Basket twist handle day 3.

 

Straightening out the mess from last time:

Okay, when we finished on Thursday the handle was a mess. I spent a good part of yesterday morning welding, straightening and adjusting it.

Here is what it looked like when I was finished.

   

Bending the ends:

I still needed to bend the ends but I didn’t want to heat the whole thing to do it.
I went out back and got my plumbers lead melter.
This was what I used to heat metal before I made the forge. It won’t get as hot as the forge but it will heat a smaller area.

Once the end was heated I beat the ends over as close to the basket as I could (not really as close as I wanted).

Here is how that turned out.

They aren’t quite centered and one end is a bit longer than the other but that can be adjusted later.

Making the feet for the handle:

I found a leaf pattern on the web and printed it out. the printer paper is a bit thin so I glued the leaf to some heavy pattern paper before cutting it out.

 

Once the pattern was cut out I transferred it to a piece of flat 1/8” thick metal

and cut them out on the band saw.

The next thing I did was heat up the leaves in the forge and peen them all over to make them look hand forged. I also scribed the vanes in the leaf.

Once I had the leafs peened I drilled four holes in the leaf; three small holes for mounting and a large hole in the center for the handle.

Next I welded the feet to the handle.

Here is how it turned out.

I am not real happy with the result but fortunately this handle was a trial piece to learn how to make a basket twist handle.
On the next one I will do a lot of things different. Maybe eventually I will get one that I like. In the end I have to make three good ones.

You will see it all take place here, so stay tuned.