Aluminum Rose

I wanted to try this out since I saw a couple of metal steel roses. They looked super cool. I'm no metalworker at all, so I figure this is a great beginner project. The result looks pretty cool and this one I gave away to my wife. Hope she liked it. :-)

I used some aluminum sheet for this. But any soft metal should work. Not as thin as a beer can, but a soup can would work. I guess.

This took a good 2 hours for me to make. But I made some errors along the way.

Also - there is a small video here of how I made this rose, if you rather like the steps in motion pictures! :-)

Material

• I used 0,7 mm sheet aluminum (or as I say aluminium, so I may write that some times in this instructable). :-)

Tools

• A hammer (but a a flat head/chisel head hammer would be great!)
• A large wooden screw
• Metal shears
• Marking pencil
• Gloves
• Small pliers (two is good)
• Drill and a 4 mm drillbit and a 3 mm drillbit
• Anvil is optional, but a good block of wood is nice to have here
• A pringle lid(?!)
• A tape roll

I trace the patterns directly on the sheet.

I will make 3 circles (Pringle lid size). These will be the rose petals.

Onle larger circle (I used a tape roll). This will be the sepals.

One long (1 cm wide) and 20 cm long strip that will be the stem.

I draw some leaves and some twigs freehand.

Inside the 3 circles draw a 5 leaf flower pattern (you can see this in the pictures)

On the larger circle, make a star shape (at least 5 leafs for the sepal).

Dont make the twigs too thin - you will fold them later to make them look thicker.

I used a metal (straight cutting) shear for all the cuts. If you have a metal cutter, a dremel tool or anything like that, you can use that too (or instead) :-).

Dont mind if the edges are a bit rough. In nature nothing is straight or clean cut.

After all the pieces are cut, drill a 4 mm hole in the center of the 3 petal circles and in the sepal piece too.

I used a large wood screw and a steel plate to make the texture. If you have a metal work hammer (a flathead/chisel head hammer) that would be great and save a lot of time!

I used the steel plate on the leaves to make a center line in each leaf.

I used the screw head to make the smaller lines in the leaves (in an angle from the center). Hopefully you can see this in the pictures.

The rose petals is just straight lines from the center of the circle out to the edges. Use the wooden block under the metal for support.

I tried to use the anvil, but the metal jumped around and the dents was too deep.

Here is all the parts. Hopefully you can see how I did the different textures.

The second picture shows only how I folded the stem.

I make one end of the stem extra thin to fit inside the 4 mm holes that all the other pieces have.

Here I put it all togheter.

First I put the sepal piece and then the 3 petal pieces. I bend the end of the stem with a pair of pliers to make the pieces stay togehter.

Then I start bending the petals, starting with the one in the center.

I actually had to use the shears again to make the cut a bit deeper. The center petal is almost totally closed, the second is a bit more open and so on. I use the pliers to shape them imbricated on top of eachother.

After the first part, I open the top part of the petal outwards from the center, bending it carefully. Hopefully you may see this in the pictures. Then I continue with the same process with the other petals.

I pinch the sepal leaves and bend them downwards to the stem.

TIP: Use a picture of a rose as reference! :-)

I bend the twigs and make them a bit rounder. I made the end that will fit into the stem a bit thinner.

I make the stem flatter (with the hammer and anvil). Drill a 3 mm hole and push the twig into the hole. I wrap the twig around the stem and make it stay with some more hammer blows. This will make the stem round(-ish) again.

If you dont like the markings, please use some sandpaper to touch up the rose. But remember that that will make the metal a bit bit brushed looking too.

This is the first time I attempted something like this. I think it turned out great! Thanks for reading this instructables - please consider to follow me here - it will fuel me to create more instructables in the future!

!!! After I published my Instructable I found that one of the creators I was inspired by had posted his fantastic guide here too. We do similar things and some different. Credits to BonnF: https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Metal-Rose-Without-Welding-and-Forgi/

Here is my short video again :

Video of making the Aluminum Rose!

Let me know what you think in the comments! :-)