Stainless Steel Rose from Scrap Metal

Step 4 Making the Stem

Stem:
To make the stem, take the bar stock, hammer it, and bend it so that it isn't perfectly straight or smooth. This makes it look less like a bar and more closely resembles a real rose stem. Then take the triangular pieces you formed for the thorns and weld them in the desired locations. After they are welded, grind off the weld beads and use the grinder (Or sander, or file, or Dremel tool) and shape the triangle into a pointed thorn. After you have attached and formed all of the thorns, it's time to move on to the leaves. The leaves are formed by bending the ellipse shape along it's long axis into a V. Then bend the edges, so it begins to resemble a pair of wax lips. After that is done, bend the leaves along the center ridge to give them a natural curved shape. This is tricky to do. I did it by putting the piece in a vise (ridge on one side, 'lips' on the other) and hammered it towards the ridge side, opened the vise, slid it up a little, closed the vise, and hammered again. Do this a couple of times and it will have the desired shape. After you have finished the leaves, just weld them on to the stem and grind away the welds.