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I Forge Iron

small plant hanger


MarkDobson

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the other day i was watching one of joeys older videos where he made a plant hanger from 1 railroad spike and figured since today was a half way decent day (for January anyways lol) id give it a try. for a first go i think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt, still needs wire brushed and finished.

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7 hours ago, theimi said:

I would say it's one and a long hole for the second screw, right?

In that view I believe we're looking at the hook not a screw slot. At first I thought it was a progress pic and a slot didn't make sense till it occurred to me what I was looking at. I could still be wrong and just convincing myself I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing. It's a trait a person needs to be aware of and try to be objective about not seeing what we think we're seeing.

Then again it can be reassuring to find other people seeing what I saw. Of course we're probably both wrong, Mark's a good smith I seriously doubt he'd make a hanger like that with only one screw hole and vertical is the wrong direction for a slot to be useful.

Of course I'm speculating here while I wait for Mark to fill us in on the lowdown skinny.

Frosty The Lucky.

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thanks guys, as for the major question, yes there are TWO holes lol, the second one is hidden by the hook. (i need to work on my photography :P ) i think the vertical you guys are seeing is the scroll on the end of the hook.

as for the railroad spike itself, i actually drew out the head into the hook because it was a piece i had messed up (long story short, i tried making bolt tongs and screwed them up pretty early on and it was the perfect start to this project) then i cut off the hook and forged the tenon on it. then i used what was left which happened to be the bottom half (the pointy bit) of the spike for the back plate. that resulted in the end being narrower than the rest of the plat and thus why i decided to taper the ends to points.

unfortunately it lost all identity to its previous life but on the other hand i took a previously failed project i had sitting on my forge and turned it into something useful, and got to get outa the house for a little bit and have some fun :D 

edit: here is a better pick of the back plate

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Mark, thank you for the idea. I had a try at making a similar hook today using a split rail spike. I think these would look good as pot plant hangers at our local railway station. I'm going to mount this one using squared-off hex screws.

 

 

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i really like that design as well, next time i get out to the forge im going to have to find a spike i havnt mangled up and see if i can make something similar. after seeing the size of your hook  i think mine is probably to big. but i guess that also depends on what size i need for our hanging baskets. 

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Look forward to seeing pics of your 'yet another idea' for spikes, Das. I'm always interested in ideas for spikes, and they certainly create interest at demos. I've been doing demos nearly every day over the Christmas/New Year period and the rail spike objects have been the best sellers.

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Ausfire, I meant stealing your ideas. :) but I took that as a challenge anyway.  Lol. 

Well I still think yours and Marks are better here's what I did for a plant hanger. And I raise you a door pull. Haha. Just to throw another idea in the mix  

 

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Das I like the one you are using to hold the lantern. I was thinking though I might turn that one upside down so the head is facing down with the hook up. I'd also maybe flip the head direction and angle it out away from the wall after the mounting hole. That would give you a double hook. Hang your jacket or coat on the spike head, and yout hat on the drawn out upper hook. if that makes sense.

 

I think the spike and rail lantern fit quite well also.

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5 minutes ago, DSW said:

Das I like the one you are using to hold the lantern. I was thinking though I might turn that one upside down so the head is facing down with the hook up. I'd also maybe flip the head direction and angle it out away from the wall after the mounting hole. That would give you a double hook. Hang your jacket or coat on the spike head, and yout hat on the drawn out upper hook. if that makes sense.

 

I think the spike and rail lantern fit quite well also.

I was actually thinking about that too. I think they would make excellent coat/ hat racks. I just wanted to stick to the plant hanger on this go. I have another design for the door pull as well that I made early on that I use on my chicken coop. I just didn't have time to make another like it. This door pull was a new design for me that I just tried tonight. 

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wow, i wasnt expecting my weekend project to inspire so many others to give this a go haha. those look really cool das, im digging the door pull! might have to add that to the list as well. if this keeps up i might run outa spikes! and to think people still think these are only good for "knives" lol

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Neat door pull, Das. Next demo (tomorrow) I'll have a go at that. Another idea for the spike display! Nice work drawing out the lantern spike - oh for a power hammer ay?

I skipped doing demos today to spend time on the joey kangaroo sculpture. Really hot weather for forge work (and welding for that matter) at the moment. How we suffer in pursuit of art! :D

 

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Nice ideas

I've never ever sold one hook since I do blacksmithing :(

People grab them up in one of the many hardware shop for a few cents or they want stainless (but cheap!!!).

All the small things (wine bottle hangers for example) do not work for me here in SA - even as I live in a wine region... "ooohhh, that's nice but sooo expensive" while I think myself I'm much too cheap

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2 hours ago, theimi said:

Nice ideas

I've never ever sold one hook since I do blacksmithing :(

People grab them up in one of the many hardware shop for a few cents or they want stainless (but cheap!!!).

All the small things (wine bottle hangers for example) do not work for me here in SA - even as I live in a wine region... "ooohhh, that's nice but sooo expensive" while I think myself I'm much too cheap

There are people like that here in the USA too but there are others here that see the value in hand crafted work or just like the look, or sometimes it's just bragging rights to say they have it. 

 Maybe give selling online a try. Broaden your audience. 

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2 hours ago, Daswulf said:

There are people like that here in the USA too but there are others here that see the value in hand crafted work or just like the look, or sometimes it's just bragging rights to say they have it. 

 Maybe give selling online a try. Broaden your audience. 

Maybe I should give it a try some day again...

In the meantime I specialised making the big stuff for the bold and the beautiful :) 

I would appreciate to sell smaller stuff too in these times as your money get scarce quickly between the big jobs

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13 hours ago, Daswulf said:

I could imagine it could. I have a full time day job so I don't get to do as much art or forging as I'd like to.  Some times I end up with a real lack of sleep just trying to learn what I'm doing. 

You manage to get a huge amount of work done considering your day time commitments. I'm lucky - my day job involves as much forging as I like.

Anyway, at the risk of high-jacking Mark's thread (maybe these should go in the rail spike thread), I made one of your door pulls today. It's pretty ordinary and I considered making it flash with some twists and tails, but hey, it's a rail spike to open doors. Simple will do.

So ... I'll see your rail spike door pull and raise you a rail spike paper knife/letter opener, also made today.

 

 

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Ausfire, I do what I can. I'd like your day job. :) maybe one day.  At the moment I'd run out of spikes before ideas. I'm starting to think of similar ideas for bolts since I have a large supply.

DSW, you got me thinking. I've never made a latched handle but I have an idea on how that would work. 

Mark, I like the ideas and inspiration too. Give em a go and then some. 

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