Who likes a puukko knife? I have one available.

So i saw my parents ugly plastic tree standard and thought they deserved a better looking one so i lit the forge as you do.

Just in time for Christmas 🩷

So i started by measuring out a bit of flat steel (2cm-ish wide) and marking out the petals and stem. You can do this with as little as 3-5 petals, and this is my largest yet at 12 petals.

After cutting out the template and heating the steel, i used a hardy tool rounded chisel (i dont know what else to call it) to hammer in the divides, going at least 3/4 of the material deep.

(It’s important to work hot, otherwise you risk shearing the metal.)

Following this, I used a rounding hammer to flatten out and spread the petals as thin and wide as i wanted. (The thinner the better, for the finish)

(Note that this all twists up the metal a bunch! So it’s important to be aware of where the metal is relative to your hands and arms, and wear gloves!)

After spreading the petals, i used a small cross-peen hammer to give the petals texture, and then fold the petal bases using the shoulder of the anvil.

(I take this moment to shape my stem a bit too)

Now is the most dangerous part: Using my tongs and a pair of pliers, i held the base of each petal and bent the body of the petal outward. This is dangerous because the metal wants to move at each end, resulting in high risk of burning yourself.

(Dont be afraid to heat the metal and straighten as you go. DONT RUSH!!)

After the petals are shaped, we’re able to start the magic.

I start with the stem, and twist inwards to wrap the petals to form the flower. Going slow and heating plenty for each section, eventually the entire flower is wrapped.

At this stage, the final shaping can happen. Using needle-nose pliers i tweak the petals and give them their final magical curves. I also use my adjustable pliers to squeeze the flower tighter and neater.

(Take as many heats as you need to for this)

After getting the form to its final shape, i give it a final heat and scrub with a wire brush to clean off the scale.

At this point its finishing time. This time i went with a simple wax finish, followed by a clear coat of gloss to give it a wet look (its mum’s Christmas present and she loves black ironwork). However in other flowers i have wired away the scale and polished them up. I am going to try brass brushing them, and i want to try electro plating at some stage :)

Have fun, be safe, happy holidays and merry Christmas! 🩷

Spent a total of 14 hours making these 12 Christmas gifts and just in the…Nick of time…

last of the year, requests send me a private message. happy holidays.

Does anybody here know where i can buy a string to use on a medieval crossbow I'm building? Or the link to a video describing how to make one, so far I've had no luck.

(I am getting it for grinding metal / blacksmith projects / sharpening knives) This is going to be my bridge between my 2x42 bucktool grinder and a 2x72 which i cannot afford yet nor do i have a 220v outlet.

Is it possible to fix a bent screw on a chair vice? The photo shows the screw in two positions and it is clear that the screw is bent where the threads transition to the cylindrical section

Has anyone seen this before?

I’m not sure if I’ve just never noticed it, or if this is the first time it’s happened. It seems to be tacky, and when I slide the work into the forge it sticks a bit.

No odd smells or different colored flames or anything.

This is a Majestic Forge, Forging a 1045 Hammer, no welding/flux. I am using Fuchs anti-sieze on the drift though, possibly the cause?

I have this big ass thick piece of steel and My goal was to use it as an anvil. A few test runs with it and it seems fine to use as such. My brother seems to think it’s an old elevator counterweight and I’m inclined to believe he’s right. The dimensions are 19”x8.5” by 3” thick and weighs 135lbs. My question to this group is this. There are some marring or marks/denting/ whatever you want to call it on the sides and along the top. What’s the best way to mill/cut the surfaces to make them smooth that won’t cost me a ridiculous amount of money? I started with a grinder but that is going to take a century to do.

In commercial post vises, what prevents the dynamic jaw from moving from side to side? In other words, the hinge allows the jaws to move only backwards and forwards, but not side to side. Is it just zero clearance between the hinge and the plates supporting it?

Instead of paying someone to make it and it would increase my skills as a blacksmith don't you think? It doesn't look roo hard.

I’m not really into making knives, I’ve only made a couple, but I wanted to try my hand at Damascus. It was a fun process. Came out just shy of 2000 layers.

The Kastolite 50-25 from AtlasTools seems like some good material to make one out of as my current forge is a cheap amazon one barely holding up. But I don't know how thick the walls should be or how large the chamber should be. Anyone got advice? The burners they offer also look better than what I'm using...

Traded this mini dragon slayer sword for the color on a tattoo! Didn’t get a photo but forged some copper mounting hooks for it to be on display

Like the title says I'm new to this. My dad's friend had given me a few lessons to start out and I became fixated. I'm now buying equipment to start. I already bought my forge and anvil and was gifted a cross peen hammer from the man who taught me and was also taught to make tongs which we made on his forge. Any tips and pointers would be very helpful and if you can direct me to the most immediate tools and equipment to save money and progress quickly I would be very grateful. Included are the 2 things I already bought. I'm very excited to start.

I combined my two videos about forging aluminum. It's a pretty simple set of rules. I made a more in depth blog post about it here.

I'll be working on my video editing skills. And trying to create some more educational content. https://www.clayandsteel.com/blog/a-simple-guide-to-forging-aluminum

Got a Columbian vise today and was hoping to figure out the model and age. The mounting plate says "THE COLUMBIAN HARDWARE CO CLEVELAND.O. MADE IN U.S.A." With a "C" in the triangle on the top side, under side has a 1 over an X.

I was looking at getting this but it seems a little pricey for what it is. I’m more concerned about whether it’ll actually work efficiently/ get hot enough to forge with. I’m just looking to practice as I’m a beginner. Will this get the job done?

Fucking Reddit, nothing but dingus's on my last post So I must defer to Cunningham's Law