Chad, nice roses. I have tried to make them but i am no good. I made a couple nice Russian roses for the wife and my mom out of about a dozen attempts. 

Even though i aint no good at them may i offer a suggestion? Take a triangle file and make serrations on the leaves. Real roses have serrated leaves. The ones i did make that turned out good i just put 3 or 4 at the bottom of the leaf. I turned the file so that the flat towards the tip was a slighter angle than the other. Not to deep, just enough to see them. In my opinion that little detail made a huge difference. 

I made a separate thread for it so I won't post all that pics here, but I started forging a small vise today:

 

 

On 4/3/2026 at 3:18 PM, JHCC said:

natkova, how were you doing the weld between the eye section and the blade? Maybe it's the photo, but that looks highly unsafe.

That turned out to be what was blocking the orifices of the ribbon burner in my bowl forge.

As for me, I got out to the forge for a couple of hours last night and continued work on a pair of specialty tongs. I was drawing out their reins and things were going quite well until my treadle hammer self-destructed! The welds that hold the 3/4" plate that makes up the striking face suddenly failed, and the plate went a-flying (not violently, thank God). All work stopped until I could get it welded back on, and by then, it was time to go back inside. 

I did also get a bit of cleanup done on the coffee table base, so there's that.

I used to grind 45 degree bevel in, one one side and the other like in this video

 

It look weak because it did break while I was forging so I fixed it like Nils Did .

That picture was taken before right weld was made. Wanted to show how eye I made , and after I welded "right" way , I attached handle so it was not possible to see how eye look later.

On 4/7/2026 at 3:42 PM, Chad J. said:

I've tried that style handle before and it turned out like the leavngs of a sick dog.   I hadn't tried it since.   Yours looks great.   Did you form it around a mandrel?

Nope, was my first try and failed spectacular.

Made like a scroll and I used a scrolling tong to keep the angle of the bar more or less consistent.

If I ever do a serie or matching set, i would make an mandrel, because I think it will be faster.

On 4/7/2026 at 3:53 PM, JHCC said:

The trick is to use flat stock, not round!

Was 10x10 square, but yeah for the ribbon part i flattend it to more or less 20x4.5 or 5 The end piece i went to 25x4.

The only problem i see with the handle is that i did not made a stand so hanging or standing is a bit hard for the time being. Good thing is that i have my giftidea for him next year.

Putting lipstick on the pig, I made a sheath for the spike dagger.

 

Might be lipstick on a pig instead of gilding the lily, but it's a cute pig.

How extreme NE Texas btw? Like, last booth in the Waffle House on Stateline Ave northeast? Dangling your toes in the Red River north of the Dairy Queen in Nash? A lot of my directional references in the vicinity are going to be fast food related...

About 13 miles from the Sonic in Atlanta and Linden, both. Or about 35 miles southwest of Texarkana.

Roundabouts Douglasville or Marietta then. Grew up in Garland (near the Brahms and the Whataburger) and have/had kin all over that neck of the woods.

I'm behind on updating, lol

Here's progress on the trellis. All that remains is to add decorative elements. I really don't want to try to remove rust from all those twisty turny wrapped bits, so I'm considering rust converter spray. I've read you can paint OR wax over that once it's cured. Question to anyone who's had experience with a similar size project: would torch heating be something you'd consider doing instead of rust converter spray? 

I got out the clay to work on an idea for the bird I want to put on top. This started with a 3" length of 1" square. Cut on opposing sides similar to Fredericks cross but don't intersect the cuts. I'll probably do it again in clay before I take to the steel.

I threw in the towel on repairing the non-working air compressor and found a nice 20gal on Facebook marketplace which should last me a good while and will work for my current needs. 

I hooked up the plasma cutter yesterday and had so much fun! Learning curve was pretty quick so I went ahead and cut all the pieces needed for my new gas forge fabrication as well as some petal pairs for the clematis blooms I want to make. No pics of those as they were already stacked on the drill press awaiting center holes.

I made a little progress on the clematis blooms tonight. These were cut during that first session with the plasma cutter. Next batch will have less slag to clean off. 

Drilled 1/8" holes, used a small rounded fuller to start a center groove then folded over along that groove. Then unfolded slightly while hitting a few spots asking the edges to get a wavy appearance. Once these are assembled and fastened together, I'll heat and fold some of the petals this way or that to give even more life. I really like the "back" sides.

 

Shainaru, the 3 tools on the left are what i use to make leaves with. The "Y" shaped one is what i use to get the vien down the middle, tilting the leaf down gives it the curl. The one on the bottom that is hiding its left side is what i use to put the waves on the sides of the leaf. You can not see it but on the left side it has a large radius that tapers down. And then the hammer with extra long pein for getting down inside the leaf. Smack in the middle, a leaf that i made with those tools. Well, not the hammer obviously but i do use it now for leaves. 

Thanks Billy! I do have a leafing hammer but these I just did cold and with the most convenient hammer, which happened to be the ball peen. I'll have to save your image and make sure I have some version of those tools for when it comes time to forge larger leaves.

Shaina the leaves are looking great, just in time for spring. Look forward to seeing your completed flowers!

Billy, appreciate seeing the tooling, I'll add your ideas to my notebook too!

I've got a dried milkweed pod tacked to the wall...am inspired by the shapes, another on my list of things to work toward... ;-}

--Larry

A few minor jobs. The gardening season is starting, and I'm mostly busy with flower supports.

That reminds me, I need to build an oblesk for some climbing roses I put in. 

Your minor projects would take me who knows how long Alexandr.

Here's a grill set I'm doing.   Started as 3/4 x 3/4.  I'm thinking of doing a set of grill tongs to finish it out but I'm not sure how to work in the cube twist with that. 

Finished this rack today. I'm trying different combinations of elements to see what works.

Brass, wood, and steel go well together. 

Nice Ted! Gazing at it for a bit, the philips screws seem a bit out of place, but understandable that you want them to secure the hooks. What about forming a head like you did with the two inner hooks, but do so on a longer brass machine screw allowing for a nut on the back of the wood blocks? Either way, very attractive work.

--Larry

Hi Larry. I don't use brass pins much but I thought they'd look nice here. The ones in the middle hooks are only decorative since I blind welded the hooks in place. There's no easy alternative for attachment into wood. I got away with using pins in the cross bar since there's already a good mechanical joint. 

Very nice indeed. Wood and iron go quite nice together. 

My local ACE hardware sells brass wood screws that are slotted. 

I've gotten to the point where I've made plenty of leaves, bottle openers, fire implements, knives, back scratchers, hooks, key rings, candle holders, etc... All the standard stuff and much more. 

It gets boring unless you can figure out new stuff to make. Something that's useful and unique. 

Incorporating different materials to create things beyond the traditional blacksmithing menu expands this hobby significantly. Why feel held back from making whatever you want? 

Think outside the box.

 

Ted, you are dead on with that. Simple beginner projects get real boring real fast. But those projects are designed to improve your basic skills. Then go on to apply those skills on larger more complicated projects. Take that leaf. Make the leaf and then weld it to a bar, weld on multiple simple leaves and you now have a decorative spindle. Make 5 or 6 and you have a set of window bars. 

However even the simple stuff can be enhanced with different materials. Add a set of wooden scales and brass pins to a serving fork handle or a bottle opener and even that simple project takes on a new life. 

One last thing, what kind of wood is that? 

One of the nice things about doing this on an amateur basis is that you can focus on projects that you want to make rather than on those that you get paid for. It’s great when they overlap, but it’s nice to have the freedom to explore methods and techniques on your own. 

So, I upgraded my bandsaw with a new switch in a better location.

More detail HERE.

Billy, I salvaged that wood from a shelving case my neighbor was getting rid of. I would guess some type of tropical hardwood. 

You're right about developing skills from basic projects. I've done a fair bit of woodworking so combining the two is a natural for me. I've put scales and pins on knives, fireplace implements, and back scratchers. They add a lot to the overall appearance. 

I've been thinking about doing some glass work too, but I haven't opened that can of worms yet. 

I visited the IVBA monthly hammer in at Sugar Grove Park in Funks Grove, IL for the first time yesterday.  It was great!  I made a spoon.  I used a coal forge for the first time and managed to burn through the handle of my first attempt at a spoon, forge welded it back on (also a first) only to have the spoon break off the handle while I was refining the weld. This spoon was my second attempt.  The spoons were practice for an event at the Clayville hammer in next month.  The local smiths are making stew and if you can make your own spoon onsite you get a free bowl of it.  Else it's $2.... who wouldn't make a spoon for free stew?

https://clayville.org/events#5aae5db8-9347-40af-b906-cc58bc713759

Started the frame for a table for the wife. The legs will pass through the hoop, there will be 4 but i ran out of 3/8" round. Have to ungalvanize another piece. The table is for the back porch and will be 15" tall and ~18" wide or so. Wooded top from reclaimed 5/4" decking boards i had in the barn. 

Mad a handful of pocket scribes for give aways at "The Gathering" i will be attending this coming sat. Was supposed to be 12 but 1 i burnt the clip slightly so i got 11. Made from 1/4" garage door spring. They were soaking in vinegar just before the pic, hence the reason they are sitting on a rag. 

 I should have gotten the partially hidden "J" hook better. It is the first one a made many years back now and is absolutely horrible. I found it in a box of crap i was going through