Nice ram's head, John.  It looks comfortable in the hand.  It actually looks more comfortable than the ram's head I forged for my Dodge's stick shift.

Thanks for all the comments, don't get much time to do bits now I am afraid, bit out of practice.

6 hours ago, ausfire said:

I'm struggling to see how you managed the twist in the loop handle poker. It's good because it gives more width to the handle. I'm guessing that you tapered the end and bent the steel against itself. You held the lower end in the vice, while twisting with a bar through the loop??? If that's 10mm square bar, it would have to be very hot to achieve the twist. Pray do tell.

Exactly as you describe. You can see the punch marks I use to align the bar when it is bent back on itself.

Bar was marked out at 6" from end and another 6" beyond, 

Tapered the end , bent the bar back onto itselfto form a loop, aligned the marks and then closed loop between the vise jaws.

Heated up the portion to be twisted, then chilled the loop in the water bucket to "freeze" it,

Then held it in the vise at an appropriate length with  the two bars at 90 degrees to the vise jaws as opposed to holding them side by side within the jaws (as this tend to allow slippage between the bars)

Slipped a round bar into the loop and quickly gave it one and a half twists. and straightened it.

This feels comfy in the hand, you can put more twists in, and another alternative is to then beat it down along the length making the grip diameter smaller and altering the appearance of the twist too.

 

Thanks for the detailed description. It certainly gives an attractive twist. I'll give that a try, but I think maybe 8mm square for the first shot.

On ‎11‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 3:48 AM, John B said:

Exactly as you describe. You can see the punch marks I use to align the bar when it is bent back on itself.

I had a try using 10mm square bar. I used your punch marks idea and I did get them level. Quite pleased with the result. I thought twisting 10mm bar around itself would be harder than it was. Maybe another half twist or so would have been OK. Another variation for poker handles. Thanks, John.

7 hours ago, ausfire said:

I had a try using 10mm square bar. I used your punch marks idea and I did get them level. Quite pleased with the result. I thought twisting 10mm bar around itself would be harder than it was. Maybe another half twist or so would have been OK. Another variation for poker handles. Thanks, John.

 

Looks good, Another half twist , or more are other variations, but I find the one and a half turns are comfortable on the hand.

Punch marks are the traditional way of marking key points when forging as they are visible when meatal is at forging heat. Tend to disappear at welding heat, so other methods required then if accurate location needed.

 

15 hours ago, John B said:

Punch marks are the traditional way of marking key points when forging as they are visible when meatal is at forging heat.

Yes, but I wish someone would invent marking chalk that is visible when heated!

Bic White out correction markers..  They have liquid in them and you shake them which stirs the paint.. Then you push down which activates (opens) the tip and you squeeze the tube.. Pretty accurate.. 

This mark sticks around for a heat or 2 depending on how hot the steel gets the hotter the less it sticks around..  Only problem is it has to be applied cold or at least this is how I do it.. 

I also use brass which will rub off to form a mark if needed to mark while hot or cold. Accurate and easy to see when the metal is hot.. 

Who ever makes the current brass rulers in the USA its a worn product even brand new.. A brass ruler was a product that would get used up as its sharp edge would be scratched onto the measured length thus creating the mark.. 

Who every copied an old one which was worn never accounted for how it was used.. 

Then there are silver or gold artistry pencils.. Prismacolor Verithin Colored Pencils, Metallic Silver is one such brand.. I use the Marcal ones but these are not water resistant..  Never tried the Prismacolor ones..  but will next.. 

Sharpies also come in silver..  These leave a pretty thick line though and are good for general marking vs precision.. 

And for the greatest accuracy.  a carbide tipped scribe.. 

A brass marker! Well, that's worth a try. Thanks.

piece of sharpened scrap.. A sliver off a sheet.. etc, etc. 

1 hour ago, ausfire said:

A brass marker! Well, that's worth a try. Thanks.

Agree with JLP The Tipp Ex product is what I sometimes use,  I understand thay are made with titanium oxide content, hence the heat resistance.

Traditional brass rule used to have steel wear plates rivetted on the ends to reduce the wear and hence inaccuracy over time.

I spent a day last week with David Southgate, blacksmith at the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet in Sheffield. I first went last year and made a hook, bottle opener and monkey skull keyring under his supervision, this time I wanted to try a few different processes (forge welding etc.) so asked if I could make a dragon head poker and toasting fork. Poker pictures are below. If you're ever in the Sheffield area the museum is a great place to visit, it's an old scythe works dating from the 18th century.

Nice twist. The grooves on the face of the bar give a crisp look.

Tried another John B twist today. This one is 8mm square bar and was a bit easier to twist than the 10mm. I have not shown the side with the alignment punch marks because they didn't line up this time. Nevertheless, I am happy with it.  I do a lot of pokers and usually make a leaf wrap handle, but this method is good for getting a wider and more comfortable handle. I thank John for the guidelines on forging  these.

 

On 11/14/2018 at 5:38 AM, jlpservicesinc said:

Sharpies also come in silver..  These leave a pretty thick line though and are good for general marking vs precision.. 

Also very good for marking your steel stock for storage (e.g., "1080", "O1", etc). For some reason, this tends to show up better than regular black Sharpie.

10 hours ago, ausfire said:

Tried another John B twist today. This one is 8mm square bar and was a bit easier to twist than the 10mm. I have not shown the side with the alignment punch marks because they didn't line up this time. Nevertheless, I am happy with it.  I do a lot of pokers and usually make a leaf wrap handle, but this method is good for getting a wider and more comfortable handle. I thank John for the guidelines on forging  these.

No thanks needed, but is appreciated. I cannot claim it as mine, as it is one that used to be in common usage, and has many varients,  and is particularly easy to do for newbies to achieve getting an impressive look, with minimum effort.

It is a good way to introduce them to the difference between forging and forming, how to take long and short heats, the use of a vise, and a simple bar toform the twist,and how twists can be affected by heat dissipation making them uneven.

Enjoy and have fun.

Been doing a few more of those full twists in 10mm bar. These longhorn pokers seem to have good balance and are comfortable in the hand. I like the heavier handles.

 

Very nice work, Ausfire!  Nice clean twists!  I still need to do a longhorn.  Yours are a good standard to aim for.....  Thanks for sharing.

Thanks tk. I've done many hundreds of these heads (and rams) now and have then down too about 25 mins in 10mm square. You get faster as you refine the process and have the stuff ready.  I would like to do a video demo of these but don't have the wherewithal.

I’d love to see a demo on those long horns

Those longhorn handles would make good knife handles too. The horns look like the guard.

Yes they would. The three in the first picture got sold, so I did a couple more for today's demo.  It was suggested that they would make good handles for swords. Perhaps that's an idea … decorative only though in mild steel. I imagine it would be hard to keep the blade straight. Why is it boys always want you to make swords?

Aus those look great. Come on, to any youngster with an imagination those pokers Are swords. don't think their parents would like that tho. 

Aus,

Why boys and 'swords'?  (or wheels,  etc.).

Why girls and dolls? 

Even very young children 

It is because of minute amounts of sex hormones in the blood stream.

I wondered about that for years,  and finally ran into the answer about ten years ago.

Please don't ask where I read it. 

But the information is researchable.

SLAG.

Yes, boys and swords, knives, daggers, spears, armour … my question was rhetorical, more of an observation really.

There was one little girl who, on inspecting my scrap art, asked why I always make nasty things like snakes, scorpions and spiders. I made her a butterfly.

Ausfire,

You are a trooper.

Great idea:  a butterfly.

It has been reported many times, in the science press, of observations of female infants flirting with adult males.

Many of the ladies were well less than one year old.

I suspect that it is hormonal,  and genetically hard-wired.

Regards,

SLAG.