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Blacksmithing Project - Skull Keychain

Blacksmithing Project – Skull Keychain

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Are you looking for a fun, easy and quick project you can make in less than half an hour? This skull keychain is a nice one that meets that criteria and it only requires a few basic tools.

I have just recently started making these skull keychains when one day I wanted to practice different forging techniques and use some punches I have but haven’t used them much, if at all. Making my first one, I felt like I accomplished something cool and was surprised on how easy these were to make. Each one comes out slightly different than the last, which makes them somewhat unique.

Why are we fascinated with the Skull?

Skulls are a unique symbol and have so many different meanings behind them. In many instances, the skull represents something bad, but this isn’t always the case.

We can find skulls just about everywhere we look…on clothing, as tattoos, art, jewelry, graffiti, holiday decorations, household decorations, and so on.

Many people like skulls, but there are probably an equal amount of people who don’t. It definitely might be a personal preference, especially if it isn’t culture based.

Certain traditions play a big part in the symbolism of the skull. You may be familiar with the Mexican holiday Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), which is the celebration and commemoration of dead relatives. This holiday originated back to the days of the Aztecs. It is a celebration rather than a mourning to pay the respects for those they have lost. The skull is a common symbol for this holiday.

Various religions have different spiritual meanings behind the skull, too many for me to know and cover here.

Here are a few possibilities of what the skull symbolizes:

  • Mortality
  • Death
  • Warning and danger
  • Wisdom
  • Strength
  • Life
  • Overcoming fear of death – courage
  • Rebirth

Most of us are very familiar with the skull with cross bones, representing danger or poison. Other variations or uses may represent death, but it could also be a reminder that we are mortal and will one day die. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it could be a reminder to live your life to it’s fullest.

The number of meanings and symbolism’s of the skull seem to go on and on. Here are a couple good sites to read up more about the skull if you are interested in learning a few new things:

The skull and what it may symbolize is actually pretty fascinating.

Let’s get on to the project…

Tool List

There are a few basic tools you will want to use for this project. Below is a list of what I used, but they can definitely be swapped out with something else. Each item is numbered and correspond with the photos below.

  1. Anvil
  2. Hammer
  3. Hold down
  4. Spring Fuller
  5. Cut off tool for the hardy on the anvil
  6. Round punch for the eyes
  7. Large Chisel
  8. Small Chisel
  9. Fuller for the nose
  10. Drill bit or punch just large enough for the key ring go through
1. Anvil
2. Hammer
3a. Hold down (Motorcycle Chain)
3b. Hold down (Blue object that will fit in your pritchel or hardy hole)
4. Spring Fuller
5. Cut off tool
6. Round Punch for the eyes
7. Large Chisel
8. Small Chisel
9. Fuller for the nose
10. Drill bit

Material List

There isn’t much to this material list. The size of material depends on how large or small you want the skull to be. For a key chain, I find the size of metal stock listed below to be very nice as it isn’t too bulky and will allow the key ring to fit nicely in your pocket.

  • 1″ Key Ring (Paid Link)
  • 1/4″ x 3/4″ Flat stock

How to Make the Skull

Making the skull is a pretty straight forward process, yet still may require a few attempts or cleanup to get it right until you get good at it. These are the basic steps I take when making the skulls for the keychains, but keep in mind that this is not the only method to making them.

Heat up the flat stock in the forge to a nice bright orange heat. Place it on edge between the top and bottom of the spring fuller and hammer out the shape until you are satisfied with it.
You may get something ugly like this, but this is where the angle grinder or file comes in handy. There are ways to avoid this, but I wanted to include this to show you that it is easily fixed.
Clean it up so that it is rounded to form a chin.
Reheat the flat stock once again and use a round nosed punch to punch the eyes. You should be able to do this in one heat. If not, heat it up again and continue punching the eyes. I recommend using a hold-down for this process to keep the flat stock steady. Here I am using the motorcycle chain just because I happen to like using it. Any hold-down should work.
Your eyes should look like this when done. Notice how the punch pushed the metal off to the sides giving it more shape? You wouldn’t get this if you drilled the eyes.
Use a large semi-dull chisel for the horizontal portion of the mouth.
Do not cut all the way through. Just cutting under half way through the flat stock should be enough.
Use a small sharp chisel for the teeth. Here I am using a 1/4″ wide chisel. Make three cuts.
Again, don’t cut all the way through. The cuts should be approximately the same depth as the cut for the mouth.
Now is time to make the nose. Here I am using a large blunt fuller. Different sizes will give you slightly different looks in the nose. You can also use specialty chisels that are made and formed to look like a nose, but this one is more easily obtainable and you can make it yourself. Place the fuller at an angle so you are using the edge of it.
Using the fuller at an angle gives you the look of the nose and also pushes the metal into the eyes so that the eyes are no longer round. They resemble more like actual eye sockets.
Use a cutoff hardy if you have one and hammer from the back of the skull so that you don’t mess up the face. If you don’t have a cutoff hardy, you can use a hacksaw or other cutting tool.
Don’t cut all the way through. Use tongs to twist off the skull from the flat stock.
Mount the skull in a vice and use a file or angle grinder to grind down the top of the skull.
Get it to the shape you like and remove any sharp edges.
Use a wire wheel or wire brush to clean it up. Don’t clean up inside the eyes. Leave them filled with the black soot from the fire if you are using a coal forge. I am not sure you will get the black soot with a gas forge, but don’t clean them anyways. This gives the skull some extra depth and realism.
Flip it over and do the same thing with the bottom half. Use tongs as it may still be hot.
Flip it back over in the vice and drill a hole in one of the eye sockets.
Insert the key ring and there you have a cool little skull keychain.

There you have it, a cool little skull keychain for those who enjoy skulls. This was a pretty simple project and will introduce you to a few different tools and a couple basic techniques in forming red hot metal into something cool and useful.

Give it a try and play around with different size metal stock and different punches and chisels. You may find something you like more than this.

Make one or two for yourself, give some away as gifts, or make some to sell. Have fun with them!

Rick Simper has various hobbies, including woodworking, metalworking, composting, and gardening. He is an Architect full time and uses these hobbies to get away from the busy week of Architecture.

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