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I Forge Iron

Candle Holder - Heart Base


Dustin Quade

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So this was another first attempt for me as a project but all of the techniques i used i had done at least once before. The stock is 3/16 square stock, i chose to go with square so i could get some nice twists going along the stem. I started out forging one end into a rounded point and rolling it into a curl which would be how I finished the part that holds the glass cup.

 Then I bent that portion around a round piece of metal to get the rough size and worked it the rest of the way around the horn until the cup sat properly.

 

Next I did the heart. To do this I measured out from the base of the cup holder 24 inches, this left 8 inches for the stem and 16 inches for the heart. To so the heart you fold 8 inches of the steel onto itself. You forge weld it closed maybe about an inch or so, then you slightly point the non-forge welded end. You then open up the middle of this piece fairly wide, I usually start it open with a hardy tool then use the horn to open it wider. Once it’s open you fold the pointed end inward so the point is now facing into the middle of the opening. This creates a sharp corner on either side of the point and you just round those out over the horn and the heart is done.

 

Then I just put a nice tight twist on the stem portion, and put the bends in where it seemed appropriate. I also wire brushed it to clean it off then gave it a coat of black paint followed by clearcoat.

I was very happy with how this piece came out but there was one thing I had not thought about at the time. See I picked square stock only thinking about the stem, what I forgot was that to make the heart you also created a twist when you do the fold over. This left a lot of ugliness in the heart which I tried to clean up with some cold hammering over the horn to try and smooth out some of the bumps. It worked but not perfectly. I think next time I would use a slightly larger stock to give the piece a bit more weight. The only thing I can think of to fix the twist of the heart is to make the heart out of round stock and then forge weld on the stem portion afterwards. That’s a little beyond my skill right now though.

20161206_083330.jpg

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Nice idea, but as you said, heavier stock would give more stability and a less 'skinny' look. Maybe the camera angle has distorted it a bit, but I would try for a smoother, more elegant look to the upward curve. Like all of us, you learn something from each piece you do. Forge on!

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41 minutes ago, ausfire said:

Nice idea, but as you said, heavier stock would give more stability and a less 'skinny' look. Maybe the camera angle has distorted it a bit, but I would try for a smoother, more elegant look to the upward curve. Like all of us, you learn something from each piece you do. Forge on!

Can you give me a little more info on what you mean about the more elegant look to the upward curve? Like what would you do differently. Im going to try to remake this piece soon and want to try to make sure i get it right this time.

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I'd try to replicate sections of the heart every where you could; perhaps the holder section as well and the section going up as separate  versions.  Make the viewer see a heart no matter what angle they are looking at sort of thing.   One thing you might try is to buy some heavy lead free plumbing solder and then work on curves and angles with that till you get something you like and then replicate that in steel.

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