Dogwood Flower

This piece was inspired by my wife's love for flowers and one of her favorite trees, The Dogwood.
I will be using this design in a tree that I will be making for my wife in the future.

Red Rose

Sorry I haven't had any new posts for awhile but I have been putting in allot of time working on my web site, I hope to get it on line soon.

Here is a picture of a rose that was colored with a steel coloring called Gilder's paste. After the rose is made it gets wire brushed and then the coloring put on, after that dries it gets a clear coat finish to give it a shine and keep it from rusting.

Tiger Lily

The petals and leaves for the tiger lily are cut from 18 gauge steel, they are then heated and hand formed into shape and then welded to a hand forged stem.

Rosebud

Each rosebud is cut from 18 gauge flat steel, then welded to a hand forged stem. Each petal is then heated to a cherry red and hand formed with pliers and tongs to make a delicate rosebud

Rose

My roses are made from 18 gauge steel cut out of flat sheets with a plasma cutter, all the pieces are stacked and welded to a hand forged stem. Each petal is heated to a cherry red and hand formed one at a time with pliers and tongs.

How I make the Dogwood Flower

I cut the rough shape of the dogwood flower out of 18 gauge steel with a plasma cutter, I then heat the piece of metal to a cherry red in my forge, I then use a chisel with the cutting edge rounded off to give each petal of the flower some texture. I then heat the metal again and forge each petal into shape with a hammer and a block of oak wood. I make sure my doors are open and all the fans are on because the smoke gets pretty bad, from the wood burning from the hot metal.Once the flower is close to the right shape, I'll heat it up again and give it all the finishing touches with a pair of pliers and tongs. Once the flower is made,I forge out a stem made from whatever roundstock I have laying around. I then weld the flowers to the stem add some leaves and any other detail I need.Once it is done to where I like it ,I wire brush it and clear coat it to keep it from rusting.