July 28, 2025Jul 28 I know I'm not the first, but I did a search and couldn't find a WIP on how to forge these here, so I thought I'd share my process for any newer smiths (don't forget there are many different ways to forge stuff). I consider this a intermediate/beginner forging activity. Nothing other than hammer, anvil, and 3 top tools needed for this part. The starting stock for this example was 1/4" x 1-1/4" flat bar First heat - Draw a taper over the horn (in this case it's ~4"): Second heat - isolate material for the belly over the near edge of the anvil 3rd heat - start isolating head and lips over the tip of the horn on other side of bar 4th heat - clean up the mouth using SOR methodhere's a close-up pic, one time we actually encourage 'fish-lipping 5th heat - begin fullering a line down the back to isolate material for the dorsal spikes and fin using a 1/16" dia. fullering tool. Take as many heats as necessary to go from near the tip of the tail to the top or the head Next, widen the fuller and clean up using a 1/8"- 3/16" fuller Next, isolate/mark out segments using a butchering tool and round out the tip of tail Next, use butchering tool to knock down the corners to give the body depth Next, start separating the spines using a flat hot cut chisel with square sides. . . . . .skipping a few segments for the dorsal fin Next, fuller out the dorsal fin Finish shaping the dorsal fin And then finish the seahorse by first curling the tail (I have better success when I start by heating the thicker part of the tail and starting the curl there first, then working on the tip to curl in opposed to just doing the whole spiral starting from the tip) and then heating the neck to bend the head into the proper position Finish up however you want, I'm probably going to punch/drill holes and then use rivets for the eyes if they are going on a project using traditional joinery, or I use button head allen head screws for other applications. Thanks for looking and I hope someone finds something useful in this.
July 28, 2025Jul 28 Thank you BillyO, that is a most excellent WIP. Having done a quick search for seahorse images, there is LOTS of room for the imagination to modify your basic process. What a great place to start. Again thanks. Frosty The Lucky.
August 8, 2025Aug 8 Author On 8/3/2025 at 1:09 PM, bluerooster said: Awsome! Something else for me to try. Please share pics when you do...
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