Tiki dudes

I was out making buckles this morning and decided to forge out a few of these.  They are so much fun to make.  I'm going to use this motif for a bunch of new products...

Fireplace screen in its new home

Doing Some Stamping

I have gotten a bunch of orders in lately for custom stamped buckles.  I was out in the shop today stamping a customer's initials into a buckle, so I thought I would do a few others while I was at it.

For the George Orwell fan:

This is my flypress.  It's such an awesome machine.  I use it all the time.

I have a ton of different jigs and tools I've made for it.  This is the setup I use for stamping.

Here is the setup I use for bending the buckles into shape.

It's pretty safe.  I've only had one accident with it so far.  A few years ago, I got my finger caught in between the handle and a ring I was bending and my nail popped off like the press was opening a can of soda.  At the ER the nurse kept asking, "Are you okay?  You look pale." and I was all "Really?  Well, I suppose it could have something to do with the fact that I just smashed my finger in an industrial press."  Good times.

Fireplace screen done

Finished this up a while ago.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, especially the rivets.  Now come get this out of my garage, Mom!  Just kidding, Mom. 

Fireplace screen almost done!

Finished it up last week.  Just needs to be sandblasted and then I'll heat and close the rivets.  Even the rivets are handmade.  Should be pretty sweet when it's done!