Behind the Scenes : Forging Metal Leaves

Why I Chose a Leaf-Forging Course

I've been enjoying experimenting with forging flowers recently, so making leaves from scratch seemed like a great extension to this to develop my skills and hopefully a create range of beautiful, nature inspired items we can sell locally.

Though I know I can make some pretty cool stuff on the forge especially scroll wise, being a self taught blacksmith, I knew there would definitely be some major gaps in my knowledge, so I decided to take a course with a skilled, experienced blacksmith rather than following you tube videos.

I went up to Edinburgh to Ratho Byres forge – it’s a huge place with a lot going on, run by Pete Hill and his wife Shona Johnson. The team of artist blacksmiths were creating some stunning hand forged garden arches for an estate in Aberdeen when I arrived.
  

From Bar Stock to Leaf Shape 3 different ways

After a quick tour, Pete went slowly through every stage of creating a leaf from a piece of 10mm square bar – I then had to remember and do it myself. Straight away he picked up on some tension in my arm, got me to loosen off and suddenly I found everything so much easier as I was taking power from the swing of the hammer rather than just the strength of my own arm. And that’s the major benefit of taking a course rather than looking at youtube, I suspect that will save me a lot of effort long term – 5 minutes in and it’s already well worth the trip out!

I did a reasonable job with my first leaf, though it took ages and all the different stages felt like a lot to remember. We then moved on and looked at a few other leaf making techniques, all with their own pros and cons:

1. Using a fly press to draw out and create extra width on a leaf, plus forging the distinctive shape of this lovely oak style leaf. It’s a much quicker way of working and very satisfying to use. We have a fly press in the workshop but it’s not bolted down so we’ve never actually used it – something which I now intend to rectify asap!  

2. Using a power hammer -  an unbelievably quick way to make a thick bit of metal very thin! I had loads of fun using this they really area a magnificent piece of machinery, but as we don’t have one back at home, I didn’t want to focus on this as it is not a skill I’ll be able to use back at the Black Fox workshop. Perhaps one day?

3. Working with laser cut blanks to take them from looking like something created by a machine to something created by nature. We used loads of little jigs made from offcuts of round bar and forged balls, to give these machine cut a really natural feel.

What I Found Harder Than Expected

I think the most difficult thing was using a chisel to create the veins in leaves. Pete made it look so easy, but I struggled getting the chisel to line up with the previous line, so I felt mine looked a bit messy. It's definitely something I can practice in my own time though.

Towards the end of the day I had another couple of goes at making the leaf from scratch, with no instruction. The first started perfectly but then I forgot an important stage later on, the second I remembered everything but the shape just wasn’t quite as nice as the first. 

As I worked to put the finishing touches on my leaf, I was really able to see how the slightest alteration in angle of hammer blow can send the metal in a different direction, for better or for worse. This definitely needs more practice for perfection and speed, but I felt like I made so much progress in just a few hours.

What I took away from the day

Other than now knowing how to forge leaves from a bit of square bar using several different methods, I’ve also come away with a better hammering technique plus a deeper understanding of how the slightest differences in hammer blows can make such a difference to the shape of the piece I am forging. There is a lot of trial and error to come, and I’m looking forward to practicing to the point where I can make it look as easy as Pete does!

I've also come away with several ideas for simple jigs I can make in my own workshop to help shape my work, and forging techniques on our fly press that will save a lot of time and energy.

Being largely self taught, it was great to work alongside someone with so much knowledge and experience, online videos will only get you so far. Pete & Shona's work is incredible so was inspiring to spend the day with them, both from a point of improving my skills but also connecting with other Blacksmiths.

One thing I love about my job is that I am always improving my skills both as a designer and a metalworker. I had so much fun at Ratho Byres forge, and came away feeling like I had achieved loads, plus excited for what is to come! Today I'm back at the Black Fox workshop on our own forge, seeing what I can remember... I'm looking forward to seeing Black Fox's style evolve to include more hand forged elements.