first leaf

[mopar4dr]

http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=16641&cat=3987&page=1Well I am not sure if this photo is going to come thru, but thanks to Bills encouragement I went home last night, grabed a peice of scrap, a hammer, a old chisel, and beat out a leaf. I have a lot to learn, but the key here is it did not take long, and it was fun. I am hooked.

I will admit that is the first time I dulled a chisel:) . This photo is in my gallery, mopar4dr, but when you past the url, nothing happens. Posting a photo on a forum like this is strange. I don't get it.http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=16641&cat=3987&page=1

Earl

[anders nørgaard]

http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=16641&cat=3987&page=1Well I am not sure if this photo is going to come thru, but thanks to Bills encouragement I went home last night, grabed a peice of scrap, a hammer, a old chisel, and beat out a leaf. I have a lot to learn, but the key here is it did not take long, and it was fun. I am hooked.

I will admit that is the first time I dulled a chisel:) . This photo is in my gallery, mopar4dr, but when you past the url, nothing happens. Posting a photo on a forum like this is strange. I don't get it.http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=16641&cat=3987&page=1

Earl

Hi Earl,
Nice leaf!!
The pic is here. You should just open the pic, right click on the pic, click "copy"
Go to post, place your cursor where you want the pic to be, rightclick and click "paste and the pic will be there! http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/images/icons/icon12.gif

http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3987/medium/first_leaf.JPG (http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=16641&size=big&cat=3987&page=1)

[mopar4dr]

Anders, Thanks for the instructions. Maybe I will be able to get it right on the next project I butcher. Earl

[Bill B]

Hey Earl,

That came out super! The brass and copper lily I posted could be quickly done the same way out of steel using the same method. The steel orchid too, but might take a little longer. Really hope you go for it.

Maybe the ends of the chisel need more of a radius on them. Also what was the cutting edge should have a long smooth radius, almost like the curve of a bannana. (Roll the chisel as you tap it.) Polish the surface of it real nice. I think it would be called a dapping punch when "finished."

[mopar4dr]

Bill,

I made another one last night and it came out a lot better. Thanks for the tip on the chisel. I am set up for chassie, bracket type fab, making alumiun fire walls etc. It looks like I will be visiting some garage sales looking for old chisels. Ok, a bag and hammers are next. I can see this is the continuation of the never ending saga of more tools and more fun.:evil:

Earl

[Bill B]

Earl,

That's great. Was going to suggest something like garage sales for old chisels. Maybe there is a used "stuff" store in your area. Good place to collect such things. I picked up a Roper Whitney 1/4 x 1/4 "hand" punch for $4 about a year ago. It's a monster.

The bag can be a nice smooth, reasonably large leather pocket book. Fill it with very dry, clean sand. My hammer is made of 1 1/4" x 1/8" wall square tubing. I bent a tear drop shaped pocket and welded it into the tube. Used a boy scout axe handle. The heads clamp on one end with a set screw.

[martin1000_2]

Hi, I like it alot the way you have the vains of the leaf, cool.
Regards, Martin :o]

[skymountain]

What a wonderful leaf! I would love to learn how to shape thin steel but as of yet I have no real tools. I have a small wire welder and a grinder to start with. Could anyone recommend some starting hand tools that I could goof around with to make basic shapes? I think I may need metal snips or clippers of some kind. Help help.

[Gonejunking]

Hi __________?

Welcome to Metalmeet!

The first thing I would say to get, is a leather purse, and fill it with sand.

Then get out in the shop and start bending metal!!!

[tdoty]

Nice work Earl!

For leaves, flowers and other small projects, a set of snips, a hammer, a rubber pad and a piece of wood go a long way! A piece of pipe for a "t-dolly" will help with thinning and stretching edges, if you like.
http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3763/100_3622.jpg

I did these leaves with just simple tools, though I did cut my own "chisels" from round steel for chasing in the veins. These are copper copies of a maple leaf, all one piece.

Tim D.

[skymountain]

Thank you for the input Jeffrey.

Wow Tim, you copper leaves are beautiful! I am considering trying my hand at some outdoor free standing mobiles. I'm thinking of wire and small very thin gauge sheet metal. The wind here is very strong.
I have been searching around for a good pair of shears since I have limited hand strenght. I looked at aviation shears but I honestly don't know what would be a good choice there.

Andrea

[tdoty]

Thanks Andrea!

I've found some great cheap aviation snips locally, KC Pro brand. They are much sharper and require less effort than the Wiss snips everyone seems to swear by. Irwin brand snips also work well for me. For the copper roof flashing I used, a good pair of Fiskars scissors did the job well enough :) . I used snips on one and scissors on the other.

Wish the leaf would be useful for a photo tutorial of some sort, but it's really so simple ..................... I just grabbed a leaf from a maple tree, traced the outline onto the copper, annealed the copper (by heating it red hot and quenching immediately), then hammered the edges over a t dolly. The veins were a bit more difficult ........... simply because I didn't have the right stuff :) I used a 1/4" thick rubber pad and a small chisel like tool and then chased in the veins, while chasing the leaf around the bench! A bit of spray mount adhesive might have helped.

As an aside, the hammering of the edges was done to thin the edge and create a more realistic look. Watching Randy Ferguson make a copper rose taught me that trick :).

The stem of the leaf was crimped around a piece of wire, allowing the whole thing to be one piece, and, again, a bit more realistic.

Tim D.

[slobitz18222]

Tim,
Neat!!!