Blacksmithing Project - Spiral Key Ring

The spiral is a symbol or shape that occurs all over the place. Even if you don’t notice them everyday, they are there all around you. You will find them within snail shells, Nautiluses shells, spiderwebs, hurricanes, whirlpools, some galaxies (including our own), some plants, different parts of nature, and in Architecture. They are everywhere, big and small!

There are many types of spirals. Most have some kind of mathematical equation associated with it, one of them being the well known Golden Spiral (also known as the Golden Ratio). Some are two dimensional and others are three dimensional. If you want to get a little nerdy with the math, check out Wikipedia.

Spirals have been a symbol within various cultures for thousands of years. Celtics, Native Americans, Greeks…the list goes on and on.

The spiral is used in the arts, jewelry, and clothing such as tie-dye shirts.

What Does the Spiral Represent?

There are many meanings behind the spiral. Some are culture based, others are spiritual. Other meanings are a graphical representation of feelings.

Ever changing seasons
Cycle of life
Evolution and Growth
Change and development
Hypnotism (as shown in cartoons)
Dizziness (as shown in cartoons)
Spiritual development

This is a small list of what the spiral represents. If you want to read more on this topic, I would recommend reading this article from Geoff Ward: “The spiral: the eternal sign of the creative and organising principle at work in the universe“. It is pretty fascinating.

Making the Spiral Key Ring

Small projects like these spiral key rings can be a bit of a challenge because they are small. Unlike larger pieces where you are using larger/thicker steel, these smaller projects use smaller material which can burn quicker in the forge and also cool down much faster when they make contact with the cold steel face plate of the anvil. Because they are small, if you are using a coal forge, don’t lose your work in the coals.

Techniques Used:

This is a good introduction project to blacksmithing. A couple basic yet necessary techniques are introduced here, including:

Tapering
Curling
Drilling
Hot cutting

Suggested Materials:

1/8″ to 1/4″ round stock, start with approximately 24″ long so you can hold on to it without tongs. It will be cut down to length later.
1″ key ring

Suggested Tools:

Hammer
Anvil
Tongs for round stock
Drill bit and drill
Center punch
Wire brush or wire wheel

How to make the spiral

The spiral is a design that has a few different variations and is very commonly used in blacksmithing. The most common shape closely represents the form of the golden spiral, where the middle portion gradually spreads further apart from the previous row of the spiral. You can find this shape in decorative iron work, such as stair railing systems. Another form you see occasionally is a very tight form, such as that shown for this project. This form is more commonly found in jewelry, such as necklaces, or as a key ring.

1. Start by rounding the tip and then forming a taper. Rounding the tip and/or using heavier hammer blows helps in preventing what is called fish lips.

Problem:
Fish Lips – Also known as “fish mouth” and could also be called a “cold shut”. This occurs at the end of a bar where the outer layers of the steel begin to fold over and/or crack due to the inner steel not moving fast enough when hammering. This happens most when tapering to a sharp point. I have heard that this can be caused by not striking the metal hard enough, which does not force the inner steel to move outwards.

Solution:
In my experiences, I have found that making the end of the steel rod round by hammering prior to tapering helps prevent the fish lips. You can also try harder hammer blows forcing the inner steel to move at a faster rate.

Fix the Fish Lips you created:
You can either cut off the tip and try again. Or, you can file or grind it off. How ever you decide to do it, just be sure to get rid of it so it doesn’t cause you issues later.

2. Start the curl over the edge the anvil.

3. Rotate the stock 180 degrees and start the curling.

4. You will sometimes have to hammer from different angles to keep the curl curling, rather than flattening it.

5. Repeat the hammer blows from all facets of the curl to make it curl around itself. Light hammer blows typically work fine here.

6. Occasionally rotate the stock 180 degrees and then hammer it over the side of the anvil to adjust the angle for curling.

7. Tighten up the curl at various stages to close up any gaps that may have formed.

8. Keep curling until you are satisfied with the size. Use a cut off tool to cut the stock to length. You can also use a hack saw or other cutting tool.

10. Reheat the tip and reform it to be a bit flatter.

11. While the steel is still red hot, finish the curling.

12. Each curl should be tight fitting as shown.

13. Use a center punch to mark the hole location. I recommend using a hold down so the working piece doesn’t go flying on you.

14. Mount it in a vice and drill a hole large enough for the key ring to go through. You can also punch this hole, but I elected to drill it so that the shape isn’t deformed from the metal moving during the punching process.

15. Clean it up with a wire wheel or wire brush.

16. I recommend adding a finish to it to prevent rusting. Most finishes require the metal to be heated first. Put it in the forge and bring it to a black heat. The heat allows the grains in the steel to open a bit allowing the finish to penetrate further into the metal.

Term
Black heat – This is a heat that is not noticeably red. It is still very hot and cannot be touched with bare hands without causing burns. Use caution around material that is cooling and tools that were in contact with hot material as they may still have a black heat.

17. A finish I like to use is 50/50 mixture of paint thinner and boiled linseed oil. This is applied when the metal is at a black heat. Just brush it on lightly with a cheap brush. This finish will blacken it a bit.

18. To give it a little extra blackness to it, I hold it over the hot coals in the forge to burn the finish on a little more.

18. Let it cool for a bit and then use a shop cloth or some kind of rag and rub it clean.

20. Add your key ring and there you have a cool spiral key ring that can be enjoyed for many years.

Here is another variation of this style you can try:

So there you have it. A pretty simple blacksmithing project that is a good one to do for practicing tapers and scrolling. You can also make these into necklaces instead of key rings for a viking style jewelry.

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.

Blacksmithing Project – Spiral Key Ring