Rat Tail Scroll

 A rat tail scroll done using the hammer.

 

1. First get yourself a long piece of 12 by 6 flat bar.
2. You want to set it down on a transiction point about 60mm from the end, hammer onto the bick, make sure your blows are half on half off so it really puts a deep point in.
3. Draw the lump down into a taper, use the bick as ive explained before
4. Knock the corner o the taper making it into a round section, light blows so you dont break up the taper.
5. When you have a long pointed taper you are ready to start bending, watch your first heat on the end as such a thin peice will easily burn.
6. Tap it over the edge of anvil then turn it around and with light glancing blows bring it back on itself.
7. Constantly keep bringing the handle of the metal up and down to change where you strike to keep in a circle.
8. Continue you on with these steps setting it over the anvil then bringing it back.

 Tips 

• Safety point, when you have it as a long tapered point try to avoid waving it around, this is very dangerous and no one wants abit of metal sticking out of them.
• After you have the first curve in, when reheating put the curve facing up to protect the thin metal from burning, no one likes burns.
• Everyone makes mistakes, if you make a mistake use a pair of scrolling plyers and correct it, we are only human.
• A must have is a calm attuide, ive lost my temper several times and flattened scrolls, so try to keep it together.

 Starting bar

Transition point

Knocking the corners off

Round Taper

First Curve

Finished product

My Tongs

These are just a few pictures of 

the tongs that were made during the demostration.

Tongs Making part 2

I was writing up my tong making when i found a handout

detailing the tong making process, i thought

i would put that up so it really is straight from the book.

Tong making part 1

This is a small guide to making a pair of

small flat bit tongs that can be put across any kind of tongs.

Two pieces are necessary. At each step, make sure both

pieces are matched.

1. To start with you need to get yourself two pieces of 8" of 5/8 Square or 200mm of 16mmSq
2. Mark is 35mm into the bar from the end
3. Get a good heat on the bar and place the marked end on the edge of the anvil, with heavy blows to set down the end, you want to go down till about half way. Do this on both and this will make up the jaws, try to refrain from hitting the sides of the jaw as this will give a different dimension on the metal than you need
4. Turn it 90% now you are going to be working on this side, you want to mark out on your anvil a 45% angle this is where you are going to be striking it.
5. This point is essentail to make yourself a pair of tongs that fit your hands right, if your right handed then you need to be making the tongs for your left hand and the same goes for left handed people, if you mess this up then you will have akward tongs.
6. You are going to bring the tongs out of the fire and place them with jaws just over the edge of the anvil at the 45% degree line that you have drawn. If you are right handed you want to have the jaws facing to the left on both tongs and if your left handed you want it facing it to the right. DO NOT MESS THIS BIT UP OR ADRIAN WILL LAUGH.
7. With heavy blows set it down over the side, allow the metal to spread out to make the hinge plate, you want to again hit it down by around half way to about 8mm wide.
8. Now turn it around again 90% so the jaw is on the bottom, you are going to be setting it down around 38 to 40mm from the jaws. This is where you need to do really heavy blows to draw it down to make the right form.  
9. Place the bar at your mark over the end of the anvil and hammer down, you want to get it as thick as the hinge plate and two thirds as high
10. Now your are going to be drawing out the rein but remeber this is only roughing out so dont pay too much attention to smoothing off. 

Part 2 will be coming soon, yours should be looking something similar

to this about now.

More Punching holes

Just thought i would share a picture of what happens

when i tried to punch a really thin piece of metal.

I like the picture more than the outcome got to admit.

Punching a hole

Today we were given a demo about punching a hole into metal.

This is just a quick run through using a punch to help.

1. Before punching your metal it is advisable to check your punch over to see it is straight and has a sharp corner on the bottom, while using they are prone to bending off center.
2. If your punch is off center then you will need to get it back center, normally this would be easy but this isnt your common steel, punches are made out of a Mild steel which works at different temperatures to common steel.
3. First the maxium heat you can work on a punch is a bright orange no higher, it can not be worked cold because it will just shatter straight away. While working on it never clench it, when your doing with the next steps leave it to cool down naturally.
4. Start by hammering it square then knocking the corners off, work it down to a octogon shape, make sure it is even all the way round. One off corner and it will show in the punch.
5. After hammerng it round you want to heat again and hamme the end of the punch flat, make sure there is a sharp corner around the flat this is essentail.

After this you should be ready to get going on punching, here is a quick step by step guide to good

punching pratice.

1. First off center punch where you are going to making the hole just for good referance.
2. Make sure there is a good heat across where your going to be punching, if it is too cold then it will drag metal from around the hole in with it making a deep depression in the metal, you dont want this.
3. Strike down at a 90% degree angle, if you go over you will have a hole that goes one way more. You can change the direction of a punch half way through the metal but this is very difficult.
4. Constantly wire bursh your work so you can keep tracks on the hole.
5. Give really heavy blows to get into the hole quick before the heat goes, once you feel the anvil begin to kick back you are far enough to flip it over
6. There will be a very clear shadow on the other side, line it up and hammer into this mark
7. Hammer over the pritchel when you start on the back because as you suddenly break through to the other side your tool will whack into the anvil damaging the anvil and the punch.
8. Working both sides of the hole is essentail to get an acurate hole right through it.

 Follow these steps and you should be have yourself a pretty good hole.

A few very helpful tips i was given after the demo.

• Make sure to constantly clench the punch when your working it in the hole, if you dont it will become hot and begin to expand if this happens while it is in your work it will become stuck and its quite embarssing.
• When your straightening you can work it cold but only with very gentle blows this is only really if your taking a small bend out of it, anything more and you should heat it up.

Here are a few pictures of punched holes.

Davids demo hole

My first punched hole

 I had a little play with the punch with my new idea of

binding and came with out above. I personally really like it.

Basic Forge info

A couple of handouts i was given just

showing basic forging info, ive always been bad with

with keeping paper work so i decided to put it up here.

Plasticine

I have been having alot of trouble recently as far as

designing in the forge goes, i can get ideas but it is really difficult

to make it up as i go. A friend suggested buying some

plasticine to play around with making models then taking it to the forge.

After buying two packs and playing around i have found it to a really

instrumental tool.

 

I have started looking alot more at binding at the moment so i made this up to 

reflect an idea i had last night.

I made this in the forge the following day in response to my initail models.

Plasticine is a well worth the money.

Bending

Just a few more bending i took today

aswell as a paper bending i did today im quite proud of.

 These two arent my own work its a picture of a fellow students idea.

It was more the bending process than the idea that sort of took my eye and i wanted to capture.

This is my paper bending, i twisted it and bent it until it almost didnt 

look like paper at all anymore.

This is a small warm up piece i did in response to the paper twisting,

personally i like how it looks but it didnt really capture what i wanted.

Bending in alternative materails

I have been meaning to put these pictures up for a while looking at

bending in different materails. Initail this is just 

plastic but i hope to get my paper work up soon.

 

Alot of heat gun but really happy with how this turned out.