Forging a contemporary bottle opener

[@mackaronen]

My father built a forge a couple of years back. I've used it to store some tools and furniture since I moved back to our village. Last Saturday me and my 3 year old boy went there with no special reason, just a boy exploring the surroundings. He asked what the forge and the anvil was used for, so I explained it to him, he found an old iron bar from an old tedder(?Direct translation from Swedish would be hay-turner), and told me to make something. So I started the old forge, and made a bottle opener just (or something close) like my father did on a forging course. It was my first time accually forging, and I must say I got hooked right then and there. I've worked as a welder for 12 years so I have bent a few rods and once used a power hammer and a die to flatten some stainless steel bars, but I wouldn't call it forging. Since Saturday I have spent all my free time watching Black Bear Forge videos. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

[@BlackBearForge]

Glad to hear the videos are helping

[@NeilGraham.I.M.F]

I like the simple look of the bottle opener

[@craigmoore7521]

Drink up buddy!! You deserve it! Great job!!! I like it.

[@jeffreymiller9706]

Hello from a fellow firefighter and a newbie to forging. Your lessons and tips are invaluable. Thank You and please keep them coming. I too, have chosen to use coal for multiple reasons...now to buy a forge.

[@stuffbywoody5497]

Always enjoy your videos. And because I have KZbin Premium, I see these videos ad free anyway.

[@3870TheDad]

Great beginning project!

[@davidhopkinson9075]

Good morning John. You started me on my armature blacksmithing journey with a bottle opener. So good to see you doing another simple project. Next weekend I will be forging some square drifts and bolsters. Thanks once again for inspiring and motivating me. Stay safe and best wishes.

[@johnjude2685]

Nice project, Simple you say, But a bit harder polished and a nice gift too. Thanks for the teaching Sir

[@richardsolomon8076]

Cheers 🍻 John, after work brew always goes down well 👍

[@douglasfathers4848]

Like the simple things in life . (:

[@RichWoods23]

There's something that's just right about ending a long working day with a beer. The fact that you've spent part of that day working on a way to open up the beer is entirely coincidental.

[@canuckloyalist4681]

Cheers! Nice work Bear.

[@akaniotevanos9861]

Ah yes, perfect for opening Jarritos. My fav flavors are Tamarindo and Lime, anyone else have Jarritos before?

[@angryblacksmith7675]

I love your shop, I see some cool everytime I look around

[@duaneaubuchon9453]

Nice job sir!!!!

[@charleszimmermann7784]

Thanks John, hope you enjoy that Fat tire beer!

[@fouledanchorforge5223]

Makes me want a beer but I am at work on a shutdown right now maybe later tonight. Cheers I like that style of beer also

[@davidhillman7004]

By far the most motivational blacksmith i watch. Every episode you tell tell me to go to the shop and make something. Its great thank you

[@Dewskerz]

you have my favorite beer there. Thumbs up. Trippels are underrated in the beer-drinking world.

[@normanfrazier6695]

Nothing wrong with a cold beer once you're done, cheers

[@steelpennyforge5152]

Good looking simple design! I love it!

[@TheErastus]

Thank you for the easy gift idea 💡 Your presentation is great and honest, much appreciated

[@gurvinderkau1e5w18]

Beautiful opener. Agree simple is elegant. Love your videos and love the tools that you use. Filing jig is cool👍👍👍

[@BlackBearForge]

Glad you like them!

[@thedarwinexperience5312]

I tell you what, when John files, he goes after it lol. Thanks for the video

[@hannemannironworks1651]

Looks great John!

[@olddawgdreaming5715]

Great job John, so simple yet uses lots of skills in its making. Thanks for sharing with us.👍👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@erikcourtney1834]

7am is a little early for a beer John. 🤣 all jokes aside, I like this style bottle opener very basic yet affective.

[@andrejohnson6731]

Well, it’s 7pm _somewhere_ in the world, right? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@alainqueyras372]

Hello, I'm French, and here it's aperitif time. Sacred !!!. Hahaha. So, cheers. You are genius. I love your videos and your style. Thank you very much. See you soon.

[@markmoreno7295]

Right in time for the holidays. At first, I thought it was a rootbeer. I have seen another contemporary one from Denmark, but it had the tail end rounded and bulbous, quite heavy. We need more small crafty projects this time of year as gifts.

[@BlackBearForge]

Happy holidays!

[@tomcarlson3244]

Very simple, very nice. I like making tools and the square drifts are next. Thanks for everyone of these projects.

[@jeffgrier8488]

I like this style, it's different than the traditional bottle opener. I'd say that Janet had a good idea! These would probably make great stocking stuffers too.

[@frankcall8567]

Cheers!

[@NickNameNick2]

Makes me want to light the forge here. But its late, and I doubt the neighbours would appreciate it. Thanks for the video

[@Wirenutz3665]

Let’s do this!!! Wait not dirty Smith channel lol love the content 🙂

[@ga5743]

Lots of work for a beer. 😀 Seriously when I first saw your project I thought it was made from a plane iron. I have problems just trying to punch a small round hole so don’t think this will make it to my To Do list. Thanks for the video John, enjoy your beer.

[@BlackBearForge]

I think drilling the 4 corners and cutting with a chisel would be an option as well

[@sonofbr]

A very good choice off beverage. One of my favorites.

[@jimjewell9438]

I like your choice of beer. Looks like a New Belgium 1554 or perhaps the Abbey Ale or the Trippel. All are exceptional brews for any time of day. Prost!

[@BlackBearForge]

1554

[@frankgaletzka8477]

Hello John A nice little piece of art It looks a littlebit like Bauhaus stile Looking simple but when you do one We all know it look only simple Have a nice Sunday all the best Wishes yours Frank

[@AndreRaphaelSilveira]

John, I'm from Brazil and I love your videos. Thanks for teaching your techniques. Your vocabulary and your english are very easy for me to understand. Cheers!

[@BlackBearForge]

You are very welcome

[@CurmudgeonExtraordinaire]

I think making one out of twisted rebar that was hammered slightly flat would look neat. Start with a length of rebar, heat it up and double it over, looping it around something to act as the basis for the hole for the opener. Twist the two ends of the rebar tightly to make a handle. Then hammer the handle somewhat flat while still leaving the the ridges on the rebar visible on the edges and the twist somewhat visible. Hammer the opener end and hole similarly and make the hole square. File and grind as appropriate, followed by oil bluing.

[@scottrobinson9666]

This is gonna be a great x-mas idea. Thanks so much for all the wonderful content.

[@jeffreydierckx1265]

I most definitely enjoyed this video. I will keep the concept of a bottle opener in mind if I ever want to try to forge something of my own! The bottle opener looks amazing!

[@koilvondaileystein4433]

You need to do a collaboration with Nick Offerman. You could forge something to match whatever he carpents, and leave us guessing as to who's talking while you're both off camera. Great video!

[@threeriversforge1997]

I like it! I wasn't sure what to expect, but I like how beefy it is, and the square lines really give it some visual mass.

[@marcerivest6204]

I do like the simplicity of it, l am just a beginner and project like can make a great Christmas gift.

[@stevestroupe4120]

Happy Halloween

[@pjamestx]

Love it! I attempted a bottle opener as one of my first non-classroom projects, got a little carried away creating the opening on the horn, you probably could have passed a golf ball through the opening by the time I was done 😂 Ah well, lesson learned, plus I had fun and got experience working things on the horn, so still counts as a win!

[@BlackBearForge]

bring it together into a wide oval. Its only the distance from the tab to the far side that matters.

[@pjamestx]

@@BlackBearForge I just went out and did that! Turned out more of a triangle than an oval but I think it'll work now, thanks for helping me rescue that from the scrap pile!

[@jeremiahjohnson1325]

Love it John u have a happy Halloween

[@user-jx8hg6lm2o]

Just more proof a Smith can make the tools that are necessary...

[@jamesbarisitz4794]

That's great! How many kitchen tools can be made? Nudge. 👍 😃

[@alwaysbearded1]

Happy Halloween John!

[@moreybandel5560]

Happy Halloween, John! Thanks for the great video! I can't afford to support your videos, except by word of mouth... Have a Great weekend!

[@jesseallen1195]

All the heat is in the tools

[@chadwickdavis6156]

Great opener! Thanks! So Christmas is coming up and thought about making a leaf shaped bowl for holding jewelry and such for the wife and mom and etc. have you done a video of one in the past or if not, what about forging one soon in an upcoming video????

[@tedbownas2748]

Could you make a tapered sleeve that would let you drop that stump anvil into the hardy hole or a similar size square in the swedge block, but leave its original tang so you could still pound it into a stump if you wanted?

[@kjcsomerville]

I like the filing vice, never seen one before, how about a vid on how to build a gas forge ? Regards from the UK !

[@alexnosheds]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5rSqoOvfc5nhac lots more from John but also search for Mark Aspery’s videos on it. :-)

[@michaelrowland1326]

Really like the video notice towards the end on your left arm look like you were bleeding hope

[@BlackBearForge]

Yep. I am at that age where its really easy to draw blood from a simple scratch

[@codysingleton9097]

Ah yes, man of culture with the new Belgium

[@mikepettengill2706]

Hey, you should forge a signature, or a hundred dollar bill! Puns a plenty down this line of thinking. You could forged an historical docment, or a painting? Lol

[@billwoehl3051]

Don't have a stump for the stump anvil? Hindsight is 20/20, but the swage block did a nice job also.

[@BlackBearForge]

Stumps i have, room in the shop for more stuff that needs floor space, not so much

[@Theorof]

I think that the vise would have worked if you had not been hammering on the unsupported direction. Had you turned it 90 degrees it would have stayed upright.

[@pooman30557]

Excellent work as always. Love watching your videos and learning about this art of blacksmithing. I do have a question. What would be the best way to go about forging a flower vase? I've searched KZbin but have only found a couple of videos for vases made from scrolling round stock around and around. Can one be made from 3 or 4 inch steel pipe? How would you go about doing it?

[@BlackBearForge]

I have done small ones out of tubing in a similar fashion to making candle holders

[@pooman30557]

@@BlackBearForge Thanks. Thats what I was thinking but wasn't for sure if that was the best way. Like I said, not really any videos on KZbin showing anything about it.

[@stormyeffects4795]

John, can you please make Mandilorian Beskar steel from the new show?

[@nategunn2830]

Good lesson, keep it simple! I'm still learning that one. Do you have any tricks to keep it shiny and keep it from rusting?

[@BlackBearForge]

I use a bit of wax. But you could clear coat

[@lancewylie8604]

Frequent use wold keep the shine up

[@josephmaschari1073]

A very simple opener nice. Are those new burner on the forge?

[@BlackBearForge]

nothing new on the forge

[@jimreynolds343]

John, what is your favorite brand of hot mill gloves?

[@BlackBearForge]

Carolina gloves www.piehtoolco.com/contents/en-us/p6640.html

[@cuttwice3905]

I'm partial to 1554.

[@shortfuse43]

John, you're tough. Having a cold beer at 20 deg......?

[@BlackBearForge]

Think of it as room temprature

[@billwoehl3051]

How did you scratch your arm? Hopefully it heals quickly.

[@BlackBearForge]

Who knows. it only takes a little scratch these days to draw blood

[@susanbarbier5053]

9:00 I like my bottle openers like I like my men.

[@midknightforge7446]

Hey John. I don’t think it was used in this video but that silver pencil you use for lay out..I think it’s blue in color...do you know the name or brand of it? I’ve tried two different types from Amazon but both were terrible. Thanks

[@BlackBearForge]

Its a welders silver pencil made by markal. I should have some available on my Etsy shop later this week

[@midknightforge7446]

Awesome. Thanks for the response.

[@johnvradenburg6477]

cant believe 4 people disliked this...

[@CodyDWorks]

any chance this could get sponsored by new belgium? XD

[@BlackBearForge]

Sounds great to me. But probably unlikely

[@garyblohm838]

Yum, Fat Tire

[@antheaxe7340]

don´t drink and forge