Making things is very rewarding, especially things that speak of your devotion to your Deuoi, Ancestors, and community. The most religious relic we have is that of the Torcos (Torc), and in this write-up, I will be guiding you along with Gobannos on how to make a very simple and cheap torc.
Gobannos help me swing true.
Gobannos guide me through.
List
- A piece of Copper around the size of a pencil. You can find it at a recycling yard or even a hardware store. All you need is 2 feet at the most.
- Hammer
- Pliers
- Anvil, can be a piece of wood or a piece of metal
- Fire, you can either make a fire or find a torch
- Water
- Gloves, Saftey Glasses
Working with copper is different than steel. It is much easier. Copper work hardens, meaning the more you hit it, the harder it gets. To make it forgeable without cracking, heat it up and then quench it in water. How you will know when you need to heat it up is by looking at it as you hammer it, the copper will start to get shiny, meaning it’s hardening and needs to be heated up till you see it sweat, turning a dual red color then quench it and start hammering. Do this as often as you think. It is better to make sure that you do this as much as you feel so you do not break it.
First, measure how long you want the Torc, and then add about 2 inches. Then, you can use a small saw or bend it till it breaks.
Second, mark 1 inch on both sides.
Hammer it to a tapper about an inch long on both sides.
Third, once you have your tapper, heat and quench. Now, take the pliers and bend the copper at the tip slightly, hammer, and repeat till you have a spiral. (Now, the longer the taper, the bigger the spiral.) Do this to both sides. Now heat the spiral and quench it, then hammer the spiral to flatten it out a little.
Forth, bend it into the shape of a torc; you can do this by hand. It may help to find a cylinder object to shape it around.
Fifth, this is the final step: cleaning and polishing it. You can take ketchup and steel wool and polish it up. You can wipe it down with water to remove all the dirt and skip the polishing. That is up to you.
(I took this one to a buffing wheel. I also took the hammer to it all over to give it texture.)
Note
A lot of folks are allergic to copper. A couple of ways to prevent an allergic reaction is to make sure it is highly polished and clean. You can also use the many different protective solutions out on the market to coat the metal. Even applying nail polish will help.
One should always clean one’s religious items as much as possible.
The Carnutian Nemeton 