March 10, 201610 yr Frosty: I've done barely any blacksmithing, but I am very nearly a photographer by trade (except I don't actually make any money at it). http://dangerpants.com/photography/ For anyone in Seattle, ping me if you want to collaborate on a blacksmithing/photography thing. I don't have much product photography under my belt, and I'd like to do more.
March 10, 201610 yr How do you get the professional photographer off your front porch? Pay him for the pizza......
March 11, 201610 yr 1 hour ago, BIGGUNDOCTOR said: How do you get the professional photographer off your front porch? Pay him for the pizza...... Frosty The Lucky.
March 11, 201610 yr 20 hours ago, BIGGUNDOCTOR said: How do you get the professional photographer off your front porch? Pay him for the pizza...... Pretty much.
March 18, 201610 yr These wholesale for $12.50. They take 4 heats each using the dies I made, tumbled, drilled, and sprayed satin clear lacqure
March 18, 201610 yr Nice hooks Joe, I really like the steer's expressions, sort of a bemused, 'How'd I end up on a wall?' look. Good photo, it's not easy to take good photos of iron work. Did you shoot them yourself? Well done all round. Frosty The Lucky.
March 18, 201610 yr would you mind sharing a picture of the dies you used? are the dies just for the facial expression or to shape it? is imagine for the facial expressions. Littleblacksmith
March 18, 201610 yr 25 minutes ago, Forging Carver said: I'm sure you can charge more for them. i agree with FC. a lot more! Littleblacksmith
March 21, 201610 yr Thanks guys the money is about right ... I can make about 10 an hour and they can with stand the retail mark-up (x2). I really don't do much of this kind of production work but when I do I enjoy. Some of the whimsical of the steer head comes when fullering down the horns as it turns the brows downward.. a concerned look. I use the swage die for tapering and isolating the mass were needed so there is zero flashing (hate grinding).... other dies are for double dople with center punches marked, ramp for scroll end and forming fig with a hook placed in it so you can see how i use the back plate for straightening. The salmon in the fore ground is not die work.... did not notice it until I downloaded this... was going to crop it out but thought nahhh its what I am working on now door hardware from 1 3/4" sq
March 22, 201610 yr At my work some people have these plastic coat hooks that hang on the cube wall and look all dinky. My cube mate needed a coat hook so I measured the wall thickness and made this to hang over the wall. Pretty happy with how it came out. The leaf decoration will be presented towards the hall where everyone can get jealous.
March 22, 201610 yr 53 minutes ago, joe elliott said: Thanks guys the money is about right ... I can make about 10 an hour and they can with stand the retail mark-up (x2). I really don't do much of this kind of production work but when I do I enjoy. Some of the whimsical of the steer head comes when fullering down the horns as it turns the brows downward.. a concerned look. I use the swage die for tapering and isolating the mass were needed so there is zero flashing (hate grinding).... other dies are for double dople with center punches marked, ramp for scroll end and forming fig with a hook placed in it so you can see how i use the back plate for straightening. did you make the dies? if so would you mind sharing? thanks! 7 minutes ago, BryanL said: The leaf decoration will be presented towards the hall where everyone can get jealous you might be getting some orders in from other co-workers! good job showing them that blacksmithing is still alive and that we don't only shoe horses! Littleblacksmith
March 22, 201610 yr 3 hours ago, BryanL said: At my work some people have these plastic coat hooks that hang on the cube wall and look all dinky. My cube mate needed a coat hook so I measured the wall thickness and made this to hang over the wall. Pretty happy with how it came out. The leaf decoration will be presented towards the hall where everyone can get jealous. I think that could be a salable concept in an urban market. I'm in the S.F. Bay Area and with all the tech workers around here, something like this might appeal to them. I think I will borrow your idea and make up a few samples to offer for sale. Hope you don't mind.
March 23, 201610 yr not at all. all my projects until this have been taught to me or I copied them. Flattered to have this borrowed
March 23, 201610 yr Those aren't bad though the consistency is lacking. Instead of trying to make matched sets of finished goods right off, try just practicing the processes that are problems. The hook on the far left in the bottom pic is the nicest to my eye. Set it aside and practice the elements. Just use and straighten t he same piece of bar, no need to waste material practicing. First play with the different tapers you tried here, then play with the finial scrolls. Once you have a taper then scroll and straighten it till you can reliably reproduce a scroll. Same for the tapers. The bend on the hooks are problematical but again just practice with the same piece, bend, straighten, repeat till you have it down. Draw out the profile you want on the table in something you'll have to scrub off, soap stone just wipes off so a paint stick works a LOT better. You can compare each test with your desired results. Learning the craft is about a little knowledge and a LOT of practice. Just carry on, one day it'll click and you'll say to yourself, how could I have missed THAT? Or whatever. Honestly, we've all been there nobody's born knowing this stuff and there is A-L-W-A-Y-S something new to learn. And yes, practice. Frosty The Lucky.
March 23, 201610 yr Cubical hooks; my fancy ones have dragon heads looking over the wall; my plain ones were made from 12" landscape timber "nails" found used at the scrap yard An old trick if you need to have several matching ones is to make a bunch and then select the "closest" ones.
March 23, 201610 yr that was the second time my post disappeared, and they were long!!!! darn! Littleblacksmith
March 25, 201610 yr Here is a hook I made several years ago. Not very decorative but was a workout and profitable. I started with 2.5" square and upset a section in the middle of the bar to close to 4" square so that it would maintain the 2.5" section when bent. This was done by hand lifting the bar and slamming down on a piece of 4" plate on the floor. The drawing out and punching was done on a 100lb shop built air hammer, Bending of the hook was done hot with an 8 ton hydraulic press and with a sledge. I bent the link hot on a hossfeld using the bending die shown in the photo.
March 25, 201610 yr If you want shadowless, highly-detailed images of small items, a light tent is a good way. Just create a cone from a translucent material, leaving the top of the cone open just enough for the lens of the camera. Place the cone over the object on a sheet of white paper, and light one or more sides of the cone.
March 25, 201610 yr 9 hours ago, JNewman said: Here is a hook I made several years ago. Not very decorative but was a workout and profitable. I started with 2.5" square and upset a section in the middle of the bar to close to 4" square so that it would maintain the 2.5" section when bent. This was done by hand lifting the bar and slamming down on a piece of 4" plate on the floor. The drawing out and punching was done on a 100lb shop built air hammer, Bending of the hook was done hot with an 8 ton hydraulic press and with a sledge. I bent the link hot on a hossfeld using the bending die shown in the photo. what did you use it for? or was it just for fun? Littleblacksmith
March 25, 201610 yr It was for a steel mill. They use it for ripping slag out something. I think the blast furnace.
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