Paying my Dues

[nc_cooter]

My wife has been wanting a hat pin and some sewing pins for her 18th century kit." You are a blacksmith, make me some".
I used some wrapping wire from an old whisk broom. It is about .038" worked pretty good. I dipped the ends in molten brass to make the heads. Hot blued and coated with bee's wax.

Thanks for looking,
Mike

 

[rabjr]

:thumbsup:

 

[Nifeman]

Neat idea :thumbsup: ...Bud

 

[gmarc]

Isn't broom wire a sort of "spring" steel....do the pins flex and return?

The brass is a nice touch

 

[MSW]

Very clever!

Nicely done!

 

[nc_cooter]

Thanks for the compliments. The wire is more like spring steel than mild. It will flex and return.
Mike

 

[BillinOregon]

Mike: That's ingenious! You must have some serious heat handy if you are melting brass!

 

[hoochiepapa]

awesome!!

 

[DanC]

Pretty good ...

and clever too!
:thumbsup:

Dan

 

[William O.]

Wow, very neat.

 

[Tony Logan]

well done and a good idea to keep the wife happy

 

[nc_cooter]

Thanks all. My wife wanted the pins to use as closures for the bodice she just finished. I spent most of a morning in the shop trying different ideas and settled on this method.
Unfortunately the small jeweler's crucible that I used to melt the brass is now broken. Someone gave it to me many years ago and now I have to find another. Anyone have a source? She wants more pins.
Mike

 

[Fred_Dwyer]

Unfortunately the small jeweler's crucible that I used to melt the brass is now broken. Someone gave it to me many years ago and now I have to find another. Anyone have a source?

I've seen some on EBay from jewelers' suppliers, about $10 I think.