Recent Work , just a start!

[noobrider]

Hey everybody,

 

I just wanted to show some works I finished.

First I want to show my first attempts at smithing tongs.

from bottom to top, my first attempt, to the fourth attempt finished today.

(bending tongs, flat tongs for small leafs (fits for 1,5mm), bolt tongs for 6mm, multi tongs fits for 10/12 round/flat)

 

 

the next pic shows some pins that hold a glass ball and are thought to decorate a flower-pot or anything like this.

 

and then three bigger versions of this flower-pot-pins:

 

    

 

so. these are my beginnings in creative smithing.

 

If there is cristism, I would like to read it :)

Greetings from germany,

Kai
 

[swedefiddle]

Greetings from Canada,

 

Great starter Tongs. Keep them and use them, as you use them, you will see the weak points. Pay attention to what you would like in the next ones you build..

 

Constructive Criticism;

 

Tongs 1, A good start. These are able to hang on a tong rack (with the gap just behind the hinge area).

 

Tongs 2, you may have started with too small of material, hinge area is quite thin. Upset the material next time, to gain mass in that area.

 

Tongs 3, Typical beginner mistake. The material on each side of the hinge area is too thin/small. The leverage of the reins, will cause them to fail/bend where they are thin.

               Leave more material when you are shaping the back end of the Jaw and the front end of the Reins.

               Same problem with the hinge area, upset to gain more material.

 

Tongs 4, A good start for scrolling tongs. If you shape the reins so they bulge out just after the hinge area (instead of at the ends) you will find they work better for scrolling.

 

Keep them and look at them in a few years. This is where you started, This is where I am now (in a few years)!! :) :)

 

Neil

[Frosty]

Nice start Kai, I think Neil pretty well said what I'm thinking though I must say your first 4 tongs look better than mine.

 

I like the planter pins, nice execution and I think they're plenty be marketable. Even if you don't intend to make a living at the anvil there is something very encouraging about having other people willing to give you money for your work. It's right up there with using tools you make yourself.

 

Cage art like the pins has a lot of room for variety. You can make the cages hang or even dangle with room around the bead so it can move, even rattle in a breeze or other movement. They can be larger too, heck MUCH larger, marbles are popular things to put in forged cages as are cut crystals like you see on lamps or hanging in windows to catch and refract the sun. Many things can be put in the cages too from little bells to pretty river rocks, sea shells, etc. You can hang boulders for garden art.

 

There are just so many possibilities a person could just go nuts thinking about them <wink>

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Gergely]

Hi Kai, and greetings from Hungary!

 

Nice beginning work, even if those tongs gonna crack sometime you're golden with them in the starting point. You are the only one who knows what you need to work with, and you can make those things - what else should one want?

And those pins look good, too. It's a good idea for small indoor ornaments.

 

Keep 'em coming!

 

Gergely