Its official i'm a blacksmith ( just kidding finally got started)

[gewoon ik]

I like the idea. By the time all hooks are changed, you want to remake the first 10 or so because you improved that much, you feel you can do better

[Frosty]

Not a bad plan but please drop "TRY" from your vocabulary, it carries an expectation of failure in making what are really very basic projects. "I'm not going to (TRY) to make hooks. "I'm going to make hooks this rainy weekend or whenever." No need to talk about expecting to make poor hooks, it is in fact another way to shoot yourself in the foot. Another thing stop trying to get it right, "git er done" instead. Trying to get things "right" tends to focus you on problems and you lose sight of the project. 

It's not hard to keep positive about possible failed projects, everybody who actually takes hammer to metal, experiences failures and hopefully can analyze what went wrong well enough to learn from it. I've been doing this off and on for more than 50 years and learn something every time I'm at the anvil.

So, STOP TRYING, just just do, take notes and pics. If something goes wrong analyze what you were doing when it went south, if you can't figure it out bring it here and we'll help. 

One last bit of advice in a more positive light seeing as that's my direction right now. 

Instead of forging different hooks every time you go out, forge the SAME ONE a couple times as a warm up exercise before exploring different ideas. Being the organizational genius I am (in my alter ego) I couldn't find a pic of the old wall hooks. I start people making them, they have lots of different forging processes but in small bites that go together to make a functional thing and is full of good lessons. 

I use 3/8" sq. HR "mild" I don't recall how long but somewhere between 4-5". First lesson ALWAYS leave the thinnest section to last so it doesn't get burned off. 

Step 1, isolate the shank from the leaf stem, Gently! draw the shank down to around 5/16" sq if you want a longer hook against the wall. Mostly you're losing the as milled finish for a "forged" texture. Hold off on the twist for a bit though. (There are lots of different twists but keep it a simple square twist for now!)

Draw a point on the end of the leaf how long depends on the kind of leaf you're representing but it needs to be a pretty blunt point. (Just pick one for now!)

Draw the stem down to establish, the "preform" stage, finishing the stem comes a LITTLE later. If you draw it down to the finish dia it will bend too easily when forging the leaf. Remember, THINNEST LAST!

Draw the leaf laterally to help widen it, this is a good time to use the horn lengthways as a bottom fuller. I address the anvil when doing this by standing in front of the horn, facing down the length of the anvil. The pointier part of the horn will draw faster  so adjust. For heart shaped leaves, (Nice for valentine's day) I preform the leaf section by fullering into the pointed end and carrying it back to the widest. 

Draw the leaf on the corner of the stock, it spreads it a little better. 

Anyway, flatten the leaf to the desired thickness, center it on the shank and true it up. Incising the veins comes as a final step. 

Mark the hook end of the shank, take a good heat and place it leaf up in the (preadjusted!) vise just a little 1/16"-1/8" above the mark and twist it how you like. Count the turns for consistent results! You are shooting for consistency at this stage in your skill building, Yes? You can punch the screw holes after doing the hook taper but you will really be thinning the hook taper and it becomes more dangerous to the project. Yes?

Next using small flat and a counter punch, first mark the location of your desired screw holes with the flat punch then counter punch so they fit countersunk screws  and either punch or drill the screw holes. Doing this step is a GOOD reason to NOT forge the leaf stem to final thickness, you'll be holding it down with a hold fast on the leaf to keep the leaf and screw holes in the same plane like the wall. Hmmmm?

You'll note the twist continues into the isolated section for the point, this is no accident BUT just how I do it, because makes the transition from twist to the long round hook taper much smoother. Some folk like the sudden transition better, no harm no foul, it's a matter of taste. Yes?

Now we're getting to the nitty gritty, drawing a long EVEN round taper. Are you familiar with the SOR technique for drawing from square to round shapes? Draw to near finish length, (say 1/2" shy) then draw it on the corner into an octagonal cross section, keeping it straight, then round it up with lighter blows at a little lower heat and finally do some final planishing at just above black heat to make it all smooth and uniform.

With the hook taper finished it's a good time to draw the stem to it's final thickness, you're about done with any hot hammering, from now it'll be mostly light tapping. 

Now for one of the trickiest parts, getting the finial scroll on the end of the hook facing the right direction. It's also a decent time to mark the veins in the leaf to help remember which side is up. Go ahead and laugh it's really easy to turn he hook the wrong direction, even after dozens at one demo I did with embarrassing frequency. So I made a laugh for everybody and twisted it around where it was supposed to go and sold it for a couple bucks off. 

What I started doing was laying the hook veins up in the forge holding it with the tongs, the end of the hook taper is really thin and heats very quickly. Remove it and turn the finial scroll AFTER flattening it SLIGHTLY so it was less likely to punch through a heavy garment. And twisted it to be in line with the hook.

Then I heated the taper, chilled the finial to prevent smooshing it, started the hook over the far edge of my anvil and closed it to finished on the face. Finial up. The ONLY thing I did on the horn is a little final truing, I don't shape hooks on the horn almost ever. 

The last thing is giving it a vigorous wire brushing at black heat, hit the leaf with a brass brush to bring out the high lights and finish it with "Trewax," carnauba paste furniture wax. It is the same stuff that makes a bowling alley pretty much scratch proof. In fact, "Bowling Alley Wax" is another excellent carnauba wax that's popular in the smithing community.

If you use a "sharp" chisel to vein the leaf give the veined side a stronger wire brushing to soften the edges. I have a couple sizes of veining chisels, one fairly wide and a couple smaller ones I forged specifically and they have gently curved edges so they are better than my old one. 

Anyway, I typically incise a wider central vein and smaller laterals. More leaf lobes means more branching veins and more . . . TOOLS!

I do the final tweaking on the end of a wood block with a wooden mallet to preserve features and textures. I apply the wax at smoking temp and wipe off the excess and it's ready to go out the door or onto the table.

Believe ME it's a lot simpler than it sounds once you've done a couple few it's a really quick warm up project. The first one I forged took probably 20-25 minutes, first timers I show tend to run 30 minutes or better. Once I got the hang of it, developed my own step sequence and practiced up I could knock one out from cutting the stock to handing to a spectator in just under 7 minutes. 

Getting good at this ONE HOOK teaches you most all the basics you need to make most intermediate projects and if you can make sets of 4-6 matching hooks in an hour, you'll be STYLIN!

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[George N. M.]

"Either do or not do.  There is no "try'"

-Yoda

[BoardMoreThanUsual]

Thanks i will TRY  and keep that in mind going forward. I just checked my pile of steel and see i have at least 10' of 3/8" sq bar( hr) so ill take notes from your post with me into the garage next time i am out there and make a couple of those type hooks to start off, if i get into a grove maybe more than a couple. when i get that down maybe adjust to make curtain hold backs if the mrs likes them.

i keep thinking to myself i need to expand what i am making but unless i can do something repeatedly its ALL expanding.

[BoardMoreThanUsual]

i decieded to print out the "instrucions" as opposed to taking notes and missing something, hopefully i can get out there this weekend when the rain stops

[Frosty]

If you have questions, give me a shout. I wrote that from memory and I got to drifting off course a couple times. I had a good how to but that's dead with an old computer. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

If your drifting goes off-course, try heating only one side of the hole with an oxyfuel torch.

[BoardMoreThanUsual]

Thanks  JHCC,

All i have at my disposal is an old plumbers B tank with a standard soldering tip, i can use that it gets there just takes a while to heat up, ill keep your suggestion in mind.

[Goods]

If you working with mild steel, you can heat with you forge and selectively cool with a watering can.

Keep it fun,

David