(first published in The Anvil's Ring, the official publication of the Artists-Blacksmith's Association of North America, Inc. Volune 39, No. 4, Summer 2011) by Karine Maynard
On the technical how-to's of
blacksmithing, I would not consider myself an expert. As I work with
my husband every day in our shop I am learning and as soon as I feel
I've “mastered” anything we are on the next project and I'm
already busy gaining humility.
One skill that I use in our blacksmith
shop, that I actually obtained from my training in the Fine Arts, is
how to use the grid method. I've shared this with other smiths, because I've thought some of you may stop
sweating over your transfer drawing abilities and find this technique
useful. I've read dozens of books on smithing techniques &
watched plenty of videos, but have never seen it referred. I use the
grid method to transfer my sketches onto to my work table, just the
same as I use it when preparing to paint a canvas. In
a nutshell, the grid method involves drawing a grid over your
reference drawing, and then drawing a grid of equal
ratio on
your work surface (or work table). Then you draw the image on your
table, focusing on one square at a time, until the entire image has
been transferred. Once you're finished, you simply ignore the grid
lines on your table (“see through” them), and start working on
laying out your pieces, which will be now be in very accurate
proportion to your original sketch.
In
the case of this arbor, we were commissioned by a local gardening
club. My husband forged and built the frame out of 1” square solid
stock while I assembled vines and layout.
Once
I transfer my sketch to my table, I can measure the lengths of
various round stock to cut. I actually don't use string to measure
what my scroll length will be, but instead roll along a tape measure
like they taught me to do in elementary school with a ruler. With my
shear list cut, we're finally back to the fun stuff of putting the
pieces in the forge to taper & texture each piece with a spring
swage in the air hammer.
As
I complete the rough forging of each component, I lay them out in
pairs on my table (as the arbor has two sides) over the soapstone
guidelines drawn earlier. After all the pieces are textured, I start
bending and fitting them into place, making two of everything.
Traditional techniques in joining can be used or not, but the
options often depend on our clients' budget. You also may notice in
my pictures, that all the actual working on the table will wear off
the soapstone drawing after time, so I always keep a copy of my
original sketch in the shop to refer back to with any questions.
Now
in the case of an arbor, if your sketch is asymmetric (not identical
on both sides, if you drew a central line right down the middle)
you'll have to reverse your image, and start again. My sketch is
indeed asymmetric, so after the first side is assembled, I clear my
table, erase any lines, draw the grid and reverse my sketch, &
start assembly again. You can reverse your sketch easily, by using a
computer program you may have (ex: Photoshop), or you can use your
pencil : a glass table top with light underneath, flip your paper
over & re-trace it.
With
both sides of my arbor assembled, I can slide them over to the frame
and finish the vines that wrap around parts of the frame. They are
all permanently attached at this time to the frame, and I finish my
welding. You may notice our frame has four long posts under the
bottom horizontal. These are 1” square stainless tube steel
extensions for cementing into place on site (a.k.a. “in situ”).
|
The finished Arbor |
Thanks for sharing your work process!
ReplyDeleteYes, thanks! I'm a beginner 'garden art' welder, and this was very helpful and informative.
ReplyDeleteThank you,I really enjoyed it
ReplyDeleteI love this arbor!!! Is it for sale?
ReplyDeleteSchwimm@aol.com
Absolutely gorgeous work! I design upscale authentic period garden environments mostly throughout California. Would love to see more of your unique works of art! Do you have a web site? Thank you, Mark David Levine markdavidlevine.com
ReplyDelete