The decorative leaf pattern is one of the finishes that blacksmiths often give to their work to present their work with a more appealing outlook. The decorative leaf is one of the most common decorations on a sheet because it is relatively easy to forge. Likewise, it does not require special tools or exclusive skills.
If you already have some fundamental blacksmithing techniques and skills, then forging decorative leaves will not be a challenging task. The steps below will be of great help in guiding you on how to form a decorative leaf.
Step 1: Get the Right Tools and Materials
The tools and materials needed for this project are not unique from the regular blacksmithing tools. The tools include a forge, hammer, and anvil, hot chisel, tongs of various sizes, and a hardy.
Step 2: Heating and Point Making
Heating is one of the basic steps while forging a leaf. Heat your metal bar to the appropriate temperature before hammering four points on its surfaces. You should, however, ensure that you do this at a precise angle to each other.
Step 3: Hammering
The essence of this first hammering is to create the intersection between stem and leaf as in a plant. You can achieve this by hammering down half on the anvil while hammering the remaining part of the anvil. You can also move ahead to create round edges for your leaf pattern on the steel. After this, you should move forward to hammer out the bulb shape of your leaf.
Step 4: Cutting
Once you are through with hammering out the shape while forging leaf, the next thing to do is to carry out some series of cutting. The first thing to cut out is some veins on the surface of your leaf before cutting off the bar. You start the cutting by hammering a chisel through both sides before breaking it off with tongs.
Step 5: Forging
After cutting, you can continue the process with the use of your tongs by forging your stem out. Forge down the stem into an octagon before hammering round.
Step 6: Forming Ring and PigTail
After forging leaf, the next step is to create a pigtail around every tip to prevent the edges of the metal from being too sharp. Once this is in place, you can proceed to forge a ring from your stem.
Step 7: Clean Up and finishing
The cleanup involves scrubbing while the leaf is still hot without waiting for it to cool. You can make use of a wire brush for this process to make it shine better. Use your desired finishing for the work. One of the most commonly used finishing is the application of little beeswax, while the metal is still warm.
Conclusion
It is safe to say that decorative leaves are one of the most amazing patterns you can have on your steel or metals. The process of forging leaf, as highlighted above, is not very tedious; neither does it require any particular skill. It only requires your interest, the right tools, and some necessary forging skills.