This vintage glass jar with a metal handle is a quite simple blacksmithing project that does not take much time to make. You will only need a nice little glass jar, a couple of metal rods, and a few old coins. You could use it as a tea light candle holder, for storing nuts, candies, and other small items, or just as home decor.

How to decorate a jar with metal

Materials you will need:

• Glass jar (height 10.0 cm, diameter 8.0 cm)
• 1 mm steel sheet 10.0 x 10.0 cm
• 5.0 mm black mild steel round bar (1.0 m)
• 5 old coins
• 1.0 mm wire

Tools you will need:

• Ball peen hammer
• Club hammer
• Long nose plier and flat plier
• Sheet metal cutting scissors
• Gas torch gun
• MIG welder
• Mini drill machine
• 2 metal cylinders to form the bottom piece (the same diameter as the jar) and the top (slightly smaller)

As the first step, I cut out a 10.0 cm diameter circle for the bottom piece. I put it on an iron cylinder and formed the edges with a club hammer. Then I took a 5.0 mm metal rod, heated it with a gas torch gun, and forged the handle. To attach the handle to the jar, I made another top part from the same metal rod using a smaller metal cylinder. Then I connected both parts.

In the next step, I decorated the middle part of the jar. Using the same rod I made a spiral shape around the jar. It helped me connect the bottom part with the top and gave me more surface to attach some blossoms as decoration.

Finally, I made three blossoms for the middle part and a tiny one for the handle. For that, I used some old coins. It is a great metal alloy and adds a slightly different color. So I forged the coins and shaped petals. Then I drilled a 1.0 mm hole in the middle of each blossom and attached them to the spiral using a 1.0 mm wire. Done!

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Not so long ago, I decided to forge a steel rose for my mom. I imagined creating an elegant, small, not heavy rose with cute rose petals. It was my second attempt to make a rose more realistic and alive.

How to hand forge steel rose

Materials you will need:

• 1 mm steel sheet
• 6 mm black mild steel round bar

Tools you will need:

• Plasma cutter
• Oxy/Acetylene torch
• MIG welder
• An angle grinder
• Ball peen hammer, cross peen hammer, and club hammer
• Flat chisel (small)
• Long nose plier and flat plier
• Steel brush
• And a little bit of your heart

In the first step, I cut the paper stencils to make petals, sepals, and rose leaves. The paper stencils below show the size, quantity, and shape of the rose petals and the size and shape of the rose leaves for the stem.

I used a plasma cutting machine to cut a 1 mm steel sheet, which helped me cut fast and smoothly on the cutting lines. I cut 3 pieces of shape no. 1 (7 cm diameter) and 1 piece of shape no. 2 (6 cm diameter) to make blossom petals, 1 piece of shape no. 3 to make sepals and 1 piece of shape no. 4 to make the leaf for the rose.

Using an oxy/acetylene torch and a cross-peen hammer, I flattened blossom petals and rose leaves from both sides with a cross peen hammer going from the center of each petal to the sides to get more realistic marks. Then I used a flat chisel to mark the central lines of each petal (shape no. 1 and no. 2) and sepal (shape no. 3). The rose blossom petals and sepals (shape no. 1, no. 2 and no. 3) should have a cup shape before attaching them to the stem.

I flattened the stem of the rose to give a shape and prepared to assemble the petals using an MIG welding machine. The next step was to assemble the blossom. I started with 1 piece of shape no. 3 (sepals), then added 3 pieces of shape no. 1 and 1 piece of shape no. 2. Using an oxy/acetylene torch, and a long nose plier, I formed the blossom petals into one piece. I started forming petals from the middle: first, I formed shape no. 2 and then continued with shape no. 1, etc., until I was happy with the blossom’s shape.

The last part of the rose – rose leaf. I flattened the leaf from both sides and rounded the stems the best I could. Then, I attached it to the rose stem with a MIG welding machine. Finally, I painted the whole rose with a clear coat to prevent rusting.

It took me about ten hours to make the rose, and I am quite happy with the result.

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This metal wall hanger with a poppy flower is one of my latest small blacksmithing projects. I wanted to make something practical, that would be not only a piece of home decor but also a useful item. It took me about eight hours to make it and I am quite happy with the result.

To make the hanger I used a 5.0 mm metal plate that I roughly cut with a plasma cutting machine. The length of the plate is 35.0 cm and the width is 5.0 cm. Then I sanded the surface to remove any rust and make it shiny.

All seven nails are handmade and they have a unique shape. To make the nails I used a round 6.0 mm steel rod. To attach the nails to the prepared plate, first, I drilled seven evenly distributed 5.0 mm holes. Then I inserted the nails into the holes and welded them to the plate from the back side. After that, I polished and smoothened out the surface.

To fix the hanger to the wall, I drilled two holes on each end. The four smaller handmade nails are used to attach the hanger to the wall.

The poppy flower is made out of a thinner 1.0 mm metal sheet. First, I cut out a circle and drew six petals. Then I cut them out and gave more texture to each petal. The effect turned out very subtle: the thin lines on the surface reminds me of a real flower. Then I started to shape each petal using heat and a ball-peen hammer. The middle of the flower, that resembles the head of a nail, I made separately and welded to the hanger.

To attach the poppy flower to the hanger I used a 2.0 mm steel wire. One end of the wire I welded to the back of the hanger plate and the other end I curled to give it an interesting and light look. As the last step, I decided to paint the whole hanger with a clear coat to prevent rusting.

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