The customers had a board and batten fence around the front and down the driveway on their property. With a new (young and energetic!) dog, they were concerned that he would be able to jump the existing fence. There are posts set roughly every 8 feet, the fence boards are cut on a sweeping curve in a sideways D shape. The difference between the peaks in the middle and the level at the posts is about 12 inches.

Images by Karen Peterson

As a an alternative to replacing all the fence boards, they asked me if I could work up a decorative metal extension in increase the effective 'blocking' height of the fence. My solution was to use a horizontal line of 1 inch diameter pipe, held above the existing fence top by a set of decorative brackets. The intent is to raise the line of the fence by 4 - 6 inch at its highest point (so 16 - 18 inches above the post area).
To fill the gap around the posts will require placing a total of four brackets (using a roughly 6 inch square grid as the spacing guide). The pipe will consist of a number of 8 foot pieces, with a small gap just above the individual posts. This allows for any sway to the fence line. It will also make installation a lot easier, even allowing to raise the height of the pipe line should that prove necessary.
The individual brackets will be forged to individual organic curves. The leaves hang down below the top line, helping to block the gap above the posts. I also wanted to enhance the organic feel of the brackets. For that reason I forged a separate smaller 'tail' which will be welded to the main structural part of each bracket.
To ensure there would be enough physical strength to the support, I chose 1 1/2 wide by 1/4 inch thick flat stock. The tails are forged from 3/4 or 1 inch wide by 1/4 (roughly half of each width).

The next commission was for a replacement set of supports under the front porch.
The house is late 1800's, a nice 'short two story' brick, what could be considered an affluent farm house of the period. The front porch covers the entry for the original entry door, with a small balcony above off the master bedroom. The original sculpted wooden pillars have rotted out. Part of the project has included replacing some of the timber support beams underneath.

The image to the left shows the original wooden porch structure.
The imageto the right has been altered via Photoshop to remove the supports and wooden picket railing. This as a starting point to further design work.

Runnels of slag - Slag Pit Smelt 1 - October 2011

At the right is the original sample, composed of a total of five individual pieces of pipe. The central core is larger diameter (roughly 1 1/4 OD) and the outer pieces of smaller (thus more flexible!) pipe (roughly 7/8 OD). The sample is about two feet long, and has tendril wraps of 3/8 round at either end.  A number of different forging techniques have been used on the individual pieces. The competed sample bundle is roughly four inches wide.