[Jim Kelso]

Although this technique is not carving, I doubt the purists will object too strongly.
Here I have formed a frog, mostly with hammer and punch. Please feel free to jump in at any point with questions/comments.

Here is the finished piece in context on a carved Ebony box lid.

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[Jim Kelso]

I started off by sinking a dome shape in a hardwood form with a wood punch. This is the quickest way I know to get this initial mass of the desired form up and out of the gate.

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[Jim Kelso]

These pics show the initial refinement of the lumpy dome into the form of the frog, mostly with punching into pitch from the top. I did do some punching from the back to get the height of the one rear leg.

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[Dick Bonham]

Thank you Jim and Ford,
Jim,I can't wait to see the rest of the frog tutorial. Ford, thank you for sharing your hard learned knoledge with us. I have learned more from you guys than you can imagine and I have been doing this stuff for almost forty years. Thank you both.
Dick

[Jim Kelso]

Ford, glad we got the chance to talk. It's been too long.

I remember the "hatasu" on the inside of the silver kagamibuta. It's a most beautiful visual effect, incidental to the intended goal of raising the form, but indicating immediately to one in the know how it was done.

Dick, I'm glad you enjoy this stuff.

Here's a shot of the sawn out form.

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[sergey_osipov]

Jim,

This amazing to see the birth of the frog from the flat sheet of the metal!

Thank you for sharing!

[Tim Blades]

I have always wondered how far back piercing saws go. I know you can chisel cut out a piece but it makes quite a mess of the edge, anyone know? For instance in this piece it would warp it .

Tim.

[DanM]

Jim, what thickness of metal are you starting with? and what is the length of the finished frog?

Tim, i believe metal piercing blades like modern jewelers blades have been availible since around 1750,most likely further back in some fashion.

[Jim Kelso]

Tim, that's a good question. I've wondered about that. Never found a solid source for the answer.
Might find something in Diderot's Encyclopedie. I'm glad we have the modern ones available. I get a lot of mileage out of them.

Dan, the length from nose to bum is 25mm. I started with the thickness at 1.5mm, which was probably a little over thick, but I'd rather have a little too much than a little too little.

Here's a shot of my pitch-bowl setup. You can see more about pitch in Tools & Technical under the topic "resin bowls".

Also a shot of the eye-swells and the punch that made them(used from the back again.

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[Dick Bonham]

Hi Tim,
In the book "Japanese Crafts, Materials and their Applications Edited by B. Hickman" 1892 and 1915, they discuss the piercing of tsubas. A thin wire coated with wax and a hard stone powder was used to do the fine piercing work. I am very happy we can use saw blades.
Jim, The frog is looking great.
Dick

[Doug Sanders]

Jim- that's been really helpful for a non-metal worker like myself. It'll add to my knowledge of technique and heighten my appreciation of the craft.
One question- piercing saws? I take it you're not refering to a jeweller's fret saw, but something different? like a miniature keyhole saw?
I think such a tool might be useful when cutting inlays...

-Doug

[Greg Delaunay]

Thank you for sharing, Jim!
(I like the texture of the leaf too)
The last year, a friend gave me a box, it belonged to his great-grandfather : this box contains approximately 700 different tools for embossing, manufactured by this man himself for his job! What a great present!!!!

[Tim Blades]

Hi Dick,
I have a copy of the Japanese Craft materials book, I suppose I should read it !
I can't believe how many times I have searched for a formula or technique and after a lot of hard work have later discovered that I already have it

Tim.

[Ekrem]

Hi Jim,

A fine piece of work, and very comprehensive explanation. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Best Regards

dagistanli

[Jim Kelso]

Doug Sanders, on Nov 21 2005, 09:54 AM, said:

Jim- that's been really helpful for a non-metal worker like myself.  It'll add to my knowledge of technique and heighten my appreciation of the craft.
One question- piercing saws?  I take it you're not refering to a jeweller's fret saw, but something different?  like a miniature keyhole saw? 
I think such a tool might be useful when cutting inlays...

-Doug
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, Doug, I just call it a jewelers' saw. I've heard the term fret-saw, but not sure what it refers to in this context. here's a shot of it(and me) in action.

Greg, that's a great gift. You couldn't buy such a thing.

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[Dick Bonham]

Hi Jim,
I like your workbench. Did you build it? The circular shape with you in the middle looks like it would be very functional.
Dick

[Jim Kelso]

Hey Dick,

I did build it, thanks, after a nasty fire that toasted the legs off my last one.
The surround idea is just carrying a traditional jewelers' bench somewhat further. I like having my elbows supported during a lot of operations, especially chasing large areas of texture and the wrap-around is helpful, plus tools seem more easily at hand.

The surface is a textured faux-slate Formica. It's a nice background to look at work against. tools are nicely visible on it and there is no glare coming back into your eyes from the lighting source. Also the texture keeps tools from rolling around as much as on a smooth surface.

[Doug Sanders]

Thanks for the picture of your jeweler's saw. The one I've got isn't the best quality and keeps causing me hassle. I'll keep yours in mind when I go shopping for a new one.