How to make a metal deer skull 2.0 new design! blacksmith forging art project

Deer Skull metal art- New & improved how to make a metal deer skull Forging Blacksmithing big buck

Hello all, recently I was tasked with creating a new Forged Buck skull for a gentleman from New York. He wanted the new skull to be mounted to the brush guard on his Ram 3500 pickup. After starting the skull with my traditional templates quickly decided there had to be a better more improved way to make a metal deer skull as opposed to my previous template design.
I set about creating a more user-friendly design that would allow me to forge the skull (shape) more quickly without the fatigue and limitations the single piece skull design offered previously.
I used a real deer skull for the template model and utilized Photoshop CC along with my Canon DSLR 6D Camera to create an accurate depiction of the skull in a 3d model, I stretched the parameters to allow for proper bending and shaping.
The First skull was a huge success and after completing and shipping I decided I needed one for our store and to take to shows until it is purchased. As an added bonus this allowed me to play around with the new template design some more and prove that it works as well as it should.
For this forging project I used 16-gauge plate (sheet) steel mild with 1/2" round stock hot rolled. I created a small stand of a new design that is shown in the video but not fabricated on film. In all I am super happy with how this design turned out and am excited to be able to offer this template design up to other folks that may be interested in trying to create their own deer skull from steel.

Forging wise this is a fairly simple project as most of it depending on thickness of steel can be done without the use of a forge. I only use the forge for a small section to allow easier shaping after the initial work was completed. So, in short, this project can be completed without the use of a forge or even a torch.

The last deer skull video I made was my biggest YouTube video ever and I am hoping even though my channel has dropped off that this video is received well and possibly gains the attention and attraction that the previous video did. I enjoy making videos editing and publishing but with all the work involved its discouraging sometimes to spend hours upon hours creating a project, editing and uploading only for a small number of views so here's hoping this is vid does ok.

I will be working on having the template available later in the day after the video is live so that it may be downloaded if interested in the new design.

Dies and Shaping, as most of you know I use a large amount of handmade shaping tools as I still do not own a swage block, For the majority of shaping a rail spike welded to angle iron mounted in the vise is very handy, As well as the traditional Tow balls of various sizes, and of course my valley tool with the two balls welded together. Most if not all of these items were made with next to zero budget, most of it was simply laying around the shop.

I hope that this video inspires like its predecessor, I have received hundreds of comments and questions which I greatly enjoy. If possible please share this video to get the new design and template out there to folks that may be interested.

Above all thank you so much for watching and supporting through comments and questions over the last couple of years, I may take on creating new and improved versions of other projects as well. My smithing has improved and as I do more, I am finding easier and more creative fun ways to improve upon my blacksmithing skills.

Thank you for watching, enjoy the vid please share and I'll catch you on the next one

Chris - Empty Pockets Ironworks 2022