Finial test - part 1

I got home early enough tonight to do some smithing.  So I decided to do a test to see how hard it would be to make a die.  I'm kind of kicking myself now because of how easy it was...

I started with fullering a 1" bar stock.  These pictures show the work progress.  The stock is hammered between the fuller until the stock is very thin then half is cut off.







This tip is roughly shaped.  I then filed it to clean it up some.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of this.

Finally, I took a piece of 1" x 2" 4142 (type of steel alloy).  I heated this piece of a steel to a nice even yellow.  I took the piece created above and hammered it into the steel.  It took a few heatings but it was actually much easier than I expected it to be.  This is a picture of the steel after I was done.



Well, it did come out much better than I expected.  I just wish I hadn't been in a rush due to the sun setting.  I think I will make a wooden pattern to make the next finial top.  This will help me when filing to make sure it is balanced and true on all sides.  Still, this was a successful test.