Blacksmithed Pumpkin Face

This fall instead of carving a pumkin I decided to blacksmith a face for one! This was definitely a learning curve for me and made me think outside the box! But after I decided what to use to make the face every thing seemed to come together and I am extremely happy with how it turned out! As far as I know this is a original idea although I strongly suspect that someone has probably come up with this idea before I just don't know of it.

Supplies

Three railroad spikes
A horse shoe
A pumpkin

EQUIPMENT
forge
Coal
Hammer (I used a few but you don't have to)
Some time of hot cutter or metal saw (or both)
A large round punch
A small round punch
Anvil
Vise
Electric wire brush (I use a side grinder)
Clear coat paint
A watermelon testers knife (or any other long knife)
guillotine (optional)

Step 1: Flattening Spike Heads

Ok so the first thing I do is start my forge let it get good and hot then heat the heads of all three spikes (just be careful and don't burn them). After they're red hot I take and put one head up in the hardy hole ( that's the square hole on a anvil) then hammer the head of the spike flat then do the same thing to the second spike.

Step 2: Making the Pupils

Now that they are flat I heated them up again after they are red I put them back in the hardy hole and then use my large round punch to make a pupil on both eyes at the top of the spike with we over hang at the bottom. The punch I am using is actually a hammer with a round side but any thing the right shape and size will work.

Step 3: Making the Nose

To make the nose I took the third spike that I did not flatten Heated it red hot. Then I put the over hang of the spike head into the guillotine ( a side peen hammer will work). To make the nose look right I put the over hang part of the nose pointing up unlike the eyes. Then I put the nose back in the hardy hole and cleaned it up a little bit with the hammer. Next used the small punch to make nostril holes and there you go! I have to say I am proud of the nose! And the eyes are looking good (no pun intended) but we still need a mouth!

Step 4: The Mouth

The mouth was the hardest problem I wasn't sure how I was going to attach it to the pumpkin or what shape I wanted so I looked around my scrap and found a horse shoe and decided that you couldn't improve on a smile! Plus the horse shoe had holes that I used to attach it to the pumpkin and was already the with I wanted! So I took my hot cutter and cut the shoe in half then evened it up by cutting a little piece of the side and it looks good!

Step 5: Cutting Off the Spikes

Next I take a porta band saw and cut off the spikes leaving 1 1/2" to 2" long studs on the back of the nose and eyes.

Step 6: Clean Up and Paint

I used a bench grinder to clean up the cut sides of the mouth, and A wire brush on a side grinder cleaned up and polished all the parts. Then I used some matt gloss spray paint to keep the face from rusting

Step 7: Assembly

And now to assemble the face you need a pumpkin! So first I took the pieces and just looked at were they should go then I pressed the back of the nose and eyes to impression were they went on the pumkin. I used a watermelon tester pocket knife to cut out he holes and it worked great but you could use any knife that is long enough. I made sure to take my time and make the holes smaller than he studs so they would be tight and it seemed to have worked very well. Lastly I took a large staple cut it in half and poked it thru the end holes of the mouth. (I had to grind the sides of the staple so they would go through the holes).

Step 8: Finished!

And that's it now just desplay and take pictures of it! This can also have a frown but I left it like a smile hopefully like this instructables has left you!
If you would like to watch the video here is the YouTube link- https://youtu.be/nXj9cq5bHbc