Finally back to work...

As I get older, I find that doing blacksmithing during the summer months in Florida is just not enjoyable anymore.  Today was an unusual day in that due to some early morning storms, the weather was a bit more bearable so I got back to work on the clock.  As we move into the autumn months, hopefully I will get back to work.

So today I started with working on the finials for the post.  I had actually attempted these a few months ago but I made them a bit too skinny which meant that I did not have enough mass to attach them to the posts of the frame corners.  For today, I remade one of the finials and I had much better luck.

First the finial.  This shows the bottom of the finial in the mold that I made.  The mold supports the shaped of the finial so that I can punch a square hole in the bottom of the finial as is shown in the photo.

And here is the top side of the finial next to the mold to show how the mold matches the finial.

Next I indent the very top of the post .  This gives the finial something to hang on to when it is hammered onto the post.

I put the finial on the post and hammer the sides as well as use a ball pein to shape the bottom some.

Finally, a comparison of the new post to what is currently on my previous clock attempt.  They are a pretty close match.  Once I clean up the new one and finish it, it should look noticeably better