chest accessories

[matei campan]

here's an old restored chest which i had to decorate with some iron-work. 

it was a lot of work in spite of the simple design. bending/scrolling 3mm (1/8inch?) edgewise was a nightmare and making two identical pieces was another one :)

also I had to make the corner protections and the blackmith nails. enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitch4ging]

Very nice work!

[Matt Smith]

I like it , great job

[Crazy Ivan]

That is some fine work right there. Great job!

[FlyingXS]

If you hadn't said the scrollwork was forged I would have assumed it had been cut out of sheet.  Very impressive.

[01tundra]

Great work!

[SpankySmith]

I also assumed it was cut... NICE work.    Can you share how you did the corner pieces exactly? 

[matei campan]

well, next time I'll make it laser-cut :), I asked a price for 3 days of work, as I was thinking I'll make it in 3 days, I don't know were my mind was - it took me 10 days to finish it and it wrecked my wrist as I was working with an 1lb hammer with awkward movements to submit the scrolls. bending sheet metal edgewise is not quiet piece-of-cake. 

 

the corner protections were made by bending a piece of sheet in the shape of a square with a triangle cut out of it, I hope you imagine it. there was a "lip" let on the side which was overlapped by the other side when the piece was bent close. that's roughly what I did. the problem was that the edges of the chest were rounded, so I have to make the protections fit the shape. also the resulting 3D corner had to be rounded by hammering, at the beginning cold then hot. after making the rough shape I cut it to give it the decorative look. maybe on monday I'll upload a close-up picture of the piece. 

[Frank Turley]

Good work.

[Frosty]

Fine job, very fine. thanks for sharing.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[yves]

Hello,

 

Compliments on beautifull work. The idea, the scroll, is classical but the result is quite modern. This to me is very interesting.

 

A question : did you use a saw to split the 3 mm steel flat?

[matei campan]

well, I split it with an angle grinder with a cut-off disc... boring.

[notownkid]

well, next time I'll make it laser-cut :), I asked a price for 3 days of work, as I was thinking I'll make it in 3 days, I don't know were my mind was - it took me 10 days to finish it and it wrecked my wrist as I was working with an 1lb hammer with awkward movements to submit the scrolls. bending sheet metal edgewise is not quiet piece-of-cake. 
 
If you learned something from this all wasn't lost. I was in business with my Dad for many years every time something went south on us and we came up short his comment was. "It costs money to go to school" hope you learned something from this.

[matei campan]

the problem is that every work I do is different and most of the time is difficult to figure out all the difficulties and the needed time.

the fact that every work is a challenge (and an opportunity to learn) makes the beauty of the craft, but it has it's drawbacks :)

[bosox]

In spite of what had happened, you still nailed it. That's a fabulous scrolling project! 

[sfDuck]

Real nice work, clean lines; and beautiful scrolls.

[VaughnT]

Fabulous work, sir.  That's exactly the kind of thing blacksmiths were known for back in the day, and you really made that box shine.  I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it must have been to scroll that flat stock the hard way like you did.  Incredible.

 

If you hadn't said it was forged, I would certainly have assumed that it was cut from sheet by a laser.  That you were able to make two pieces so close to each other in appearance, well, that shows a masterful control of the hammer and metal.  Excellent all the way around.

[NickOHH]

scrolling them on edge must have been difficult, but it was well worth the effort, looks great! i also would have thought they were cut out, came out very symmetrical, great craftsmanship here.