$495



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2015 11:37PM by barnespneumatic.

I like the lion motive Gary

Thank You Rugar.

I'm glad you like it. Thanks for commenting.

Gary

So that lion has an awful lot of detail and its a different color . You must have soldered that on top of the expedition case after all the peening was done . It has an embossed look to it and I can't see you hammering on it after the lion .
When you do the hammering , do you go in any type of pattern ( circle ) or is it random ?

Thanks
Kurt

Excellent! Great Questions Kurt.

I just had a rain/buggy break, on the shop patio. Gotta get back to machining. Ill look forward to answering next break.

Good observations

Gary

Hi Kurt,

The Lion is repouse' work. (The design and shape is pushed up from the underside of the metal). I carved the negative of the Lion into hardened tool Steel. I then took a striking of that negative image, in Copper. Now you have a positive reverse of the carved Lion. After being fitted to the contours of the case, I prepare, and soldered the Lion atop the Hammered Case Dome. Of course, that's it's own story, so as to keep the solder from flowing all over the case, and yet solder the edges totally.

When hammering, one of the most difficult things to do is to make the pattern turn out "random". Double strike, and you have a "Hot Spot" that your eye will draw to like a magnet. Hammer three in a row, and the eye sees a pattern. Also, texture this deep moves the metal around. So; if you hammer in a circle, you will get a metal cup. If you hammer in lines, you get a curved Taco Shell. You'll have to anneal the metal again, and flatten it out ... before you can proceed with creating the domes.

There are sooooo many things that only another metal worker would recognize - as you did - and they are the things that make the finished product special. It's a bit like Japanese Swords. The more you know - the more you appreciate. Without knowing how hard it is to make something like this - it's easy to say ... "that's nice". Instead of "WOW!" As you know - the easiest thing to do when making one of these cases, would be to ruin it.

Thanks Kurt,
Gary

Got to tell you Gary, even your signature/logo looks cool.

Interesting factor ... look at the inside .... see all the small circles? Those are the ripple effect from each hammer strike on the other side,

I'll have to take closer more detailed pics. There is sooo much detail you can't pick up here. The Lion's Mane has individual hair texture ... it's not just the large texture you might think here. Also ... consider ... when carving the die plate ... the deepest cuts are going to be the highest detail standing on the design. That means the Eyebrow area is a very deep cut into the tool steel - and yet it will create a very high percentage of the perception of the Lion. Same with the Wrinkled Muzzle and the Eye.

These cuts are done 1 to 1. Meaning ... NO Pantograph Mill - NO engraving Coin die Copy device. Just the cutter and the steel. Hand/Eye co-ordination. Again ... we are so used to looking at things like Coins (where the dies for a Dime are copied from a Plaster Master about three feet in diameter) ... that we just expect perfection - and have no idea when we are looking at sincere art.

Gary

Hi Gary,

Great piece and a lot of work to get it as it is. On the first picture I see some bluish color all over the case, is that a reflection effect from the camera flash?

The details on the lion are unreal and making it out of copper and then soldering it to the original case was a very risky move, but now that it's finished it was worth the effort.

Beautiful piece and totally different than the others before it.

Thanks for showing it to us.

Sorry Julio,

Missed this post.

Yes, the body of the hammered sections are oxidized and look bluish. The rim is mirror bright. There are reasons they should stay in relative balance that way. Top Secret.

It has a very antique effect.

Gary

That's quite the carving job on the lion, can't say that I remember seeing it anywhere else on the site before. Is this one of those 'little bits and pieces' (that took hours and hours to do) that's been sitting around the shop in a dusty box forever, waiting for the right time to incorporate it into a project?

I still can't imagine how you got it soldered to the dome without flowing solder past the edges, the stuff wicks like crazy and always wants to go up or down the pipes well past the actual joints when I do plumbing work. And you'd have to re-polish the splattered flux and crud off the hammer finish afterwards, without rounding off all the edges that make it interesting.

So...would the model for the "glam-rock hair-do" on the lion be anyone we know? Say...back when they were 20-something?

Sean
I was thinkin maybe he puddle soldered it from the inside . I can see a flat on the last inside pic where the Barnes logo is stamped but can't see top inside . Maybe for $475 I could see the backside of the lion ! Hehe

Thanks
Kurt

Now Kurt ....

I could maybe take a pic of that underside for you ... For a little le$$. Haha.

Gary

I just twigged to something in the earlier text.

So...you hammer the finish on a flat sheet and THEN you press it into the dome shape? For some reason I thought that the dome was made by hammering.

I just remembered that you make the cases in a smooth finish too. Sometimes I'm a bit slow on the uptake, I guess.

Nah ... Just have to think about it. What happens when you hammer on a dome? You hammer it into a flat sheet.

That's not just a little tap that makes the concave texture.

I DO hammer the dome to shape, but from the other side.

Thanks for thinking about it.

Gary.

That's what makes you the metalwork artist and me the...uhm...not artist. The only hammering on my dome is when I've had a little too much to drink the night before. Fortunately that's a lot less frequently these days, especially compared to my time back in the Army.

Hi Gary,
I received the pocket case yesterday and I am blown away buy it. The pictures on the site do not do it justice. It is simply a beautiful work of art! It will join the one I bought from you 'years' ago (heck, I can't even remember when that was) as a family heirloom to pass down to the kids. Thanks for the opportunity to own it!
Sincerely,
Jeff

Wonderful to hear!

I'm honored that you consider them to be heirlooms. Thank you Jeff.

Gary