center of the depression in the block it won't damage the edges. What do they call that? PLace of least resistance, blah, blah, blah. Grant, thanks! How do you know the center to have the left and right from? Doesn't it just go all the way around? Actually I based the diamond from looking at a lot of pictures of real pineapples and metal ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy k Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Randy - That looks mighty fine! Grant - lots of forgings do not need super details - only enough to convey an image in your mind of what it should be. Otherwise, it's always a hard question as to "where do I stop?". I was not aware of the spirals on pineapples when I forged my mini pineapple, but I did make the scales hexigonal as you say : http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/1621-forged-pinapple/page__hl__%2Bforged+%2Bpineapple__fromsearch__1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 randy ! it looks wonderful! i think your pineapple is just right, and sits very happily on the gate - i LOVE the tooling, you have mede it look very Simple! for which i thanks you.. its a very pretty gate but im amused and very pleaesed that your customer wanted a pineapple added ! i like this kind of thing the texture looks fantastic and, importantly, very tactile. JK i have seen your pineapple, i know it so i can say how fabulous it is (also your strawberry i really love!) - and a totally different pineapple to randys and, what you say is completely right, the scientificly accurate detail is not always what we're after, (although nobody in their right mind would argue with randys depiction or have trouble if the work was in a fruit identification line up...) and each pineapple is slightly different - we can not imitate the whole of nature it is the character and the bits about a pineapple that randy likes and has deemed most important that made his pineapple look like it does. we all make visual and mental decisions based on what we notice and enjoy. great work JK and randy :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryLWatson Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Beautiful work, Randy. My wife loves pineapples and I know she'll want me to tackle a project like that. Don't think I can do as well as you did though. Fine craftsmanship! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted November 22, 2011 Author Share Posted November 22, 2011 Oh, boy, now a challenge. The client loves the pineapples, but not the "silver" finish. Her place is "colonial" so wants it painted in "golds, greens and umbers". Guess I'll have to get some enamel paints in pints and paint a base coat, let dry, paint with darker top coat and then wipe off. Antique-ing? I'll have to do some dry brush work due to the deep recesses. I'll post photos when I get to that stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 wow fun stuff ... will look forward to seeing colored version - im not averse to painted metal, willwait and see :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Grant - lots of forgings do not need super details - only enough to convey an image in your mind of what it should be. I agree 100%! I really hesitated even mentioning it because I really love the job he did. It was just an interesting aside. Actually, because they are hexes, there are three spirals. An exact Fibonacci number sequence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 that is actually incredible info grant! how stunning and involved is nature ?! fibonacci is everywhere cool.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 Pretty neat, Grant. Now I understand what you were saying. The hex has 3 rows, the diamond has 2. In my research I found several wooden pineapples from the colonial days, as it's a symbol of hospitality, and they were all done with diamonds. Probably because it's just an easier form to create and you still know it's a pineapple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 Okay, finally finished the painting the pineapples and the installation onto the gate. I ended up painting with a maragold color and then a light spray over it with copper. One of those instances where it was time to stop and not do anything else to it. The leaves were painted green and then painted black and wiped off. Delivered it today and the clients were thrilled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkunkler Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I'm usually not a fan of painted ironwork, but I think this turned out great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Really awesome! So, how did you texture the iron? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted December 4, 2011 Author Share Posted December 4, 2011 Thanks! Grant, if you're referring to the black gate it was an old one that was sand blasted and then painted semi-gloss black. The texture in the black was from a light surface rust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 im very often a fan of painted iron, and i totally rate the pineapple!!! i left my comment till today (saw the work last night randy) becasue it reminded me of something and i wanted to think what it was but i cannot put my finger on it - i Love it randy - you got a really unique and engaging gate there - its great how creative youve been with the pineapple, you have not been remotely faint hearted about it, and its , i always end up saying cartoon when i mean something i dont have the exact word for, its something like, concise or vivid, i dont know, but its a compliment in my book, i absolutely love how youve made that fruit!! thanks for the pictures :0 were they really pleased`? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted December 4, 2011 Author Share Posted December 4, 2011 Thanks, Beth! Yes, they were really pleased. The gentleman said that I did what he wanted it to be but didn't know how to explain it, him not being an artist. The wife said that she thought I'd have to paint the design on and had no clue I'd be able to forge the diamonds into it and be a real three dimensional work. She appologized for wanting it painted instead of the original polished metal look, but I said that for the location that was what was required and that was fine. Always good to have happy clients! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.