Something Else Different

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

This is not a strange piece of jewelry, but a hand made copper fish. I am making an elaborate weather vane , with a large bass about to bite a minnow on a hook. There is also a school of small fish swimming away from the bass. The arm of the vane is a fishing rod and reel. All parts will be hand wrought copper and brass. I will use stainless steel for the fishing line.

The fish and other items are three dimensional and will be be raised from sheet copper. I took some photos and though you folks might like to see how such a thing is done. I will post more shots on this thread as the project completes. I get around $700 for one of these, but this one is a Christmas present for my friend.

It is pretty basic to make a minnow as a plain two piece fish, and engrave the fins in the body after assembling the two sides. All that you do is raise the two shapes, flatten the rims, and after adjusting them to mate, solder them together.

I go a bit beyond that in some small fish, and way beyond that on the big main fish.

I will show the process in five photo groups.

Cut out the two sides
Chisel in the fin and detail lines with tools made from broken files.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Next we start to shape the sides.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Now you start raising the centers, and shaping the sides. Once that is done. you pull up the bottom fins and roll under the belly. Then you start bending in the edges to get it all fairly flat.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Now you start adjusting the two sides until they match. Then sand/file everything until it is flush. After all is right, you solder the two halves together. Don't worry about excess solder, as it will be filed/scraped away later.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Looks good from the side, but there are those big holes left by the fins. Cut some scraps of copper and solder them in the holes.

 

[tryppyr]

Too sweet! Around here (Pacific Northwest) we see a lot of hand wrought salmon on the sides of buildings and bridges, but nothing as complex as what you're describing. Very cool.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Now you clean up the solder, engrave in the fin details, and give it a good satin buffing on a brass buffing wheel. It looks like it could swim away.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Finished.

 

[nick425]

Very cool.