Got it...

Today I was able to put in some good time on the forge.  I started work on the finials again.  The first attempt was using a technique I thought might work that I detailed in a previous post.  So, I went back to a attempting to punch the socket into the finial while the finial sat in the die.  The one difference I did was to use a punch with a point instead of a flat faced punch.  This was to allow the metal to push out to the sides some.  I then finished it up with a flat face punch and this worked.  Here are pictures of two finials I made today.  The finials are about 1" across.





They are not absolutely perfect but it would only take minimal cleanup with a file at this point.  I am very happy with the results and I think I may try to get the finials on the posts this weekend. 

If I do the finials for the corner posts this weekend, I will try to fully photograph every step so that is easier to understand.

Finally, I took a break between the two finials to create a fire striker.  This is a hard piece of steel used in combination with flint to start a fire.  My goal is over the next year to have a more period presence at SCA events.  The striker came out fine but I cant get it to work.  Not sure what the problem is but will do some research online tonight to see if I can figure out the problem.  Could just be how I'm using the flint.