here's what I started with (and the plates I drew out and cut that would become the hinges and hasp for the box) And this was my first challenge piece -- a set of 15" "Viking tongs" roughly influenced by a set in a museum. for these, I drew the 6.5" long bar out to about 30" long, cut it, then shaped each half. I even made the rivet from part of the bar.
Today I finished up another challenge piece -- I upset one of the 3/4" x 6.5" bars down into a 1.5" cube - without any fish lips/bird's beaks hidden in it. not a perfect cube, but not too shabby for all hammer work. It would have been a LOT easier and faster with the use of a press, but I wouldn't have learned near as much.