Forging an Octopus

 

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The Octopus

I first read about forging an octopus in 1991, in a newsletter from the Rocky Mountain Smiths. Jim Fleming was the editor, and he ran an issue about forging animal forms. I didn’t actually use that knowledge until a project came up in 1997. I made a few changes to what I had read to make that first octopus, and was pleased with how it came out.

This first octopus went on the base of a globe that stood 12’6″ tall, that is in the Worldwide Sportsman store in Islamorada, Florida. The globe was a giant rendition of a desktop globe, and the octopus is on the armature that holds the actual ball, 6′ in diameter, and houses the motor control that spins the globe.

Several other projects through the years have called for octopuses, and they are one of the most fun things that I make! For the 2006 ABANA Conference, I made one to go in the screen project that went together at that event.

Here is a primer that will help you forge an octopus.