| 1. Now we’re finishing off this weld and scarfing it for the next one. |
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| 2. If I have a good clean fire, I don’t need to use flux. If I do use sand, I keep it off the face side of the weld. It’s mainly there to provide protection from the oxygen blast from the fire. The American fires with the center blast are particularly bad for that. If you’ve got a side blast, you can come away from your blast somewhat and protect it — shield your work piece. | |
| 3. Here I’ve got the acorn and the leaf. What I’ve tried to do, again, is copy nature and get the leaf slightly sheltering the fruit, or acorn. The sequence has got to be right, and the acorn is always farther down the branch, not near the top of the branch. So it’s among the last things to go on the branch. | |
| 4. Weld it onto the others.
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| 5. Finish the weld and scarf the end, preparing for the next weld. | |
| 6. We’re welding a much bigger piece to the leaves to form a substantial stem. |
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| 7. I’m completing the weld here. | |
| 8. I cut this final piece off at a slight angle. |
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| 9. The stem is forged in a nice, easy curve and all the welds are finished up. |
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| 10. I have it in a vise using a ball-peen hammer so I can make the stem more authentic looking, as if it has broken off. |
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| 11. Here I’ve got the whole thing in the fire and I try to get an overall
heat because I want to shape the piece as if it were something growing.
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| 12. So I put it in the vise to try to achieve that objective. I twist the leaves with two pairs of tongs, again, to give it a more authentic look. Nature doesn’t have too many straight or square edges. |
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| 13. I put the finishing touches to the shape with a hammer.
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| 14. Now I’ll wire brush it. |
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| 15. And there you have it. | |
| Additional Photo | |
| Additional Photo | |
| Additional Photo | |
| Additional Photo | |
| Additional Photo | |
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