Blacksmithing - Hand Forging A Bottle Opener

workingwithiron presents Hand Forging a bottle opener step by step no step skipped.
Hand forged Beer Bottle Opener
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[@tomcarlson3244]

I think this was the most perfect circle made after the slot punch. Great job

[@chadbingham8069]

I was about to say how shitty the music was, then I realized it was my music player. Great video.

[@workingwithiron]

Chad Bingham haha what did you have on it? thanks for watching Chad!!

[@sammipeterson2709]

na bruv

[@buynsell365]

That looks Great !!! I am going to try it. I think I might step it up a little and put a twist on the handle. Great Job!! Keep up the great videos.

[@prairiecracker214]

Very nice video, amazing how much can be gleaned from something that would seem so simple. I've been making some nice openers with a skull and a pineapple twist handle but have had a heck of a time finishing them with a nice symmetrical opener. I've fabed metal for years but this is my first season working forge to finish. Thanks for taking the time to help a rookie out.

[@edmorris5007]

Thanks for sharing this video...I too, was using increasingly larger drifts to widen the hole and getting a lot of breaks or tears in the metal. Your video shows it so much easier, with very attractive results!

[@johnterrett4035]

Great video NB, Clear instructions throughout. Looking forward to future videos from you, thanks lots!

[@workingwithiron]

Stay tuned John, i have a lot of projects i want to film so it should be getting more frequent with the uploads soon, thanks a lot!

[@shepardsforgeh2031]

While we have,diff ways to do it i make a ton of openers and you sir have helped me tremendously! Thank you. Hooe you dont mind but iwill implement some of your techniques into my work! Thank you!

[@FlatBrokeForge]

Good video. Watching this was how I learned to make bottle openers a couple years ago. It's a good method and you do such a good job explaining it. Thanks.

[@ORIONLORE]

Although you only have 3 video's these are some of the best ones i've come across so far. thanks!

[@workingwithiron]

thank you so much for these inspirational words, words like these make me want to produce more forging videos, and i shall! Thank you

[@jeffgrier8488]

Thanks for the video, it looks like a great project for a beginner like myself!

[@workingwithiron]

Jeff Grier they are indeed, and they work really well too, great to practice and they sale well

[@CharisWilliams]

Keep up the great work!

[@BigNicky77]

Great video, thank you!

[@Jason-tc8vi]

Very informative and helpful. Thank you!

[@workingwithiron]

Thank you for watching jason, stay tuned for more, im glad i can help.

[@ZHFabrications]

Great stuff man! I do a bunch of fabrication videos but I'm a total amatuer when it comes to smithing, you make it look easy :)

[@workingwithiron]

Haha cheers mate, i like the stuff you do and subbed, great channel, and keep forging... it gets easier i promise :)

[@hendersonhandmadeironwoodc8881]

Nice Job!...Thank U for shareing!

[@workingwithiron]

Thank you for watching Jeremy

[@kennethdodds2323]

Nicely done.

[@cwp000]

Awesome, Gonna make a bunch and give them to my friends. You need to open a bottle at the end!! Thanks you.

[@workingwithiron]

Haha ive been told this so many times, i will do it for the next bottle opener video, a more advanced one, thanks again for watching, its always a pleasure.

[@TheNuggetshooter]

Great work! I particularly liked your use of the ball peen hammer to form the tab in the circle of the opener. What size and thickness of flat bar did you use? Thanks for posting this educational video!

[@lookitcrashed]

Your way is much better! I was using increasingly larger round drifts for the hole and it wasn't turning out very clean. Now seeing this I realize my anvil was sitting there thinking Im stupid for not using the horn.

[@workingwithiron]

This has made my night my friend, she will forgive you i reckon. i have tried that too with not much luck. the only way i could do it with larger punches is to start it off on the horn to get it round in the first place by that time, i am already half way to finishing. its good to practice the technique on the horn too as it will teach you how to correct mistakes and centre lines of works with holes that need to be centred. such as gate hinges. same thing just thicker material. Hoe you had fun either way dude, and give it a blast next time using the horn! Have a good day my friend! Enjoy!

[@paulbourgeois5712]

That Anvil has a thousand uses, limited only to the extent the user is willing to take it to. Anvils are the 'smith's 3rd hand, responsible for an AMAZING array of clever tools, hardware and techniques... let it guide you...The Force is With You, coming all the way from Hephaestus, the Greek God of the Forge! Hammer on, Brother!!!

[@WG1807]

I've made a few of these recently but with a Ram's Head at the 'handle' end. I usually use a piece of 30 x 8mm (1.25 x 5/16), first working the handle end to approx 16mm (5/8) square, from which is forged the Ram's head. I do half the work on the head first to get the basic shape including the split and tapered horns and then flip round to punch the hole and form the bottle-opening shape. Then return to work on the head and finish the detail. Last thing is twist and curl the horns and then tweak everything with a file where necessary and polish the whole thing.

[@FlatBrokeForge]

Nicely done, very clean, precise work. Excellent video!

[@workingwithiron]

Thank you for watching, love the name

[@FlatBrokeForge]

***** Thanks. Named my smithy that, it has double meaning. I run on little to no budget, and most of my equipment came to me needing repairs to use!!

[@workingwithiron]

FlatBrokeForge thats a cool story dude! it can only get better after starting up! enjoy!

[@bobbertbobby3975]

nice and simple leaves alot of room to embelish

[@workingwithiron]

+Bobbert Bobby Thats it! now time to put the ideas down on the handle to make them unique

[@Goodwithwood69]

Fully enjoyed!

[@workingwithiron]

Matthew Smith Thats great! give it a go Matthew!

[@Serkanbah]

your hammer hits shows how talented you are good video.

[@workingwithiron]

Serkanbah Thank you

[@shortfuse43]

Great video. It solved a problem I was having making the opening. I had been using just a round punch and widening that hole just enough to forge over the horn point. The sides of the circle ended up too thin that way. The slot punch will work much better. On the subject of hitting a hardened hammer with another as it appears to be happening in your video....just use an old ball peen like you use and heat the struck end to non-magnetic and let it anneal. The struck end will be softer and the peen end that is used to make the dimple will still have a little hardness left over. On hot steel like an opener, it doesn't have to be hardened.

[@workingwithiron]

shortfuse43 Thats why i do them, to help in situations like that. If you check out my latest video i have done anothe bottle opener in the same way but a better quality to see how its done better. if you do use a round punch just make the hole further from the end, that way you can reduce the sides of the circle easier, but yeh a slot punch is a lot better for this. i did this to the ball pein and works great, quicker too as i can get more force with a hammer than a nylon which is what i used in this video.Thanks for commenting, i really appreciate it.

[@shortfuse43]

***** Hey, the latest video shows the work more clearly. Not a problem for me with the low ambient lighting...the anvil work is what's important. The dimple forging with the ball peen is much better in the new video.

[@wurstbrot29]

nicely done i made one as a christmas present for my dad but ofcourse it did not turn out as good as yours

[@toniferreiroartistico5420]

Nice work....

[@workingwithiron]

Thank you Toni

[@leviblackwood3258]

Sweet

[@TheFrankprice]

Excellent

[@workingwithiron]

Cheers dude!

[@williambarnhartblacksmith414]

I just tried forging a bottle opener. I failed, I an going to make an oval drift to use to finish the hole. I also have a cast iron anvil that doesn't have a thin enough horn to round the corners, so I just held my round drift in my vice for now. Have to try again.

[@richpawlak8432]

Not sure if my last post went thru but can you make me about a 7-10 inch long bottle opener with the numbers 1955 stamped in it

[@matteedstrom]

Hitting a hardened hammer with a hardened hammer is pefectly fint to do, they will not shatter or split!

[@workingwithiron]

Yes they do.

[@matteedstrom]

No they dont

[@workingwithiron]

i have done it, hence why i advise against it, im not arguing about it, i care about what i teach so im telling people for their own safety to not do it, as it does happen. but please do tell me of your experience with this, im all ears!!

[@Bear_Feces]

Awesome! Sorry, I have a question for about every video of yours that I try to recreate, but why do you start off with the slot punch and then move to the round? And I keep getting splits in my material, towards the top, almost every time. Any suggestions? Thanks for the great video, I'm making these for my groomsmen!

[@workingwithiron]

dont apologise, please ask away. For the split, just bring the punch back more. if you start with a round, you lose too much material, slot punch gives it more material on the sides. the round just opens the hole enough to get it onto the bick.

[@Bear_Feces]

+workingwithiron ahhhhh, so we're doing most of the opening with the bick! Ok, about to the forge and do it!

[@workingwithiron]

Yes, so you forge it rather than stretch it. How did you get on?

[@josehenrique4659]

Do you have any advice for those who want to forge this but don't have a anvil with a horn? Could I use the round punch locked in a vice?

[@lennartdelporte7815]

is there a square hole in your anvil?

[@workingwithiron]

That would work ok, as long as its in a leg vice and not a bench vice as you will break the screw in the latter. Or it can be drifted using the jaws of the vice.

[@FrancisBeanBlades]

The usual blacksmithing truth: there's more than one way to skin a cat. I make mine using a totally different approach: I punch round, then I use tapered drifts over a hardie hole and a larger turning hole. It never touches the horn. However, if you don't punch your hole dead center of a nicely rounded strap end, drifting will always stretch the thinner sides more than the thicker. The approach in the video is a lot more idiot proof than my approach... I like it!

[@damionlowther78]

So what about a slitting hammer or a hammer punch or a flattening hammer and others of the like that are struck with another hardened hammer commonly in smithing not trying to be an ass just curious as to your reasoning. Nice work

[@bryquentros]

Most of the tools a blacksmith will make are only hardened and tempered on the ends that need to be. The striking ends will normally be how the material was first used. I have made chisels, punches and drifts and only the tips are treated. Some tools won't even be treated if the material used is of good quality like med to high carbon tool steel.

[@TheEvilways101]

+damionlowther78 so what exactly happens when you hit to hardened hammers together?? does the earth stop spinning? does a secret blacksmithing portal open?

[@terryallen3550]

Relaxing to watch, thanks brother. Gary Huston chips his prized hammer Hitting hardened steel live on KZbin , don't try it. :-( Peace brothers :-)

[@workingwithiron]

Terry Allen Thanks for watching, I haven't seen that one, what was he making at the time? It can be dangerous or even fatal, thanks for the warning and backing up the caution. Gotta stay safe!!

[@poper0225]

If I am correct, hitting two solid metal hammers together will be like hitting a wooden baseball bat?

[@workingwithiron]

if they are hardened then they run the risk of shattering, and can be lethal if its the right time and place to be get struck with shrapnel in the wrong place, so i just advise not to for safety reasons

[@poper0225]

gotcha, I understand

[@ForeverRated]

how do you know the hole is the rite diameter?...

[@workingwithiron]

Dxpt very good question, and thinking about it i dont know how its the right diameter but after making a few thousand it turns out to be around 30mm inside diameter which works really well for popping bottles. the general rule is for me, the thickness of the starting stock should equal the thickness of the ring when forged, follow that and you shouldnt have any problems, good question though, thanks for asking.

[@stokermeister3]

can the same steps be used with converting a horse shoe into a bottle opener ?

[@workingwithiron]

+Robert Stoker oh yes, for sure, you can either thin the bar out or just go with it and end up with a really thick opener but its the process that is important you just may have to punch it closer to the end to reduce the material for the loop as with thick stock you may end up with a very big loop.

[@stokermeister3]

thank you very much for your advice as i tried to make a bottle opener form a horse shoe this evening and did not turn out well next time will be nicer

[@workingwithiron]

+Robert Stoker how did you get on robert?

[@stokermeister3]

+workingwithiron I've not tried it out yet I will when I have coal 👍

[@valkablackwell2966]

Why did you quench it?

[@workingwithiron]

Samuel Filler Its only mild steel so it wouldnt do any damage. just quenched it to cool it faster and to stop the scale from forming after wire brushing. Thanks for watching

[@olebilly]

What type of steel?

[@aslob9321]

The King + Mild steel, A36 or 1018

[@oakesknives9933]

what type of brush is that

[@jgoldz2610]

Wire brush, most likely a steel one

[@workingwithiron]

its called a Butchers Block Brush

[@kiralypeter88]

Why not to hit steel hammer with another steel hammer?

[@OGrealG]

+Peter Kiraly worst case scenario they both shatter but more likely one of them chips

[@kiralypeter88]

Interesting! I always though that only jewelers and gun smiths mess around with softer hammers.

[@tomthompson7400]

actually , thats what i was always told , but myth busters did a whole thing on it ,,, worthy of a watch , then decide.

[@workingwithiron]

we also use soft hammers, such as raw hide mallets, wooden mallets, copper mallets, we use these so we dont mark the steel when struck hot for thing like straightening twists or bending and this is usually done on a tree stump or wooden block. Hardened steel hammers dont take well to being struck against each other, they will chip, or they can shatter. You have to remember not everyone who produces hammers get the heat treat absolutely spot on unless they are hardened and tempered in a controlled environment such as temperature controlled ovens. I have had it happen to me, i even showed it in my new video forging a toasting fork, i show the chips that i personally made by striking 2 hammers together... never seen where the chips ended up and hate to guess what would happen if they hit me. Its not worth doing.

[@tomthompson7400]

im 55 now ,,, i was re shafting an axe when i was 15 and when i was putting in the two metal wedges that hold in the one big wooden one , a minute shard splintered off , it was about 2mm by 4mm , it hit my arm , and ive never seen anything bleed as much , i still have the scar ,,, but the myth busters is worthy of a watch ,,, like the pig skin mallet on a wood block idea though. thanks t

[@Carbide195]

Bruh.

[@TheEvilways101]

what happens when you hit too hardened hammers together??? lol

[@brucecoulda1596]

They both shatter and send sharp metal flying it can and will most likely hurt someone. don't test it at home go to a friend's house

[@JensenRebias]

+Bruce Woulda bullshit, it doesn't shatter. It's an urban legend.

[@ThiefOfNavarre]

If they are of comparable hardness it will do neither any good. Go read a book on metallurgy before you wreck all your tools.

[@workingwithiron]

I take it you have not done this to the extent that eventually you had a piece chip off. I dont know where you get this urban legend shit from but in the real world the real smiths know that it can and does happen.

[@JensenRebias]

+workingwithiron okay, just read your other comment. Chipping is possible of course, which I meant when is said don't hit the corners or the edges of the hammer. Noting bigger will happen tho. Great video by the way, going to try making one myself today.

[@groma6098]

#tonglivesmatter

[@joemmams5785]

one can NOT say it enough...NEVER(!) hit two hardened hammers together

[@workingwithiron]

Thank you its not worth it, EVER!

[@sammipeterson2709]

oof oof oof oof oof

[@creesr]

You CAN hit two hammers together. I don't know where that crazy rumor has started that you cant. I know smiths all over eupore that have been forging for tens of years and all do it. It was also tested in mythbusters for you american sceptics.

[@workingwithiron]

of course you can hit two hammers together but i would never advise it, ever!! Mythbusters you say, did they use proper blacksmiths hammers or store bought hammers as i dunno if you know they are slightly different in how they are made. The hammer WILL chip guaranteed if used for a long time doing this. Im in Europe, England in fact and not one other professional smith from here does it that i know of as they know how dangerous it can be and wouldnt advise doing it. As this is a tutorial, i am obliged to let people know the risks and do not support it at all.

[@philpeck6762]

been there, dont do that! I have a hammer at home that took a chunk out of my cheek. bad Idea! the chip was ragged and 4mm diameter. sprang off like a bullet. hurt like a B*^%*.

[@Al-wj4mi]

I thought this is called a church key???

[@joemmams5785]

my brother lost his eye like that

[@workingwithiron]

So sorry to hear that!

[@glenvillanueva6950]

Who even uses bottle opener anymore?

[@jonathankunstmann1063]

Poor handling of tools, dropping on floor, waste of time and energy.

[@workingwithiron]

I get this a lot, and i will give you the reason to why i do it. as soon as that metal touches the anvil, the heat starts sinking into the anvil, so the few seconds of trying to place my tongs down softly or balance them on the anvil will take most of my heat away and clutter up my working space, so i do what i do the same as fire welding, i line up the work where i need it then drop my tongs if i dont need to hold onto the piece. its a split second which wastes zero time and zero heat so i can forge the work in less heats being more efficient. it takes the same time to pick them up as it would off the anvil or stand and also helps keep my whole body flexible by doing that exercise. I dont damage the tools while dropping them and dont burn myself when they lose balance while working and hit me on there way to the floor... i used to balance them but it took longer as id be looking for a place for them to sit properly.

[@brandonedwards1181]

You and me are in the same boat friend ! get your work in place then drop your tongs safely on the floor so you don't loose heat , much much more efficient and i do say this was a great video ! very nice forging and craftsmanship