Frustrated with progress...

[Dewnmoutain]

A couple months ago, my mom asked me to make her a shepard's hook for hanging some plants a bird feeder from. Never had a chance to get to it until two weeks ago while i volunteered at a ag-heritage site in my neck of the woods. Thought it'd be a good project to do to show off to the other smiths that i work with in the shop. I came up with a design, was able to draw it out at full scale for the hooks and curves, and then able to make the hook. I had made plans to rivet the pieces of steel together, but then I received a message from my mom asking me to "hurry up. im having company over and want to hang my plants and bird feeder". I knew with the riveting it wouldve added extra time to the project, so i changed course, used the shop welder, and slapped the pieces together in what you see in the picture below. Not my best welding, but it's welded and not going anywhere. I had planned on grinding and sanding down the welds to make them smooth, but i ran out of time at the shop and my mom was swinging by that night to pick it up. I just went ahead and spray painted it black and gave it to her.

But while i was working on the project, something was bothering me, and i couldnt figure out what it was. I made the hooks. I did the curves how i designed them. The measurements were mostly there (i screwed up on the legs of the upper hooks, had to cut them down slightly to line up even). Yet i still felt like i was missing something, that somehow this piece wasnt living up to my true potential. Welding aside, i feel like i did ok....if i was a 3 month rookie. I'm going on 5 years of being a blacksmith, and yet i still feel like what i make looks like something a 1st year makes. 

that's my frustration. Ive been doing this for 5 years, and feel like im still at the 6 month mark of understanding. Using the picture below for example, i look at it, and see that i made some curves, some scrolls, some hooks, i did a slight twist to one of the stems, but I cannot help but feel that this project, like many others, is missing something. And it's that something that is also bothering me. Like i know that this hook could be so much more, could look so much better, could represent what a 5 year smith could create, but i dont know what. 

And then that leads me to thinking about where I am in my skill level and abilities. I know i can do things. I can make stuff. But i feel lately that a lot the stuff I make is lacking. Lacking something. and i dont know how to ask, or what to say, to fully convey what im trying to accomplish. There are a couple of blacksmiths that i call friends that are willing to help, and they provide advice, but sometimes it's not enough. I do what they suggest, but it feels like it's left more questions than answers. 

 

I know i have gaps in my knowledge and skillset: Forge welding consistently, making tools, mortise & tenon, accurately planning material needs for projects, forge welding, but i know there are other things missing. 

I guess at the end i just needed to vent somewhere.

 

 

 

 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

We all have second thoughts on projects, being our own worst critics. I'm never really happy with a lot of stuff I make and have been at it on & off for 30 + years. The important part is does your mom like it?

[Dewnmoutain]

Well, she's my mom... So yeah she likes it. 

[Frosty]

Of course she does aren't Moms wonderful? 

I think you have your perspective a little reversed here. No matter how long do practice the craft your eye will always be drawn to imperfections. S'all normal, we all do that. However if you looked at a finished product and said, "YES, flawless," you'd be taking like a rookie. 

Frustration happens, sometimes things just don't click, it happens to all of us, it's a good time to pick up a different project for a while. Do't forget these are stressful times, we're all feeling it I'm having to redo things I shouldn't have to, too frequently. 

Make the next one more to your liking, it's all good.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Fowllife]

These guys are right, it's somewhat of a good thing to always expect more or want to do better. I've been woodworking for 25 years and I have never made a project I can't find flaws in. The average person may not see them, but I know they are there. The day I feel I made a perfect project will never happen. I've only been smithing for a little over a year and haven't gotten a lot of time to devote to the craft yet. I have one of the first pieces of steel that I worked on at an open forge, and several of my earlier "projects" hanging in the shop. When I look at them compared to what I can do now it's obvious to see I am progressing and improving. Do you have some old pieces handy you could look at and compare? Maybe your progress is better then you think.

Are there any intermediate blacksmith classes available in your area? Are there any local blacksmith groups you could join? Maybe your friends just aren't explaining the process to you in a way that you understand, not everyone is good at teaching some are just good at doing.

[ThomasPowers]

I've only made two perfect projects in my life:  one is now a Veterinarian, the other has 4 sons. (And I had highly talented and skilled help on those projects!)

Things to consider in designing and making projects:

1 It's custom work; don't try to copy cheap, lowest bid, manufactured stuff.  If someone wants that---send them to the stores that carry it!

2 Don't let time be the lead driver on projects.

3 What can you add to it to let everyone know "It's handmade"!

4 In the best of all possible worlds the result will please the person(s) who commissioned it and the person(s) who made it. Pleasing only the first can be OK if you know you did decent work.

5 Don't let anything out of the shop that will put a shadow on your reputation.

6 Don't take commissions that will disgust you later.

[anvil]

So you have 5 years experience and believe your design and techniques should be better because of your time investment? Do I have it right? Lol, there are many who believe that. But the real,question is just how much time do you actually have "betwixt hammer and anvil"? Do you spend an hour a day?a week?a month? Or an hour a year?

A good friend once said we all should have a time clock in our shops so we would know just how much time we have actually working.

As for whats missing design-wise, what jumps out to me is the finial on the bottom right scroll should go in the other direction as it looks like it is cramped into two small a space. I'd call your way "closed and forced" whilst if it went the other direction it would be "opening and reaching" for whatever hangs on it.

Pretty subjective.

Also, the top two scrolls look "bent" not scrolled where they branch and there is no real,flowing movement. This is a tough one to pull off and takes much time and experience to pull off. Suffices to say, a collar to cover the weld and a sharp bend to the right falls a little short. The subtle and subconsious effect you have created is a gut wrenching question of when is it going to fall off!

Here's some subjective thoughts for design that work for me.

People often subconsciously think of iron as cold, hard, and immovable. So when you forge it try to make it look warm, soft and flowing.

Warm comes from touch. If you use a hot oil finish that Includes beeswax, well beeswax transfers heat really quickly. So when touched it feels warm to the touch which on some subtle level is recognized with surprise.

Soft comes from developing a special finish that comes from hot forging and a lot of hand wire brushing whilst there is still heat colors in your piece. Many believe correctly that we wire brush to remove scale. This is correct and it aids developing finish. But especially wire brushing when there is no scale is what develops this "soft" look.

Flowing is created by changing the crossection which means tapers and chamfered edges and "bent iron" with no flat spots or drastic changes. 

These points are part of the "basics".

Hope you will take these critiques as positive because believe me,,, most of us have had just exactly this same experience as we developed our own unique forms of expression.

[Dewnmoutain]

Life gets in the way so im not always in the shop all the time, but i average 6 hours a day, 5 days a week in the shop. I cannot help but look at what other smiths have made, especially ones who have less years hammering than me are making some nice looking pieces while i look at what ive made and it's like "what the heck is that? that's crap". 

i guess it's those "basics" you referenced anvil that i feel like im having a problem with. 

 

[671jungle]

Y'all are great and encouraging.

Creative expression and skill aren't always on the same playing field. I have been in this same situation multiple times with multiple projects. Once in awhile there will be a shiner but not without its own shortcomings. The basics definitely lay the path to more quality expression.

BTW, I see and like what you were going for with Anvils critiques. Maybe try some of these and add them to your skillset. The picture is the work of Jim coke in the "Show me your twist" thread.

 

[anvil]

9 hours ago, Dewnmoutain said:

i guess it's those "basics" you referenced anvil that i feel like im having a problem with. 

I was in your position and began to break out of my box somewhere around year 5 or so. 

Here's some things I did to get to that point. 

1: mom or not, stick to forging and learn how to increase your speed and skill. Make it a rule. Every time you give into power you lose on the forged part. It appears this was part of the pressure you were under. This NEVER ends! You were most likely there because you put off the job or you were deep into the planning part and ran out of time. A good lesson and better learned with mom than a paying customer.

2: go to every possible workshop and demo you can and pay particular to the forging details used than the whole project. If it's door hardware, perhaps how he punches a rectangular hole is far more important than how he makes the whole thing with a dozen specific needed details. More than one can sometimes be overwhelming.

3: Learn what "transitions" are and look for them everywhere and see how they are done. Transitions are where changes begin or end. Doing a round taper from 1/2" square stock say 6" long? There are two transitions and they are the most critical to be able to do. The first is where the half square starts to become a taper. The second is where it ends. If you "see" these transitions and you know the length of the taper, the middle will do what it needs to do,,, but the transitions,,, that's what everybody sees! Check out where your top branch starts and the collar, and the bend. This transition was the first to grab my eye.

4: get into looking at all sorts of things made in nature. Break these natural things into transition points and see how good ole mother nature pulls them off. Now try it. Go to your next workshop and see if a demonstrator might be making,,, anything,,, with a similar transition and watch how he does it. Look at leaves and how they attach to a branch(transition). Check out all sorts of flowers,,, and don't "leaf" out the weeds! Watch the natural flow of geology and how ridgelines "transition" to sky.

6: Negative space.  just a touch and tease on this one. What is it? A branch is positive space,,, it's what's there. The negative space is everything else around the branch. It's important to learn this and it is a challenge if you aren't blessed to have the gift naturally. I didn't!  And it's still not easy.  

If you have been putting that much time into beating hot iron, then you are ready for the above.

 

[George N. M.]

A couple more thoughts to add to everyone else (who I agree with).  Five years smithing can be a fairly long time or just a beginning depending on how much time in those 5 years you have actually spent at the anvil and what exactly you have been doing.  If you have spent 5 years doing blade smithing you cant be expected to be very good at general blacksmithing.  I've been hitting hot iron for 42 years and I am still learning and there are still things at which I am only minimally competent. 

These are a couple comments on your plant hanger.  Do smooth transitions and use smooth curves.  The lower left hook does not have either.  It should, IMO, have a low angle where it leaves the main post and gradually curve out to where the hanger hook starts.  The lower part of the upper hook should have a smooth S curve to it to make it more pleasing to the eye.  The straight section is jarring to the eye.

Make your mom a new one that is not hurried and reflects your best work and design.  She's your mom and deserves the best you can do.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Glenn]

Quality hammer time is not making the same mistake 1000 times, but making 1000 different mistakes and then fixing each one. It takes 2000 hours of hammer time to make a year.

The first of anything you make is a prototype.  Use it as a learning experience to improve and make the next one better.  If you need two that are alike, make 25 and then choose the two that most closely match each other.

 

As to your project, two of the hooks are outside loops, one is an inside loop.  Usually the top hook would be in line with the main shaft of the stand.  Next time make 3 arches of the same size and design.  Attach them to the shaft at a similar position, that is to say a similar length on the straight end beyond the arch. 

Find something with a circle close to what you want in the project.  Use that to make the arc on the branches and follow the circle pattern.  You can have different size arcs if you wish.  Wind blowing against a flower pot with a lot of leaves can act as a sail and exert a lot of force.  If you attach a 90 degree bend to act as a foot, it can provide ground stability and rigidity for the project.

If you forge the pig tail and loop, you can bend the rest of the material (up to 1/2 inch round) cold and against a jig for the arch.  Measure x amount of length below the bottom of the arch and then cut the arch from the parent stock.  Think of it as production work and find the easiest way to make several pieces at a time.

Your doing fine, just tweek it a bit.

[arftist]

I would add that trying to rush art usually results in something being left that would have been changed. 

I agree 100% with Glenn as to design of a sheperd's hook except that I would use no additional hooks. 

FYI hammer skills are very important but are entirely different than design skills. 

I think what you are complaining about is your design abilities more than your blacksmith skills. 

 

[ThomasPowers]

Out here the "vernacular"  farm version consists of hay rake tines welded around a steel pipe to support a bunch of flower containers all at the same height.