A men´s day in the smithy;-)

 On Saturday there was an event going on at the Bethaus. When I got there to have a chat with Volker, I was surprisedto learn I had to do a tutorial. But then it´s the best way to learn, by teaching, that is. There were three brothers there. Unfortunately, with all the tutoring going on, I forgot to ask their names, a cardinal mistake, of course, but then I came off my bike and Volker went away and left me quite irritated at first. I had about 5 seconds to find m. But funny chaps they were, and it was good fun working with them.

 For two of them it was their first forging experience. The one in the pink apron was there for his birthday. He is a gardener and was quite enthused about the work.

 This guy actually was a metal builder, and it showed in his work. He had fun playing with steel;-), though;-).

 The three of them forged a poking stick. Turns out Volker had a good hand choosing the steel - some 1,0 % carbon content tool steel really made for some interesting work... I had to constantly move to tell them at which temperature the steel had to be forged and to offer some encouragement, for hard work it was. But they did extremely well for the first time, and had very creative ideas.

 They all made some decorative scrollwork and a counterwise torsion on the handle of the poker.

 Those are their achievements. The most heavy-duty pokers I have seen in a while.

 Then I set out to do some work of my own... a viking style (Birka) pendant women´s knife. Zwissler damascus, tank cannon and 1.2842 steel.

 And my first ram´s head;-) my Czech knife already payed off!

It was, all in all, a very chaotic day, and I must confess, the chaos starts to get on my nerves, but it is always fun nonetheless. So I guess I´d rather take the chaotic style of Volker and the great working atmosphere instead of a professionally organized employer and no fun at all!