Quilt Ladder

[JCloss]

This is an older one of my "weird" projects.  My MiL wanted a quilt ladder for Christmas and I decided to combine my interest in blacksmithing with making things from wood, my other expensive hobby.

I know there are some I'm straight bits, but I did the best I could to invent the pieces here as I went.  1/2" square, not much forging involved other than the twists and isolating some pieces on each side to fold up for the screw flanges.  This was pretty early on in my work and so I was just pleased as punch to have managed to craft them with only a very small variation in length.

Finish was wire brushed and sprayed with a transparent coating, can't remember what I used for sure.

[Kexel Werkstatt]

Cool!  Same bar/twist pattern I used for my tong rack on the wall.

[JME1149]

Nicely done, the twists look to be pretty even which is an accomplishment over that length.

[JHCC]

Very nice indeed.

For the next one, remember that you can straighten any bends in the twisted sections with a wooden mallet or a baseball bat over a wooden block.

[JCloss]

Thanks folks.

JME1149 - yeah, this is one of the reasons we overbuilt the length in our forge, it's nice to be able to evenly heat long stock.

JHCC - indeed, and I did do that, but wasn't able to (or gave up on) getting them completely straight.  One side clamped in the vise and the other end held by a "voice activated stand" (ie, friend with a wrench) meant they were severely out of whack when I was done twisting them.  I never thought of a baseball bat as a wooden mallet substitute.  At this point we didn't have a wooden or leather mallet, and still don't, so the top was a small piece of board held in tongs hit with a cross-pein, the bottom was a larger scrap of board on the concrete floor (which is the same way I dish things as I don't have a swageblock). Time to solve that missing tool problem!

[ThomasPowers]

I've found firewood to be a handy source of things to hit with and on.  Easily available most places I've lived too.    

[anvil]

Nice job. It's always fun working multi-medium.

Also you can squeeze it in your post vice on the diamond twice per straightend length. Once in one direction then rotate 90* and squeeze again. Whatever length you straighten, go forwards half this length and do it again. You can straighten about 12" or so at a time and as long as their is a little color in your iron, keep straightening it up. So, Always rotate each squeeze 90*, move forward half the squeeze distance and repeat. 

 By the way, as a general rule, unless you have help, most heats only need to be about 12" or smaller in length. An old blacksmith answer to this question: "how did you do that?" is usually " 6" at a time." Lol, it ain't how long you heat it that matters, it's how you work it 6" at a time. 

Have fun.