Folded Leaf
Demonstration by Jock Dempsey.
anvilfire.com!
July 21, 1999
guru : |
Tonight's demonstration will be a folded leaf of my own design. However, like many things in blacksmithing, many discoveries are "natural" and others will have found the same method. | |||||
guru : |
Here's is the type of leaf we will be making |
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guru : |
We start the same as a regular leaf. |
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guru : |
For full broad leaves the bar can be pointed and necked down on two sides only. This is faster and has some advantages. | |||||
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guru : |
When demonstrating I call the beginning blank a "bud" the leaf comes from the bud. Turning the square up on the diagonal to flatten gives the leaf a tapered edge and starts wider than working from square. | |||||
guru : |
Up to this point we have been making a standard leaf. | |||||
guru : |
But now we fold the leaf. |
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guru : |
Sometimes I'll fold the leaf plain, but it works nicely to score the leaf one one half with a chisel. | |||||
guru : |
Once folded the scores get impressed in the opposite side making a nice symmetrical pattern. | |||||
guru : |
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Pete : |
nice drawings guru, do you have problems with the stem breaking? | |||||
Youngsmith : |
I was wondering about breakage also | |||||
guru : |
The folded leaf should be the same thickness as the stem. Never had a stem break unless I burned it (I don't know ANYONE that does that :)) | |||||
guru : |
After folding the leaf can be tapered a little more impressing the texture of the sides into each other. At this point you want to keep the "spine" at the base of the leaf the same thickness at the stem an have a clean smooth line at that point |
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guru : |
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guru : |
Now it gets tricky. The leaf is heated again (carefully) and then clamped in a vise with smooth jaws. Since the leaf is tapered it helps to have a worn out vise! | |||||
guru : |
You want to grip just the "spine" of the leaf and open it with a chisel. Sometimes this takes a second partial heat. | |||||
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guru : |
After opening the leaf it can be "cupped" on the step of the anvil so that there is a little upward curve to the sides. | |||||
guru : |
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guru : |
From then on it is much the same as any leaf. You want to give it a little "life" by putting some natural curves in it. | |||||
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Youngsmith : |
what size stock do you like use? | |||||
guru : |
This leaf is from 1/2" (13mm) leaf00 | |||||
Pete : |
the central vein looks kinda like Lewton-Brain's fold forming. | |||||
guru : |
Its that type of effect but it is not due to stretching out of plane. | |||||
guru : |
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guru : |
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guru : |
The tricky part is not folding the point. I tend to over taper. | |||||
abear : |
would letting the point stick out of the vice jaws a quarter or so keep it open? | |||||
guru : |
Since the leaf tends to be tapered the vise doesn't grip the point hardly at all. | |||||
Ntech : |
How long does it take you to do one and what is the cost? | |||||
guru : |
Hmmm, time only about 15-20 minutes tops. Been so long I'm not sure what I'd have to charge. . . | |||||
dimag : |
Is it important for the point to have the same thickness as the rest?I tend to thin out the points too much. | |||||
guru : |
The point on the sample is very thin compared to the stem and the spine. |
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Pete : |
ever tried Corten? Steel rusts fast here on the coast. | |||||
grant : |
Corten's hard to find in anything but sheet. Might have some 1/4" sheared into strips, I guess | |||||
guru : |
Leaves for indoor work can be quite thin. Leaves for outdoor work should be quite robust. Thin sections tend to disappear! If I were making these for outdoors I'd do them in stainless. | |||||
guru : |
With stainless its best to work piece by piece. Then the assembly isn't so hard to deal with. Most of the stainless I've done was left black except on a few pieces that had brushed highlights. | |||||
Ntech : |
What size stock do you use? | |||||
guru : |
The body of the sample leaf is about 2" long and was forged from 7/16" square. 1/2" is easier to get enough mass from. | |||||
R-L : |
how small a leaf would be practical this way guru? | |||||
guru : |
SMALL is a good question. I saw some miniature fireplace tools with a pineapple twist 1/8" across going into a 1/32" pigtail. . . | |||||
Pete : |
How do you passivate a big piece of stainless...say a gate? | |||||
grant : |
just don't worry about it. you'd distort the heck out of it | |||||
guru : |
I know a smith in Miami that does tons of aluminum work for beach houses. | |||||
guru : |
The aluminum is forged and scrolled but the welding is all TIG and then hand filed. | |||||
