Forging a heavy candelabra - Blacksmithing
This heavy candelabra is one I’ve been thinking about for several month and thought it might make a good demo for the upcoming NWBA conference. The reality is that this would be overly ambitious for the time allowed. But this will be the inspiration for a design that should better suit the time, tools and conditions at that event.
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Blacksmithing and related activities can be hazardous. These videos are not a substitute for competent professional instruction. Your safety is your sole responsibility. Always use appropriate safety equipment including eye and ear protection when working in the shop. Follow manufactures safety guidelines for the use of all equipment. In the event something shown in one of these videos seems unsafe, it is up to you to make the appropriate changes to protect yourself.
Crazy how some modern people can look at a candle holder like that and not see all the amazing talent it takes to make such an item. I guess when everything is mass produced, throw away, hallow, welded junk they know nothing else. Plus they have never tried to make anything other than toast in the morning. Ok… rant over. Absolutely amazing!
Professor Plum in the library with the Switzer candlestick
Said with an Aussie accent, “That’s not a candlestick. This (whips out John’s piece) is a candlestick!”
John, I was just at the California Blacksmith Associations Spring conference and spent a lot of my time talking to blacksmiths of all ages. It was amazing how often your channel popped up in our conversations. An older gentleman I shared a forge with was telling me that he loves to watch your videos, and that he's always learning from you. You've certainly made an impact, and if you ever find yourself wanting to come to California I'm sure that the CBA would love to have you as a guest demonstrator.
I love how every time I watch your videos, at least three times I yell "ooooooooooo" at learning some amazing new nuanced trick that only your experience can teach. And at least once per video I"m like "So THAT'S what that's for..."
This is awesome! Get a lot of compliments on the door knocker you sold me. Them holdfasts are doing fantastic as well! 🍻
Glad you like them!
This is kind of thing that imperfections make it PERFECT and UNIQUE!
Wonderful project. I’m about six months into blacksmithing, I look forward to your videos. I learn something every time.
Glad you enjoy them!
Mate, that truly is a thing of beauty. Nice job.
Very nice piece! Love the look of the heavy bar. If there is one thing that has stuck with me from watching your videos is always wear your safety glasses. I never did and now I do all the time as soon as I walk in the door, and it’s saved injury multiple times. Great work and great advise as always👍
Fantastic Candleholder that you built John. Very interesting to see all the steps you went through to come up with this work of Art. Thanks for sharing this long version, it was awesome. Fred.
Glad you enjoyed it
As always... simply stunning and always inspiring!
that was one of the first blacksmith secrets...a lot of people assume we are marking centres for slots and so on, which you can do ...but not if you want it accurate. its a great build and as for knocking it off the table you would need a savannah cat or bigger so pretty unlikely unless you have a Rottweiler that likes climbing on your table lol I have never used a power hammer and hopefully my health will stay good enough that I dont need anything similar. I do rely on other things but thats part of what blacksmithing is about for me, it's finding a way to do it without going electric...I'm also not trying to make money doing it which helps Brilliant share John
Not having to worry about the time a project takes to meet a financial goal can give you real freedom in your work
Great project and excellent work, John! Thank you for making this demo.
Always a pleasure to see your work, sir. Thank you for sharing.
Excellent video John. Good for weight training in a blackout 😀
Excellent. If the consciousness of a blacksmith was materialized into a 3D object... It'd definitely look something like that.
My niece says it looks like an old timey Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast. We both love it. Excellent work as always.
absolute beauty! Thanks for the years of knowledge, John.
Inspiring, great work as always. The style you created was very medieval looking. Love it
Thank you so much 😀
I've been watching your videos for a good while now, and I think this might be my favorite thing I've seen you make so far. Fantastic job, it's just beautiful, I hope you're really pleased with it, I think it looks great!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
it looks so well constructed, the rivets are hardly visible. I really love the black scale look on this piece
Loved it. Thanks John. 😃
super nice..awesome. thanks. ..Black Art Forge..
Very nice, power tools are definitely the way to go
Hey john, just be careful not to leave it out in the study when Colonel Mustard is around :)
Does it show our age that we understand that reference.
Beautiful. I would love to have a talent like yours
Wow, thank you
Another great video! That is a stout candle holder. I'm hoping to get to come see your demo next month, but I'm not sure I'll be able to make it. Funds are kinda tight right now. Thanks for sharing this great project. 👍⚒️🔥
An Excellent peice of work and craftsmanship.
Thank you
This is a really cool project!
Very nice candle holder. It has a great shape. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.🙂🙂
Thanks for watching!
Wow, This is a beauty. Thanks for your educational video.
My pleasure!
A very inspirational design! Great job. This could be that basis for a whole number of variations. Thanks for sharing
I think it will be if i can commit the time t it. I already have several related ideas
@@BlackBearForge when I first saw this I envisioned a left hand & right hand pair with low to high candle placements. I look forward to see what you come up with. Having enough time is what I think all creative people struggle with!
Great job. Thank you 😊
Lovely work. Sometimes instead of the round finished rivet in the cup, there will be a pointed iron rod of about an inch on which a tall candle can be impaled so not to topple over. Imperfections or being slightly asymmetrical only add to the charm of a hand forged object.
I've never had mush luck with the spike idea, seems like the candles frequently crack. I wonder if old candles were softer
@@BlackBearForge you are right , especially if the candle is on the thin side. Never had that problem with thicker candles of about 3 inches or more in diameter.
That candelabra has a great look John!
Awesome.
That looks like a lot of work
Wonderful!!!
Really nice work. It’s plenty heavy!! Thanks for sharing John!
I have discovered using a dimmer switch with my hand grinder wire brush. Makes wire brush much easier to control. Great video.
I use a variable speed unit for the same reason
Yep, and some rotary wire brushes are not rated for the full rpm of an angle grinder.
Looks great, John. I can't wait to see the next version.
Home defense grade candle holder!
So nice
Great vid and candelabra !! for the show demo one, could you use the same main bar for the center then split it three way at the branch to form the trident? if you did the same threaded tenons for the cups but let the ends of the tenons come up to a point you could use a cone monkey tool to lock the cup in place as this would tighten up and push down the tenon at the cup just like you did with the one you made but it would leave the spike tapering up, this could then be twisted into a cork screw to allow the more secure fitting of any size candle
Hey J9hn: Great video! The only thing I would do different would be to rotate the base 45° to put the corners in line with the plane of the arms for better stability.
Try making a similar plate for the large pillar candles with simple short tri pod legs. I'd be a short holder for huge pillar candle for the demo.
Great idea!
Gorgeous project! A terrific design and terrific execution.
Thank you for the video! I'll be at the northern Rockies meet up in May and Johnstown in June. I hope you can make it I'd love to meet you I person
Looks great, I would have used regular rivet's but I'm into that style look but either way is good and that definitely looks like a toe buster lol
Here we go...Love to see this kind work.
Great work! Like to see the kind or power hammer /full shop work out by a professional smith. The use of heavy stock and solid bar increases the power of esthetic design. Inspires me to think of making a three light candelabra with forge welded and twisted 1/4 inch bar.
Just heard today that the ABANA conference could really use 40 more registrants to break even for the event.
Beautiful job John. Heavy Duty.
Thanks 👍
German torque: “goodantite” Close attention to your process allowed me to pick up techniques I did not know. The funny thing is, they were probably things you didn’t even know would be informative but are.
Thanks. Thats the reason I don't like explaining too much,, people only pay attention to whats being talked about and miss some of the other details.
I would buy that
You do very nice work, John. Thanks for the great video! BTW, I just bought a Vevor 132lbs anvil. Just now making a stand for it. I'm really interested on seeing how well this anvil performs. I have 2 90lbs anvils also. One I take to rendezvous, for demos, & the other I keep in my garage. One's a Trenton & the other is an Acme.
I hope it works well for you
@@BlackBearForge Thank you... We shall see...
Very nice. I will try something smaller and work until I like it even if I need to start over several times.
Kool John your the man
38:55 problem solving. :D
When I grow up I want to be a black smith too. I'm 47.
Everyone should check out the "Blacksmith Gathering" show in... Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania May 16th-19th 2024
Guessing 125yrs ago the best Craftsman "Smiths" refined their work to look machine made. Now we look for handmade inclusion 😊 💚🌵☘️
Beautiful work, again! Now for the difficult question...isn't your chisels with a handle considered a fuller of some type?
While it looks similar a fuller isn't sharp like a chisel. There are lots of handled tools including fullers, chisels, swages, flatter, punches and set hammers
@@BlackBearForge Thank you for clarifying that for me. BTW I love your work!
Beauttifull
A mission look or as presented a SouthWestern, Arizona style. Too bad it is not likely to end up on Esty.
This one won't make it to Etsy, Janet won't part with it, but if I make more similar pieces they would be on the new website.
Try asking around at the demo, and see if someone will be a striker
There will be no shortage of willing strikers.
Awesome work as always Mr John I have a question about the tool that you used with the candle cups and the sledge block how did you make it
The round end was just dished in the swage and the rest is welded up from mild steel
I think I am going to have to make one when I get my swedge block
Sorry I can't spell today swage block
I enjoyed this one! Personally I like the power tools! You mentioned that you had about 20 hours in this piece? I curious if this would is a sellable item. I am curious what others think about this? I am sure there are many who would like to purchase it but what would they be willing to pay for it? My thought is one would not be able to produce it at shop rates for an average person could afford? What do you all think?
I think salability all depends on the market. While I plan to keep this first one, if I make more they would be priced in the $2,000 range. My current customer base probably wouldn't be interested, but eventually I might find the right buyer. I can see something like this in a high end gallery for several times that much
Beautiful work as usual. You mentioned that subscribers don't like to see that much power hammer work, but prefer work at the anvil. I saw a video somewhere that a smith was holding a large piece on the anvil with two others pounding the piece with what appeared to be sledge hammers. Is that something you could replicate in a video to show that a smith can forge a large piece without a power hammer, but with a couple of friends who can wield a sledge?
I have shown some work with smith and striker in other videos, but I don't have anyone i can regularly count on as a striker. There is a good chance i will have some video from the demo in May working with a striker.
@@BlackBearForge Thanks
Why not a split bar style holder. I've noticed teaching or demos, whatever time is available do a project that takes half that time because you're likely to talk the other half the time.
Hey John, what countersink bit are you using?
No idea, I just order by size from McMaster Carr, they don't usually give brand options
@BlackBearForge Thanks, I'll see what they have. Struggling to find one's that last.
What brand of countersink bit do you use?
I don't know. I order from McMaster Carr and they don't specify brands, just specs.
John, the “Chisel hammer “ you’re using the cold cut with, what type of steel is it made of? 80CRV?
Probably S7. But thats one I made years ago before i started marking the steel type on the tool
@@BlackBearForge ty
I learned from watching bladesmiths that they lose 50% or more of the material to scale when making pattern welded billets. About how much material do you lose on projects like this?
“Back in my day we opened the shutters during the day to allow for God’s given light to enter. Candles were highly valued and best saved for milking the livestock in the early hours before the sun had risen or for the winters when it weren’t to stay out long and windows remained closed for sake of cold draft. We had the candle holder on the wooden table at our eatin’ area, and there was one in the barn above the milking stools. Aside from the two we felt it was suitable to hold a candle by hand and with a portion of starch fabric catch any wax what would be wasted” ~a quote from Mary Beth Aldrich. Just kidding totally made up