As dumb questions go this is probably a doozy, but here goes....  I was at the AFC conference last week and bought a hardy hole mounted cone mandrel, mostly 'cause I didn't have one, one of my instructors was there and also purchased one, it was a good price and being a bit of a tool-a-holic, I "had to have one."   Only, I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I have no earthly idea, beyond the forming of rings of various sizes, what exactly one uses one for?    DOH!  

I did a bit of poking around on the web this weekend, didn't find much of anything beyond forming of a nice ring.    Anyone?   What else have you/do you use one for?  

Use it for scroll forming - it gives you a different sight perspective vs. the anvil horn during the forming.

I use mine mostly for truing up rings, however it can be used just like the horn on the anvil is. Mine gets used for cleaning up bottle openers because the horn on my anvil is very large and blunt and it's too big to use on a 3/4" to 1" ring on an opener.

I use my small one forming part of candle cups from pipe. Helps with the initial flare.

Also when you want to do 3 dimensional bends rather than two dimensional---adding in a helical twist for a more organic look to ornamental forging.

You can use it to open up a tear drop eye shape instead of a ring shape for the base of things also. A ring doesn't have to be round. Every use of the horn (other then heavy drawing out) you can do with the cone mandrel, just like mentioned above a different perspective. So rings, bases of things such as candle holders, scrolls, bends, 3d forms like Thomas pointed out, cup end forming, etc.

 A ring doesn't have to be round. 

Actually I rather think it does...unless you want to fight about it...(boxing, wrestling...)

Alan

ROFL you got me. MMA, and situational self defense.

I use a cone mandrel for making round and tear drop shapes for the base of candle holders after slitting the bar. You can also use it in bottle openers. I just realized even though when I forged some copper rings and used a ring mandrel I always have to slightly squish my own personal rings as my fingers aren't round for comfort. That may or may not have something to do with prior squishings of said fingers in my past. Hm thinking about it more may be why I never wore the couple gold rings I had as I didn't want to squish them out of shape, and the silver ones I made I think I squashed a little also but rarely wore. May have more to do with making and feeling ok about squashing them as opposed to not making them too.

I had to quit wearing rings at all after I took up a hammer years ago (for the purpose of renovating my own house).  I was always squishing them into odd shapes over time with all that hammering, easier to do without.  

I'm on my 4th wedding ring---1st marriage.  When we got married we were too poor for gold and so we used a couple that I had gotten when I bought a load of scrap silver from a pawn shop when I was single and more affluent.  I still wear silver ones and plannish them larger if needed and when the start to wear thin we start looking for another one; the previous ones are stored away with my wife's keepsakes.  (She wears a gold one now...)

Edited September 14, 201510 yr by ThomasPowers

My son, a fitter with a mining company, made me a really neat hardy cone mandrel. I use it exclusively for bottle openers in the last stages of truing up the hole before punching the lifting tab. Does a much better job than the anvil horn. Couldn't live without it!

Hey! My 1000th posting. Catching up on you, Frosty!

YIKES! I don't even know how to imagine being overtaken from down under! I'd better start typing faster!

Nice score Spanky a cone mandrel is good for a lot of things a horn just isn't. They're a proper cone so they true up rings much more easily. If you reform rings at an angle you get conic sections, ellipses/ovals. If you form the smaller radius on each end over the same place on the cone you get another shape I can't recall the name of.

Forming sheet metal is another whole different kettle stew.

Be creative, use your imagination, experiment with wild abandon and let us know what you invent.

Frosty The Lucky.