Forged Steel Lily Wall Sconce

steel sheet
3/4" solid steel bars
scrap bronze
cutting torch
wire feed welder
hammer
punches
anvil
MIG welder
welding mask
safety glasses
welding gloves
metal disc sander
white grease pencil
fire pit
tongs

1. Draw a freehand design on a steel sheet with a white grease pencil (figure A):

• Cut out the triangular piece using an oxygen/propane cutting torch.
• Wear appropriate welding safety gear including a welding mask and safety gloves.

2. Sand the edges smooth with a metal disc sander (figure B).

3. Heat the steel piece in a fire pit (figure C) and shape it with a hammer and anvil. Add textures to the steel with the hammer.

4. Fold the steel in half (figure D):

• Use a blunt, round steel punch and a hand hammer to pierce the sconce all the way through about 1 inch away from the centerfold (figure E).

5. Open the steel piece back up (un-fold) and scroll or bend the corners of the sconce (figure F).

6. Lilies:

• Make the lilies with 24 inch length of 5/8 inch or 3/4 inch square solid bar steel and hammer a point on the end of the bar.
• Hammer the steel stem by increasing the length of the bar while at the same time decreasing the diameter of the bar.
• The steel is stretched during the hammering process and made thinner.

7. Once the lily stem is completed, heat the other end of the bar and spread out the steel stretching it widthwise to form each side of the lily (figure G). Form the lily shape with a horn- or cone-shaped end of an anvil (figure H). Cut the flower from its parent bar and gently curve the stem with a hammer to give it grace and elegance.

8. The bronze highlight piece is made from a long, triangle-shaped scrap of bronze, heated up in the fire and hammered into a curved shape.

9. Assemble all the forged steel wall sconce pieces (figure I). Insert the stems of the lilies through the punched hole in the steel sheet and attach them using a MIG welder. Wrap the bronze piece under the flower stems and weld to the sheet.

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