#KEY HOLDER STEEL HOW TO#
This is partly because I wasn't sure how to long to make the first one, so I made it while it was still connected to the entire length of the steel rod, then I cut it off after it was fully shaped.
My hooks did not turn out very equal, each one is quite different in size and curve. In my case, i had 1/8" rivets, and a 1/8" drill bit, so to make them fit I just rotated the drill in the hole slightly to remove a little more material. Using that punch mark, drill a hole slightly larger diameter than the diameter of the rivets we have. When the hooks are exactly how we want them, take a center punch and mark a point in the center of the flat section of the hook. I had to do this once and start the hook bend over again. If the results are unsatisfactory, heat up as much of the hook as possible and use the horn to bend it back open, then hammer it back to fairly-straight by rotating it and hitting it against the face of the anvil. Heat both sides of the bend and continue bending, using the horn of the anvil to get a gradual bend and not a sharp "kink" in the metal. You will probably only get a 90 degree bend out of it before it cools too much. Holding the rod so that one of the flat faces of the end is facing upwards, place the rounded tip on the anvil and strike the rod at the heated portion so that it bends. The rod should be glowing from about the first 25% of the length to 50% of the length. Take the blowtorch, and heat the rod about at about 1/3 of the length from the non-flattened end. First, grip the hook tightly in a pair of pliers, or use a pair of locking pliers to make sure the piece doesn't get away. Right now, the hook isn't much of a hook. When the shape is the way you want it, drop the hook into the bucket of water to quench it. Remove it from the vice and while holding the flattened portion in pliers, hammer the end of the hook so that it becomes rounder and much less sharp, with no sharp snags sticking out anywhere. Strike downward on the top of it a few times, and it should become slightly squished and slightly wider. Heat the tip using the blowtorch to cherry red. Grip the flattened portion of the hook in the vice, vertically, so that we can soften the sawed-off tip. Take a hacksaw and saw through the rod at about 3.5" from the now-flattened end. Now, clamp the rod horizontally in the vice. You will immediately see it flatten into a flat-head screwdriver type of shape. When its a bright red, place it quickly on the anvil and hammer the tip of it firmly so it begins to flatten out. Wear gloves as this rod will get hot over time.
Start by taking one end of the rod that I bought and heating it to cherry-red with a blowtorch. To attach them, I wanted to hammer the end of the hook partially flat, then drill a hole through it and rivet it in place on the fish. Then, file the corner to remove any remaining excess.įor this key holder, I decided to make my own hooks. To cut out tight spots, snip into them from both directions, and when the excess is held on only by a tiny bit in the corner, grab the excess and twist it with needle-nose pliers. Let the excess metal curve upwards as you cut along the outline. Just inch along using the middle of the blades to cut the metal. When using tin snips, its a good idea to not ever close the jaws fully, as this tends to bend the metal at the tip of the jaws. Now, carefully cut along the outline of the shape we want. Chomp roughly around the fish shape, freeing it from the rest of the metal sheet.
Using the tin snips, we are going to cut out the basic shape of the fish. Tape the fish cutout to the steel, and use the sharp nail or other metal implement to scratch the outline of the fish shape onto the metal. Now that our pattern is cut out, we need to tape it down so that we can score the metal around the perimeter of the shape, so we have a design on the metal to follow with our tin snips.
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