4 Nail Cross Pendant

by Bill Clemens

* Horse Shoe Nail Cross:

I was ask by our minister to repair a cross pendant that he always wears. He has had it for over 10 years and it was a gift from his wife. It appeared to be made from horseshoe nails but close examination revealed that it was cast of some soft but unknown alloy. He had tried to super glue it back together but it didn't hold. It was while trying to remove the super glue residue in preparation to solder the cross back together that I determined just how soft the metal was and that's when I decided that I would first try to make a replacement cross from actual horse shoe nails just in case I couldn't repair his cast cross.

What follows are the steps I took to make a cross pendant by forge welding 4 horseshoe nails together. So far I've only made three crosses and I've learned something with each one I've made. If you make one I'd love to hear about it and if you come up with any refinements to these instructions let me know that too.

I started with 4 number 16 Mustad horseshoe nails. I determined the size by comparing the cast cross to a size chart on the internet. Three nails make up the cross and a fourth one with the head removed is used to make the loop for hanging it.

Begin by cutting the head off one of the nails and forming a scarf by forging a short taper on the end. Also the nails are tapered along its length and since you'll be placing the nail upside down behind the central nail of the cross, you'll need to taper it to match and thin it at the head end.

* figure 1:

Turn the nail over and form the loop. Forming the loop before forge welding it to the back ofthe central nail gives you a means of positioning the two nails for welding and protects the tapered point while in the forge.

* figure 2:

Place the loop tight against and behind the head of a second nail. After the cross is completed you can reposition the loop slightly so it is not tight against the head.

* figure 3:

Hold the nails by the head and loop. I used a pair of Round bit Farrier’s Fire Tongs that have domed bits that will accommodate the head and loop while holding the two nails firmly just below the head and used a tong clip to hold them secure.

* figure 4:

You need a small clean fire and a slow air flow. Place the nails in the forge and heat to orange, brush and flux. After fluxing insure the nails are in contact along their length. Return to the fire and heat slowly rotating them to insure uniform heat. At welding heat remove from fire and tap gently. If done right, the pieces have actually welded in the fire and your gentle taps are just to make sure the weld is complete, any small gaps are closed, and any remaining flux is expelled from the weld joint. This is fire welding as opposed to hammer welding where the two pieces to be joined are heated separately in the forge fire and joined at the anvil with hammer blows. Once welded you may remove the tongs and place the head and loop end in the fire to complete the weld on the remainder of the shank and at the head. Take care not to burn the thin loop or to distort it with a misplaced hammer blow. These welds are an exercise in both fire management and hammer control.

Lay this piece aside and take the remaining two nails and place them back to back. You might want to practice placing them in a vise like this while still cold. You want about one inch protruding above the vise. With a hammer form a 90 degree bend in both nails. By placing them back to back in the vise you are ensuring that both arms of the cross will be the same length.

* figure 5:

Square up the bend on each nail independently making the inside corner as tight as possible but be careful that the lengths of both arm remains the same. Forge a scarf on each nail as shown here.

* figure 6:

Forge the scarf on one nail face up and the other face down, so that when the two nails are placed together (both face up with their shanks on top of each other) their scarfs will over lap as shown here.

* figure 7:

Place the nails in tongs and weld the points first following the same procedures as for the central nail and loop.

* figure 8:

While completing the weld on the top of these nails forge a scarf from the back side as shown. First make sure the thin tops of the arms are flush on the front and then thin the shaft below the arms leaving a bulge; on the lower half of the arms.

* figure 9:

Align the arms on the central nail and forge a slight indentation to accept the bulge on the arms.

* figure 10:

With the arms and central shaft positioned repeat the forge welding process one last time to join the two parts of the cross together. Again after welding, thin the central shaft of the cross below the arms while maintaining the proper width and cleaning up the sides.

* figure 11:

Trim the bottom of the cross to 2 and 3/4 inches and then upset the bottom end leaving only a slight taper (if any) in the width and thickness of the bottom of the cross with a slight swelling at the very bottom.

* figure 12:

Oh, and remember that cast cross I set out to repair? Well I did finally get the two broken pieces back together but not without making three pieces out of two first. With persistence I finally coaxed the three pieces back together with solder and after some grinding with a Dremmel tool, filing and sanding, it looks almost like brand new:

-- RebStaup - 29 Jan 2008