Forged Flower

by veggiewarrior

10K1427

Intro: Forged Flower

in this instructable i am going to show you how i made a metal flower with simple tools.

it will be made from scrap metal and doesn't take alot longer then 2 hours to make it.

the process will involve forge welding so this is a good exercise for beginning blacksmiths such as myself.

STEP 1: The Tools

you will need:

-forge (doesn't have to be big, as long as you are able to weld mild steel)

-hammer

-swage block or a piece of steel with a 8mm (5/16th) hole in it (if you want to avoid extra forge welding take a 10mm(3/8) hole)

-small ball punch, big ball punch, hollow ball punch, chisel

-a pair of pliers

-small tongs ( 1/4inch tongs work great)

STEP 2: The Materials

you will need:

-2 big old nails. 6mm (1/4)

-a piece of round stock. everything between 10mm (3/8) or 15mm(9/16) is good.

the bigger you take the round stock, the less upsetting you have to do but more drawing out.

STEP 3: Drawing Points for the Roots

you should end up with one longer and one shorter bar.

cut off the heads of the nails and draw a long round taper on both ends.

these parts will form the roots of the flower, you can make as many roots as you want.

STEP 4: Folding the Roots

first fold the shorter bar, then fold the longer one. fold them over eachother so the ends meet at the same point.

make sure there are no big gaps, this will make the welding alot easier.

then weld them together , make sure you leave some extra material at the end for making a scarf.

STEP 5: Upsetting the Round Bar

I started with a piece of 10mm (3/8) round stock and upset it until i had a 15mm (9/16) ball.

the upsetting will take some time, to avoid this step you can take a thicker piece of round stock.

then forge the rest of the bar to 8mm (5/16) thickness so it fits in the hole of your swage block.

if you want to avoid extra forge welding leave the stem a 10mm (3/8).

STEP 6: Forging the Flower

this part will take a few heats, the more accurate you do this steps the nicer your flower will be.

i placed my swage block on the anvil so the stem of the flower fell down in the pritchel hole.

-first flatten the ball into your swage block. if it isn't in the middle of the bar you can still correct it.

-then mark the middle with you hollow ball punch and mark where the leaves will come with your small ball punch.

-draw out the leaves with the big ball punch (mine is a piece of 20mm square bar with the end ground round)

-mark the edges of the leaves with the small ball punch

-cut between the leaves with a small chisel

STEP 7: Making a Scarf for the Flower

this is an unnessacary step but since i had little material on the stem of the flower, it was best to cut and fold the end of the stem over to get more material for forgewelding.

you can avoid this step by leaving the stem thicker and making the flower in a 10mm (3/8) hole.

STEP 8: Checking If the Scarfs Fit

now both pieces are ready to be welded together.

make 2 scarf and check if they fit before you heat them up.

if they fit, you can weld them together.

STEP 9: Welding

this is how my pieces looked after welding.

if the weld is succesfull you can start drawing out the stem to its final thickness and start rounding it.

STEP 10: Finishing and Cleaning

now you can start with the bending and shaping of the stem to your own preferance.

i use hammer and anvil to bend the stem and pliers for the roots.

then clean it up with a wire brush and its finished!

if there are questions or a part of the process isn't clear ill answer them in the comments.

7 Comments

EpicElrod 8 years ago

I know what my next project is...

Sweet 'ible!

ChestnutF 8 years ago

Very well done... i was amazed to see you could upset such a light steel rod to produce such a good sized ball as your srarting point, did this take many heats?

veggiewarrior 8 years ago

thank you!
the upsetting itself didnt take so long. i spended most of the time trying to keep everthing straight between upsetting heats and making sure that the ball was in the middle of the rod.

1stPal 8 years ago

A ..... mazing !

CJStephens 8 years ago

LOVE IT! Great write up, and I love how you made it stand up on its own, i have made flowers like this before but I have always left the stems straight great job!

I love to see other blacksmiths projects, The people that do blacksmith are bringing back a lost art!