olydemon Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Having seen many posts on Instagram of copper forging, I decided to order a bar of copper from Amazon. I ended up with 60" of 1/2" square for only $26 shipped. Tonight I forged it since the weather wasn't too hot out... I started by cutting off 7 1/2" of the bar. The object I made is the Ouroboros, or the snake eating its own tail. It ended up 17 1/2" long after drawing out. I worked it hot when doing the taper. The textures on the 4 sides I just did with a chisel when it was going from dull red to black hot. It was really fun and I cant wait to use up the rest of the bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Copper work hardens, so if you need the piece to be stiffer make sure you leave some hammer time at the end to work harden it because once it is annealed that is the only way to get it harder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 That pattern would make a nice bracelet in silver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windancer Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 I like it. Made from whatever is at hand will work, too- silver, steel, brass, whatever ya got, is a great excuse for hangin' out at the anvil Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olydemon Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 Thanks all! Eventually it would be fun to try something in silver. I do have a brass hex bar, but at 1" diameter I'm not sure I'm ready for that.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Especially as most brasses are not hot forgeable they crumble when hit hot. A few are and as we are often at the mercy of the scrap stream getting a good alloy can be rare indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olydemon Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 Thought I would update this original post rather than start a new one. I forged some more of the copper bar into a few incense holders and a skull. I also made the original snake thing into a door knocker. here are some images linked from Imgur.. Door knocker: Forged a piece of random steel to the backing of he door knicker. I split the top end by hand, the other end I sorta cheated with the bandsaw. It was a really hot day and I wanted to just get it over with. I hid the cut seam ends with the curve of the snake. The copper clasp is just 1/4 tube smashed flat. I used some really old copper rivets I got from when my grandfather passed away around 1999, was really cool finally finding a use for them. Copper skull... I make these all the time from Mild steel... first time trying in copper.... Feather incense holder... I managed to melt the tip of something I was drawing out so Instead of a double ended curl (like my last piece to post) I ended up making it a feather and curling the end to hold the incense. Here I use about 8" of the 1/2 square bar to draw out a viking ship incense holder. This is what I was trying to make when I did the feather. This came out really cool.... raw stock: In process re-heating... The finished part in various views: some other images here that I didnt post... https://imgur.com/a/UpuhwZi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windancer Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 I like 'em both Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olydemon Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 1 minute ago, windancer said: I like 'em both Dave Thank you! Also see you are not far from me. Hope you are handling the heat... I'm certainly not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4elements Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 There are a lot of us close to you. I'm in Granite Falls, WA. There are at least a couple of other smiths I know of in Olympia. Are you acquainted with the North West Blacksmith Association? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olydemon Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 8 minutes ago, 4elements said: There are a lot of us close to you. I'm in Granite Falls, WA. There are at least a couple of other smiths I know of in Olympia. Are you acquainted with the North West Blacksmith Association? I am familiar with the NWBA, Lurk on the website all the time, Haven't joined yet. I always seem to be busy when there are events happening. One of these days I will... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyO Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Make a plan to head down to Longview for one of their Mentoring Center demos on the 4th Sat of the month (but you probably already know about them). At least plan on going down to Swaptoberfest. Stay cool! as always peace and love billyO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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