First Handles

[matthew2riches]

First go at a handle. One each for 2 rustic wood chopping boards.

 

Lacquered with acrylic.

 

[Dave Hammer]

Cool!

[matthew2riches]

Any feedback would be good :)

[Stash]

I would probably texture the whole handle - make the whole thing look hammered. The face and edges look pretty pristine.

 

Steve

[Solano]

How about just a hammer bevel along both edges, make it look worked but classy?

[Clodbuster]

Agreed on the texturing.  There's some scuffs on the raised faces which catch the eye - texturing would hide those.  I don't think the leaving the raised face unhammered would be wrong (it gives a modern feel to the piece), but it has to be polished and pristine in that case.

 

Also, maybe try to get the corners looking like each other, that would clean it up some.

 

Looks good all in all though.

[Judson Yaggy]

That's great for a beginner's effort!  Good symmetry. For your next pieces consider a few things.  Strive to make the original stock size unrecognizable in your final finished piece.  Forging rather than simply texturing and bending is the hallmark of a blacksmith.  That means doing work that a welder, fabricator, or machine shop would have trouble doing.  Significant cross section changes, curves (especially in more than one axis), punched holes that show the telltale swelling around the hole, etc.  

 

Using lacquer is a nice finish, most people don't realize that finish has almost as much bearing on perceived quality as technique and form.  

[Chuck in Ms]

Matthew, I like the final product just the way they are. The above suggestions are also great and could be used alone or in any combination. The key is to experiment until you find a style or technique that suits you. On these pieces you used sharp, short texture markings, I like round, deep marks. Once you find your style you will find different ways to deploy it but it will always be identified with your work.
Keep hammering the black metal! Chuck

[David Gaddis]

On your next project...consider looking at the project backward from the one presented. That is...instead of driving the shape into a corner...where all the scars were made...think about bending the metal over something,,, such as the horn and then sharply bending the feet with a vise.

 

Not to be critical of your project... just a different way to form the feet.

 

Carry on