Perfectly understandable.. Never thought about just collapsing a basket onto itself..  Very good thank you.. 

54 minutes ago, jlpservicesinc said:

Perfectly understandable.. Never thought about just collapsing a basket onto itself..  Very good thank you.. 

It is apparently how the Claydon knot is made, so credit to the man, I only stumbled around trying to emulate it,

It seems quite common in the US, but not over here in the UK, a potential client came in asking if we could make something to match a pictured item, and the item had the Claydon Knot for a handle,

Normally i would refer the person to the maker of the item as I don't like the idea of poaching work from other smiths, but as I knew of no one making this item in the UK, I had an attempt to make one.

In the end, they didn't want to pay my asking price, like a lot of potential clients, they don't appreciate the amount of time and effort put into making bespoke items, so no order placed.

Bonus was I now know how to make my version of a Claydon Knot.      Priceless.

I really like them. It's the first I've seen of this type of twist. Reminds me of the hilt on a Scottish dirk somewhat. It's above my skill level right now, but soon who knows. I have a long way to go before I accumulate all the skills needed but I'm working on it and I gotta remind myself to remember to enjoy the journey  and not focus too much on the destination.

Beautiful work thanks for sharing it with us.

Pnut (Mike)

I agree with Mike - great work Jennifer and John. Just when you think you're getting good at making fire poker handles posts like these bring you back to reality. Claydon knots and flat bar twists - wow!

Yep, The claydon knot looks amazing and the flat basket twist looks like the most comfortable basket type twist I've seen so far. I haven't held it so that only goes so far but I can positively say it's very elegant and I've been trying to think of ways to accomplish it.   

3 hours ago, ausfire said:

I agree with Mike - great work Jennifer and John. Just when you think you're getting good at making fire poker handles posts like these bring you back to reality. Claydon knots and flat bar twists - wow!

Thanks for the appreciation Aus, just the tip of of a ginormous iceberg so to speak. A lot of this knowledge seems to be cyclical, a lot easier to pick up now with the internet, Wish it had been available when I originally started (I am still learning, will be pushing up daisy's when I stop). Most of thes were figured out from pictures or examples seen, thats the beauty of the craft,

Normally in a coal hearth you are generally working on up to 6" long heat , and do one operation at a time, If it goes pear shaped (wrong) then sacrifice it to the Hearth God and let it be devoured, or make it into something else, Its amazing what can come from a simple error.

Get it Hot, Hit it and enjoy.

Just a bit of trivia, I believe it was Stuart Hill, Claydon forge, somewhere in England who brought us both the claydon knot and claydon clamp. He also was the smith who did the massive Gates/Screens for Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee. Truly a great smith.

Not a wand; it's an elf killer, Tom said puckishly---cold iron!  It goes in a collection with a stake for vampires and silver bullets for werewolves.

Or the last thing you see when you're the guest of honor at a human sacrifice ;-)

No that was chipped flint---or was it obsidian?  So hard to remember; but it was traumatic!

A white witch's iron athame.

Frosty The Lucky.

Nothing new or exciting here, but I'm actually happy with how this is turning out (which might be a first ). I need to do some cleanup on the tip and I plan to twist a 4" section or so near the middle for a little visual interest. I'm also working on a shovel and ash rake for the set, but progress is slow. Material is 3/8" square HR.

Looks good Snuffy, I really like the handle, it came out very well.

Frosty The Lucky.

SFC Snuffy, My compliments on that handle. Well done. 

snuffy well done indeed..  I've never done a twisted handle like that.. I might have to give it a go.

 

On that note I have 1 or 2 more handles to make..  here is a compilation of the last few all together to make it look like i've been really busy... 

Snuffy, that's a really neat poker. The twist in the middle will add interest. You have a lot of room there - how about a reverse twist?

Classy work there, Jennifer, as always. Your 'two more' will make a unique set of ten. Brilliant.

 

 

ausfire,thanks never even thought about the number of handles.. Just want concepts I wanted to see come to life.. 

 the reverse twist is a great idea...  the visual will be nice..  

On 3/11/2019 at 11:42 AM, anvil said:

Stuart Hill, Claydon forge, somewhere in England who brought us both the claydon knot and claydon clamp

These are lovely embellishments to standard basket twists.  From my limited ornamental knot tying experience I recognize the form as a multistrand wall knot as described by Clifford Ashley in his 1944 opus: "The Ashley Book of Knots", still a definitive text.  I would have to check my copy to see who he attributes it to, as he often indicates where he learned a particular knot.  His book is a must have for anyone interested in knotwork, and may have some interesting crossover possibilities that haven't been investigated as yet.

nice twist, Snuffy.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the compliments.

As a novice, it's easy to get discouraged in the face of some of the stellar work that appears on these forums. I've set a goal of trying the do the simple things as best I can and build the skill (and tool) set for fancier things in the future.

On 9/6/2018 at 1:33 PM, Jasent said:

Looking for more ideas. Let’s see those fire tools. 

Does this come with Liquor! LolRof 

18 hours ago, RToons said:

Does this come with Liquor! LolRof 

Blacksmiths come with Liquor, though any tipple is good tipple. 

Frosty The Lucky.

blacksmiths like a good tipple because there's good coal there.  just can't beat a tipple at the tipple.

On 4/10/2019 at 7:46 AM, jlpservicesinc said:

 

I am very interested in knowing what stock you used in the two "flat" twist handles on the right side. I like them and would love to try my own rendition of them. Thanks! 

On 4/14/2019 at 5:02 PM, Kuja_torra said:

I am very interested in knowing what stock you used in the two "flat" twist handles on the right side. I like them and would love to try my own rendition of them. Thanks! 

There's a how to video though I don't recall the title. They're all worth watching a few times.

Frosty The Lucky.