This past weekend, I made a towel rack.  I started with 28" of 3/8" square stock.  The ends are simple leaves, using the method described in Mastering the Fundamentals Of Blacksmithing by Mark Aspery.  I've taken a class with him, which I'll talk about in another post.

I rounded 3" on each end of the bar, made stubby square tapers on the ends, and forged in about 1-1/2" to make the stem.

Then I flattened the taper and drew out the edges.

 

I put two 90 degree bends on either side to form the part that will attach to the wall and extend the bar out about 3".

I added two twists in the middle of the bar, each about 3" from its end.

That's it for now. I still need to punch or drill holes for the mounting screws, clean it up a little, and put on a finish.

I'll post another picture when its mounted on the wall.

Positives: It was really nice to get out to the forge and make something. It's made me enthusiastic about getting out there and doing more.  The towel rack is square and should hang nicely, and it's fairly attractive.

To work on: I want to improve my shaping leaves. The insides of the bends could be better; there is a little bit of puckering right in the middle. I plan to do some practice on these next time.  Also, I need to improve my hammer control; that will just take time and practice.