It was that time of year again, and I had some time for a change. The fair at Krenzer Hammer ironforge, another historical smithy in the Ennepetal, which is still producing most excellent blacksmithing tools, with an own lineup and for Ridgid and Peddinghaus. Look here for more info:
www.krenzer-hammer.de
When I got up, however, I was not overly fond of meeting up with a bunch of people, so I was being late for the rendezvous with Nick and Natalie, Willy´s daughter. No harm done at all, I thought, and went for the bimble solitarily...
The woods were vibrant with light, and a heavy peace was enshrouding the atmosphere, heavy with the perfumes of late summer, and the faint singing of the birds filled my heart with the oh so needed peace.
By the trailside there was an old beam from a railroad track, and I found these old clamps, which were in use pre-1950, so it can be quite probable that this is something high-carbonish... ;-)
The trails were enchanted with dazzling light. Most interesting are the remnants of the old iron mines that are barely visible to a neckid eye...
Like this, see? ;-) those ditches and dents and small heaps of stone hint of a very long mining history.
...
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The entrance to one of the old mines. Now they are a habitat for bats and small nocturnal animals.
I really took in the solitude and silence and the vibrant colours of the woods.
Through the thicket I went...
...and on one of the main trails I met with Natalie, Jonas and Nick. It was a jolly meeting, and we had some good-natured chats and traded some weirdo jokes, and Jonas got himself some spalted oak for knife handles.
Then we arrived at the fair, where there was a lot of crafts going on. Julia and Kathrin went there by bike and were already attending tutorials in flute - making.
I had a chat with this lady who gave me some valuable insight on the making of glass - beads.
Woodwork on display...
Rolf was there doing some leatherworking tutorials for kids...
...and Meinhard, who is now going semi-professional with his knifemaking. He had a lot of goodies on display!
I especially liked those wharncliffe designs he made from old sawblades...
But also this big Damascus hunting knife.
Meinhard and Rolf are absolutely obsessed with knives and knifemaking, and they are nice guys to boot! Here Meinhard shows off one of the big choppers Rolf is making from a new kind of steel with an abnormous degree of edge resistance...
Rolf is also doing some restoring work onb those old and beloved grandpa´s knives: Old and new! he does a very great job and yap, while I have an altogether different approach to knifemaking I daresay I can learn a lot from him still.
The big choppers. Rolf is full-on sole-author and makes the sheaths himself.
Also some more handy knives, by the way... a German Jagdnicker design.
...licce skinner... with ivory scales (with CITES).
One heck of a cool hatchet!
This is Rolf´s maker´s mark in copper. He also does them in tin and silver.
More to my liking is this more neo-retro design... forged from an old file.
and a neck knife design...
Thern we met up with JUlia, Nick and Natalie... and had a chat of sorts, but soon split up again to browse the aisles.
...back to Rolf´s and meinhard´s, that is... ;-)
Rolf did a lot of tech talk and tutoring and provided customers not only with the goodies to start knifemaking but also with a lot of info on it. My respect goes to him for that!
All in all, it was some nice day to boot. I got myself a new forging hammer and a lot of inspiration.
