These are my latest beginner projects ive finished. Just a basic wrench knife, which was my first attempt at forge welding. A drum stick stand that someone asked me to make for them. And a RR spike coat hook, I just made this morning for my girlfriends birthday. I may make another for a set, but not sure yet.

I like the heart hook! good work man.

Your off to a great start!

looks great. i wish my first few things looked that good.

7 minutes ago, C-1ToolSteel said:

Your off to a great start!

 

1 minute ago, Tubalcain2 said:

looks great. i wish my first few things looked that good.

Thank you guys. Im trying to figure out something else to make to give my gf. Running low on ideas at my skill level though. Plus my only materials are basic things from lowes and of course RR spikes.

Maybe a leaf key ring? Don't spend too much time on her until you know your ready to make a gold ring.

25 minutes ago, C-1ToolSteel said:

Maybe a leaf key ring? Don't spend too much time on her until you know your ready to make a gold ring.

Hahaha lets not get ahead of ourselves 

1 hour ago, C-1ToolSteel said:

Maybe a leaf key ring? Don't spend too much time on her until you know your ready to make a gold ring.

ya, and don't try the gold ring till' you have built up your skill level A LOT. messing up on precious metals would be BAD. 

You can do some mokume gane (nonferrous/precious metal pattern welding) with quarters or half dollars.  Welding quarters is pretty cheap, actually legal but can be tricky.  The outcome is a small, pattern welded billet you can make nice jewelry with.  If you are using a propane forge it is pretty straight forward compared to using coal.

8 hours ago, Lou L said:

You can do some mokume gane (nonferrous/precious metal pattern welding) with quarters or half dollars.  Welding quarters is pretty cheap, actually legal but can be tricky.  The outcome is a small, pattern welded billet you can make nice jewelry with.  If you are using a propane forge it is pretty straight forward compared to using coal.

I like the idea, and thanks for teaching me a new idea to research .  I do however use a coal forge, so it'll be a bit tougher from what I've read about the subject . However this will be my goal for today.

Nice spike heart hook. One tip/idea is to countersink the holes for the screws unless you plan to use something else like a bolt to fasten it.  Typically I find people like the countersunk screw holes. 

Keep up the good work. 

So after 2 failed attempts (I don't want to talk about it lol) at some mokume gane this morning, i decided to make another heart hook as my project today. But apparently its going to be another picture that has problems uploading . 

You sure have some spunk just going for mokome gane on a coal forge!  I imagine those quarters won't fit into the slot of a gum ball machine anymore.  Some people use a heavy gage pipe as a sort of oven inside the heart of the coal fire to do mokome.  I have no idea how to make it work well yet.  I'm designing a setup that mounts on the sides of my forge and hovers right into the fire pizza oven style.  No idea if it will work.  Keep at it though.  There are plenty of days in the year when presents are expected of us!

There are some good posts here on Mokume gane. I've read some and am not even trying it after 3 years of forging . not to say anyone shouldnt follow their heart, just not what I'm trying to do atm. 

Great ideas. The heart spike is very well done. I like the spanner knife too. Needs a good polish to finish it off.

You're off to  a good start. Carry on, sir.

 One thing to consider is deliberately NOT making a lot of different things, but instead to do one thing over and over until you can do it in your sleep. I have a friend who doesn't have her own forge and thus relies on the weekly open forge half an hour away. What does she do with her limited shop time? As she puts it, "Leaf after leaf after leaf after leaf. Lots of key rings."

That RR spike/heart coat hook is a real winner.  I promise you this, my friend: once you've made several dozen, you're going to be really good at splitting, drawing out, punching, bending, and shaping. That's a good, sellable item. Go get really good at making it.

Thank you all for the much appreciated advice. I did definitely enjoy making those hooks, and of course the second one seemed much easier. Im sure with enough practice I could whip out those things with ease. 

The RR spike/heart coat hook might be improved by making the bottom part a J instead of an L. The upturned and rounded head of the spike will be easier on the inside of a coat than the sharper edge of the spike that sticks up now. Try both and make the version YOU like.

Perhaps he made the hook an L rather than a J so that the screw holes were easily accessible without angling the screws. Could be avoided by drawing out the spike a bit of course, but that adds time and takes away from the original shape of the spike. Anyway, the heart idea is really neat.