HOOK

Although we had practiced bending on the Anvil this was our first set of Hooks that we had made from start to finish. Simple looking and of course the photo does not give a true representation of the execution. 12mm square bar was heated and placed on the edge of the anvil. The bar turned to an angle of approximately 45 degrees, a shoulder made with the hammer, then hot punched to form a simple hole for hanging.
Next the taper. The bar was taken down to a taper and bent around the bick to the desired shape,sounds very simple but here's the catch. Remembering the 45 degree angle that the shoulder formed, the line from the shoulder to the taper had to be kept true. This sounds pretty simple but in reality as a beginner this proved to be the undoing of many. We were encouraged as a class to make several, of course we only presented our best efforts.

There is a lot to be said for repetitive tasks, and in reality this forms the basis of all Blacksmithing.

BLADE,LEAF AND TAPER

 This is between you and me OK! I was excited, really excited to be back in the workshop, six full days have passed since i last burnt myself, the usual kitchen burns just do not measure now! Today's task is ......................................... To make a blade,leaf and taper. Big deal we could have sighed,we have the basics ?(most people get cocky on there third session,honest) , but wait for it...................... We have to join them!! It is amazing how fast one can lose there cockiness, almost like giving it the big one in front of a pretty girl only to find the boyfriend staring at you. You know the boyfriend with the high protein diet, what do you do! SHUT UP!

Now less of the rambling,  using 10mm square the first task was to make the leaf, a much better effort on my part as it almost resembles a leaf, well a bay leaf anyhow :( .

The blade was somewhat easier, but could that be because it did not bare any resemblance to what we were shown. Now with the taper i was impressed , it actually looked like a taper,being equal on all sides. With self esteem restored and intact it was time to attempt a twist. A quick chinwag with our ever understanding, very patient tutor Mr Richard Wood, the mechanics were explained. Keep the heat even where you wish to twist, place material nearest to point you wish to twist  into a vice. Tighten and twist away! Tongs,monkey wrench or handmade twisting device were all to hand, for my first twist i used the handmade twister, a length

 of bar with an L shaped piece of steel welded dead centre. Material to be twisted is then inserted into the L shaped shoulder and twisted the desired direction, up to 360 degrees for a complete twist.

The collar. No one said this bit would be easy, the opposite end to the taper was placed back into the fire, heated then placed on the edge of the anvil, hammered flat then spread to form a collar. The idea being that the collar would wrap and hold the other two pieces together. For every time i wrapped the collar and managed a snug fit the temptation to play, to achieve a better fit would bubble to the surface, only for both pieces of material to loosen. No guessing required for choice words, after several attempts the piece was taken away by the  Blacksmith police. The sentence passed - 2 minutes on the gas welding bench.



BLADE,LEAF AND TAPER WITH  FIRST EVER TWIST, BOTTOM COLLAR GAS WELDED.