August 11, 200817 yr Hi there! I have never had anything to do with metalworking in the past and only wanted to forge blades when I began reading about forging etc. But my first project should be of a different kind because I wanted to make a special birthday present for my girlfriend. So my first try was a rose after I had everything I needed. I got an anvil from a retiring metal worker who closed down his shop. I got it really cheap (60 Euro for approximately 60 Kilos) and he never used it himself before so it was in good condition. I built a forge from materials I do not know how to translate in english and use a hair dryer that "can blow cold" for air supply. I also used a welding torch with a small propane/butane canister. I also learned some important lessons about how to improve my forge and that working without the proper tools can be a pain in the ***. I really need some good tongs, proper pliers etc. I had some problems with the flower, especially connecting leaves to the stem (which was nigh to impossible for me, I also had no flux so forge welding was not an option. I had no idea how to forge weld them anyway without burning the leaf) Some of the questions I will ask in this forum in the future I think, but now to the pictures. I presented it with two real roses as company in a small bouquet.
August 11, 200817 yr That is an awsome looking rose, even better since it was your first, my first rose didn't look anywhere near that good and I had to start over 3 times before I even got one that remotely resembled a rose. Nice job! welder19
August 11, 200817 yr Author Thank you very much! I think I will try making a candleholder next time, I read a tutorial on them in a book from the library. Now, re-reading my first post I see that I really overused the word "I"....I start nearly every sentence with it. Kind of embarassing.
August 12, 200817 yr Author Thanks. No, I had no idea how people use a torch for cutting such things out to be honest. I bought some metal shears (hope this is the right word, I used a translation site for it) and cut it out by hand. The downsides were that it took long and I got some painful blisters on my fingers.
August 12, 200817 yr G'Day Meisenmann, Way nice bloke ... The from page of IForgeIron has a section that you can click on & the whole site will be translate into what ever language you speak Meisenmann , no need for you to go looking around at other sites Dale Russell p.s , if we could only get Glenn to add a spell check to the site as well we would all be happy
August 12, 200817 yr Author Thanks for the tip, but english is okay for me (at least if you can understand me and aren't bothered by my sermons ) I just didn't know the word for the tool I used and used a translation site for it. Maybe aviation snips is a better word for it, i don't know. Normal sentences are way easier to translate than technical terms.
August 12, 200817 yr Very nice! You obviously have a talent for metal work. Kepp it up. I am sure we all look forward to seeing more. Welcome to the site. Mitch
August 12, 200817 yr Author Thanks for the nice words, that improves my mood for today Today's work did not turn out the way I planned. I pounded on a bar of steel to make it thicker on one end, after that I tried to stretch the rest of the bar to make it thinner. After pounding several hours I had very little effect, but there are some things to improve with my forge anyway. Tomorrow I will try something different, I will post pics of course if there is something to show... Should I open new threads or post in this one? Problems I will post into the problem solving area I guess... Additionally, I will post a short greeting text in the appropriate area of the forum in the next days.
August 12, 200817 yr The forum is subject driven, and all related posts to the one subject should be under that subject. New project or new subject should be a new post. This way when someone looks for a rose they can find a rose. When someone looks for upsetting or tapering stock, they find tapering and upsetting, not roses. (grin)
August 14, 200817 yr nice work meisenman ,would like ta have ago myself ,ya petals look reeal nice,i might cheat abit and cut them out with my plasma cutter,thanks for sharing ya work with us
August 19, 200817 yr Very Nice! Roses are my favorite. I've even seem people take a rounded three shaped pattern. (*think three big roundish looking leaves with a hole in the center) Then they shape the three leaves, then shape another piece of metal just like the first, and so on, and so on. You can even make them smaller and of thinner metal as you go. Then one offsets the pattern of each piece of metal as they assemble it. If you get good with this technique you can turn out roses quicker then making petal by petal and welding them in.
August 19, 200817 yr Author I did it that way, I had five leaves per disc. But cutting it out with aviation snips was tedious work ^^
February 21, 200917 yr You can tack weld thin metal to a stem by getting the stem to welding heat and put the lower end of the petal into the torch flame for a moment then touch the lower part of the petal to the stem, it should stick. Metal shears are fine to describe your shears, and your English is just fine too, better than some of the folks born to the language on this list. The trick is that the petal is thin and will heat much quicker than the stem, keep it out of the heat until the stem is ready to weld.
March 13, 200917 yr Hallo there Meissenmann, For a first try that is an excellent piece of work.You definetly are going places.I am impressed. Viele grusse Herman Bayer Ursus forge South Africa
March 13, 200917 yr Hey Meissenmann,, nice way to start binging iron. after a few hooks, my fist protect was a hummingbird based on an anvilfire blueprint by Bill Epps. Yours came out far nicer than my first one. keep it up
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