More project ideas for Intermediate/ moderate difficulty projects.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

One way to get better is to make one item, say a leaf, to warm up when you first fire up the forge. Our club has a master sword-smith that makes a leaf to warm up and he has been doing that for over 30 years. He can make a great looking leaf key chain in about 5 minutes. Hooks are another good warm up item, by the time you get through all of them here it won't be boring and you will have gained a wealth of experience.

366 hooks project. 366 Hooks | Flickr

 

[Frosty]

Nails are good warm ups and cover a couple processes.

Being able to make the same item several times close enough to match IS an intermediate skill set. Combine a leaf and a coat hook for a product requiring several processes. Make 4 or 5 and screw them to a finished weathered board as a gift. Everybody can use a place to hang coats, rain gear, etc. 

Don't forget to use your nail header and make some nice decorative nails to hang the hooks and coat hanger.

Consistency is an important skill. Don't get trapped into trying to make exact copies, perfect doesn't exist for us, we're only human. If you can't tell the difference from a few feet away, it's a bingo. Yes?

Frosty The Lucky.

[Dax Hewitt]

It's not single piece but belt buckles are one of my favourite things to make. 

Bending the D shape with consistent bends takes a bit of practice, punching consistent holes for the cross bar is something I find very hard but I'm getting better. Riviting over the ends of the cross bar is easy to mess up and finally drawing down and shaping the tang. 

12mm round bar for the D, 6mm bar for the cross bar and 6mm bar drawn down to 4mm for the tang. 

Very east to make, very hard for a beginner like me to make perfectly. 

[Frosty]

Heh, heh, heh. A common beginner mistake is trying for perfect. Some folks here take exception when I advise folk to recognize "good enough" and stop. There's an old blacksmith saying that goes like, "Better is the enemy of good." Or something like that. It's another way of saying the same thing and it's not easy to learn.

We need to know when to stop improving a piece. Perfection is WAY above our pay grade.

Do you punch the holes before or after you make the D bend? Do you fancy the buckles up any, how so?

Frosty The Lucky.

[Dax Hewitt]

When I say perfect I meen vaguely the same bend radius on each side. Basically something that looks pleasing to the eye. 

I have tried punching before and after bending. My problem is keeping the punch central. If its not bang on a 6mm hole in 12mm bar bulges one side out more than the other. 

I don't fancy them up, I like a plain buckle that if needed could be used to beat a rhino to death. 

[Stash]

I didn't realize rhinos were that much of an issue in Leeds. Glad to hear you're being protectively proactive.

Steve

[Frosty]

No, you don't talk like someone trying for perfection, my comment is as much for any new folk reading this thread as you specifically. There are about 50,000 members in around 150 countries I don't know how many of which have zero experience at the anvil or reading other than here and watching Youtube. 

I try not to be pedantic but I like to give helpful tips when I can slip one in during my usual long windy rambles.

Are you using a round punch? How are you centering it, a mark or eyeballing it. Is the bar round when you punch or do you flatten it a little?

It's tough punching straight and centered through round stock, I'm almost always off center as you describe. Sooooo I cheat, I flatten the round stock slightly I'll even use a flatter if I REALLLLY need precision. This makes the stock lay flat on the anvil with THE aim point directly centered over its contact point on the anvil. Yes?

It also limits the stock's tendency to roll out of position. If I'm punching a round hole, I mark the spot with a center punch I use specifically for punching holes. It has a very obtuse (blunt) tip with just enough sharpish tip to place accurately on a mark. It makes a wide shallow punch mark my smaller punches fit into. 

If I'm making holes like what I think you're making I slit and drift using a Brian Brazeal type slitter then drift it to size. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Dax Hewitt]

Round punch by eye. I never thought of flattening the bar a bit. 

I will give it a try once my lungs recover from Covid (mild dose over Christmas but it's left me with breathing problems) 

Would a slitter and drift work on such a small hole, it's only 6mm 1/4? 

[ThomasPowers]

Really need a high alloy slitter for that small I would think.  I had some small H-13 mold pins from injection molding that would make one that small.

[anvil]

for a small hole like that, consider drilling it, not punching. I wouldn't use a hand drill. 

A slit and drift would be just as hard to center on round stock. 

Do a light tap with your hammer to create a flat spot top and bottom like Frosty said. then center punch both sides. When you start your punch, give it a light blow first. This will show you if you are centered or not, then correct your second harder blow to start your hole. Do the same on the bottom side punch.

Also, if your first punch is off center and you can't correct it as above, then do an opposite offset when you punch from the bottom to correct. They should meet in the middle and self correct.

[Dax Hewitt]

Drilling works but there are some things I don't like to use power tools on, there is something satisfying making something just using fire, a hammer and random bits of steel. 

[Rojo Pedro]

Hooks can be as simple or fancy as you like. And they make good gifts and sale items. 

Tools same thing. A draw knife from some coil spring is a good intermediate project. Practice heat treatment