The form above, 1-1/2″ x 5″ x 5″, was made of 18 gauge mild steel.  There are 64 of these to be made for the continuing two driveway gate restorations in Cleveland, Ohio.  Below, you will see the machine stamped fragment (on the right), and this piece on the left, both painted black for better comparison.

There is about 4-1/2 hours needed to complete this form, including the small husk in the center of the rosette.  Below is another, more simple rosette.  Though a  composite of three pieces, since the features are less demanding, the total time it takes to make the entire composite (below) is about 45 minutes.

Again, the machine stamped original is on the right, the hand-made version is on the left.  There are 50 sets of these per gate.  I had two helpers on the latter rosettes…Mackenzie Martin, an intern we had here last spring, and also Jeremiah Backhaus, an apprentice currently working here at the studio.  Mackenzie made the bottom piece, Jeremiah the second in the stack, and I made the ball husks. Again…all are of 18 gauge mild steel.
Below is a shot of a bunch ready to be shipped to Cleveland.

Since I have been working on this project for almost a year now, and am about at the midpoint, I have changed and adapted the studio to better suit me for this task, i.e. a dedicated repoussé station, complete with three vises, two stakes, and a dedicated tool stand, with an integral high intensity lamp.  Perhaps I will photograph this station to show in a later post.
…Dan Nauman
“A peacock that rests on his feathers is just another turkey”…Dolly Parton.