We start with a chunk of Aluminum killed steel...
I'll give more detail when I not brain dead!
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Find something with a hole in it as a back-up when forming the indention in the bottom of
the apple,
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Place the steel over the hole and somewhat pointed
object like an autobody hammer to make the indention.
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Indention made. An inside the apple view,
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Next find something with a larger hole -- preferably wood, so as to not mar the metal as I
did.
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As I remember, a Delicious apple has four bumps on the bottom
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The bottom of a Delicious apple.
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If you don't have a lot of stakes -- you an improvise.
I'll use this hammer face to add a little more detail
to the four bumps.
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Planishing some of the scrapes and defining the bumps a little more.
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This cut turned out to be a mistake. Just wasn't thinking.
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Being in a hurry I just used the round ball to estimate
what the pattern should look like. I was way off.
Should have carved out a wooden apple for a better pattern.
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Here is how I should have cut it -- but easy to fix.
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Here the indention and the bumps on the bottom
are looking pretty good.
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We begin the forming.
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Ruffles beginning to form.
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Here we use a heavy hammer with a rounded face to
stretch the center of the work area.
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A little egg shaped cobblers anvil was just the ticket.
You can see the ruffles that need hammering down
which will shrink the edge.
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The first quarter is taking shape. I cheated and split it to reduce the amount of
shrinking.
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Ready to cut off the overlap.
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Went to a smaller stake.
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Getting the first quarter ready to weld
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It has been so long since I've worked in my shop that all my straps have rotted on all my
goggles -- so I had to weld with no rod while I held my goggles with the other hand -- so
not a weld I'm proud of.
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You can see some of the shrink spots that need planishing.
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Here is the first quarter almost done.
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I tried to cheat by cutting here before I started shrinking. Bad move, it hampered
shrinking.
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Learned a lesson here -- should have cut much
farther into the apple, the metal is tearing.
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I'm getting tired at this point and it's getting a little ugly.
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Well -- here's half an apple anyway.
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