Steel Block

I spent some time sanding and polishing my steel block so that when I forge my platinum there are no marks transferred to the platinum.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Polished steel block.

Punches Reflection

The new punches I made I forge and shape into marquise shapes. The Marquise shapes can be paired with my line punch to represent leaves or  used to make patterns. These punches can be used for many different designs and can be enamelled over. Making these punches are going to be very useful as most of my work surrounds the imagery of leaves and plants so I will most likely find multiple uses and designs for the punches. They can also be adjust the punches I have made or make new punches to accommodate my different designs. I have been contemplating using the small marquise shape or something similar as a makers mark.

plants made with punches

Making a tool

I started cleaning up this steel railway sleeper that I can use at home as a surface for forging. The goal was to remove all the rust on the top and sand all the marks off. If there are any marks then while forging the marks will transfer from the steel to the forged metal. I used an angle grinder to remove the rust but it left deep scratches which I have sanded but I think it is still going to take a lot more sanding.

Before and After grinding the rust off the top

Marks after sanding 

The marks from the grinding