Recently I've been working on a rather fun project involving forging and fabricating silicon bronze.  The client has a ship that is being re-fitted to look like a pirate ship, and this project involves making the hardware to decorate the engine cover so it looks like a pirate's "treasure chest."

The engine cover is mahogany, and all the hardware is being made with silicon bronze for it's appearance and weatherability.  The stuff is fun to forge, either hot or cold, and it TIG welds perfectly with no visible color change.  Everything will be patinated to a funky, aged brown/black/verdigis finish, and allowed to continue aging naturally.

Bronze strapping for treasure chest: These are the straps that decorate the engine cover. They will be nailed in place using dome-headed copper nails. They are on a plywood sheet to confirm size and placement, as everything is built in my shop and will be installed on the boat in Puerto Rico. No room for error on this one.

Since the engine has to be accessible, the cover has to be hinged, and also has to have a hasp so it can be locked when the ship is unattended.  That necessitated forging a hasp and a pair of matcing hinges, of course.  Those were even more fun than the strapping. 

Hasp for Engine Cover: This is the hasp for the "treasure chest" engine cover, forged from silicon bronze. Since the hinge side of the hasp has to overlay the 1/16" bronze strap, I had to form a "pocket" for it in the hinge leaf. Using a quickie little die made from scrap, that forming was accomplished in one quick hit on the power hammer. The domed bosses on the straps were formed the same way. All the chamfering was done by hand however, as was the planished surface finish.

All in all, this is proving to be a very fun project.  The installation on-site will be okay, as long as the client provided accurate dimensions.  If that isn't the case, then things could get very dicey.