Etsy Shop for hammeronsteel

Jaunty - A forged bottle opener with Presence

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:56:10 -0500

$44.00
This railroad spike is no layabout. Well, once upon a time it was. In fact, it probably lay around on the tracks for at least a few years before I came along and picked it up. After I took it back to my shop, though, I heated it up and beat the bejesus out of it.

With that not-so-subtle adjustment to its attitude, I turned the railroad spike into a bottle opener with Character. With a capital C. See?

It'll open any bottle with great ease. It'll make you look good doing it. It'll stand right where you leave it, and probably serve as a good deterrent to any hooligans who may have designs on your beer.

I've treated the piece with a linseed oil finish in order to prevent rust, and to give a nice luster to the surface of the steel. As you can see, it's deeply pitted. That's the result of years worth of rust from the time the spike waiting for me to find it. Now, all that rust has been whisked away, and turned into an aesthetically pleasing texture.

Enjoy!

SquaggleSpike - Bottle Opener forged from a Railroad Spike

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:08:02 -0500

$44.00
Of course, every one of my railroad spike openers carries with it a great deal of individual character. This one in particular has a great presence. It perches itself attentively on your bar or at the edge of your kitchen counter. It sits in the hand incredibly comfortably. In fact, despite appearances to the contrary, it sits very nicely in a back pocket. In this way, you can wander around your fancy parties and impress your friends with the size and elegance of your Tool.

Yes, it's true, this bottle opener is a major piece of equipment. It'll withstand pretty much anything you throw at it. Probably, you shouldn't drive a bus over it, but it would probably be fine with a small hybrid.

As a railroad spike, it has already survived many years out in the weather. The evidence of this time outdoors remains in the amazing pitted surface of the piece. After the forging process, I wirebrushed it, and whisked away all that rust. Now, we're left with this amazing finish, and a great set of stories.

I treated the piece with linseed oil in order to prevent the formation of new rust, and also to give it a bit of luster. Now, it's ready to serve you for as long as you care to drink tasty beers.

Enjoy!

Decorative Earring Stand - Aged Organic Iron

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:59:42 -0500

$135.00
After a month of making only railroad spike bottle openers, it was time to make something a little more elegant. This earring stand would be equally at home on top of your dresser at home, or in a jewelry display in a store. It's designed to display both studs and dangly earrings. My understanding is that a stand like this is a whole lot easier to manage than the tangled mess of a jewelry box.

Other than the screen itself, every element of this piece was hand-forged by me. This means that I heated up the steel, and beat it into shape with my hammer. The aged texures on the frame are carefully applied while the steel is hot, literally mashing harder material into the surface, and then brushing it away afterwards. The base plate is hammer-beveled, and the leaf is entirely hammer-formed. In the lower right corner, I used carefully applied heat to add a little touch of color to the otherwise cold grey steel.

The whole thing has been given a linseed oil finish to prevent rust, and to better highlight the contrasts between light and dark on the hammered steel.

Like all my work, this piece comes with a two-generation guarantee. If it ever fails for you or your children, I'll do what I can to make it right. If it comes apart for your grandkids, I'll probably be to old to make any difference.

Because I don't know exactly what it'll cost to ship, I'm offering free Priority Shipping on this piece! That means you'll have it in your hands in less than a week.

Enjoy!

Beer Defense Tools - Assorted Forged and Pointy Churchkeys

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:43:29 -0500

$44.00
Sometimes when you open a beer, you just don't want to have to share it with your friends. Sometimes, your friends are terribly insistent. In those situations, a BDT is just the tool you need. Forged from a reclaimed railroad spike, it'll open your beer with great ease and style, it has a great heft to it, and it's sure to keep your friends at bay. Of course, it also serves incredibly well to give as a gift TO your friends, who will surely appreciate your aesthetic eye.

If you can't decide which spike to choose, or if you want several, this is the item listing for you. Ordering from this set will get you a bottle opener that twists along its handle, and has a very definite point on the end. If you'd like to specify between one that goes to the left or the right, please include a note with your order.

I recovered these spikes while walking the train tracks. Over time, they come free from the rightful place in the ties, and they lie there, absorbing the weather and building character. I bring them back to my shop, heat them until they glow bright orange, and beat the crap out of them. After many such forging treatments, the churchkey is born. I brush it to remove the fire scale, and whatever rust remains from its time on the tracks. In the end, we're left with this great tool that shows a great deal of its rusty history in the pockmarks on its surface.

Now, these spikes are ready to find their way into your home, behind your bar, into that weird drawer in your kitchen where everything's all tangled up.

Enjoy!

Churchkeys forged from railroad spikes - Grab bag

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:27:04 -0500

$44.00
Are you having a hard time deciding which bottle opener to choose for your favorite beer-drinker? Do you want to buy several, and not deal with scrolling too far down my page?

If you said yes to either of these questions, or any number that I didn't ask, this is the listing for you!

You place your order, decide how many you want, and I'll send you a selection from my grab-bag of thematically similar churchkeys. All the openers in this grab bag have twisted handles, and a bit of a curl at the end of the spike (safety first!)

All of these spikes came into my life during walks along the train tracks. They pop out of their rightful place in the ties, and then they lie there, soaking up the sun and rain, and developing a nice coating of rust. After I bring them back to my shop, I heat them and beat them. Following this rigorous treatment, the rust is completely removed, and we're left with this amazing texture on the surface of the steel. The churchkeys are then lovingly finished with a linseed oil coating to prevent the development of new rust (way less fun than old rust)

These openers comes with a two-generation guarantee: if they fail for any reason during your life, or the lives of your children, I'll do what I can to make it right. If it fails for your grandkids, maybe they shouldn't have tried to take it on interstellar travel.

Enjoy!