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I Forge Iron

First attempt at a Twist!! w00t! Please critique!


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It got all the way up to 32 Degrees Fahrenheit here today. No excuse to not fire up the forge , ,  banging on orange/yellow steel will warm me up soon anyway!!! LOL!

Well I had a couple ""S" hooks I made a few weeks ago . . . so, based on a suggestion from a member here . ."metalmangler" . . just add a flat , , two sides. So I put a couple S hooks in the forge and flatted the section between the curves . .  I need to try this as a first step before tapering/drawing and making the curve . .  thinking it will be better. . . . anywho, this is what I banged out this afternoon . . not perfect . . but I ascribe that to my anal retentive Engineering personality . .  yes, I was toilet trained at the end of a shotgun . .  ;/

 

 

first attempt at twist a.jpg

first attempt at twist b.jpg

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Twists are just plain fun.   What can u say?    

Yeah and interesting...  A twist mixed with round... i like it!   

Just remember the twist happens where the heat is.  If no heat then no twist.  More heat twists more.    less heat twists less or not at all.   You can quench areas you do not want to twist in order to control where it twists.  And of course nothing that is clamped twists...  

I twist mostly with some channel locks.   That is bad form but I have not made a double handled tool to twist with.   yet!   

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well done.

If you want to explore plain twists more you will find that preparation of the surface prior to twisting is vital. The cleaner and crisper the surface, the more sharply defined the corners, the more dramatic the twist will appear. Use a wire brush before hammering and work the final heat with the hammer almost black  to refine the surface and remove most of the scale. Then heat and do your twist.

The cross section plays a huge part in the final effect, a flat bar section being the most articulate, (think of the drill bit from a woodworkers brace) square section medium and a round bar the least. Squaring a section of round bar as you have done is successful visually because a twist gives the impression of being bulkier than parent bar, but obviously will physically weaken it unless you upset the section to be squared and twisted first.

Final tip is that once twisted, do not use a hammer to straighten it...use a wooden mallet and a wood block anvil and you will not put any unintentional hammer bruises on the delicate arras points. A couple of bits of fire wood will do, but I use a bit of 3" x 3" x 12" oak as the anvil and a carpenters mallet with one end rounded.

If you want to explore complicated twists…all the above applies to them as well.

Have fun.

Alan

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