The knife that happened... ;-)

 This is yet another tall Fimbulmyrk tale... but i daresay you´re accustomed to weird stuff like this by now. There are a lot of extremely weird coincidences in my life indeed... it all started with a hike from the bus stop  to the ironforge. I had a schedule what I had to make or what I at least planned to make. On the way I first encountered something. At first I thought it were a stray dog, but as I came closer I saw it was a fox, only that it was a blonde one. It was by absolute coincidence that I followed him for quite some time, until he made his merry way into the thicket.

I want to make sure you understand that I am not saying that this event had anything to do with what happened next. It is linked to the other event by mere coincidence of course. Or not at all. Near Gut Ahlhausen, the manor in the neighbourhood of the ironforge, I found a right treasure hoard of bloomery steel, among which there also was an ingot of already refined steel. It turned out to have an estimated carbon content of about 0,5-0,7%, and I could not resist probing it by forging a blade from it.

Now this is a very special event to me, and a very special steel. It was a bit like a belated birthday present. All you faithful readers of my blog are well acquainted to the fact that I am questing and researching on a local variety of rondel knife, the "Brakkersfelders Knopmetz" of old hanse provenience. And my research up to date has made it very plausible that this steel was - amongst other places - refined at the site of our ironforge. I state that due to the research I have made in the Civil Archive of the town of Breckerfeld and the Ennepetal Ironforge Chronicle from 1592 (fragment). The Manor of Ahlhausen was the property of the Duke of Bönen, who in that period of time also was patron of the ironforge. I found the bloomery steel on an ancient trail leading from the ironforge to the manor. So I was very excited that the steel I found is most plausibly the legendary steel from which the Brakkersfelders Knopmetz was made from!

And I could not resist forging an utility blade from it to test it and its properties. As I said, the spark analysis offeres clue that there was roundabout 0,5%-0,7% carbon in it. The steel, although wrought, reacted quite nicely to the forging process, with a temperature window from 900-1100°C. It offered a strange resistance to the hammer, an indication of high ductility. In the forging process there was one layer coming off, which I rewelded in the forge using Borax as flux. It welded very nicely and evenly, even if it was done the dirty way with no grinding beforehand.

 It did not move that well under the hammer, too. Annealing after the forging process was done in 8 cycles, bringing it up to dull orange and letting it cool besides the forge and then at room temperature, which then was about 25°C. After achieving a softness that made it possible to work it with a file easily, it was ground. Forging to final shape, by the way, had been done nearly 90% beforehand, so little grinding was required. Then I did a probing quench in lard with additional tempering from the heat in the spine and some heating over the open forge, until a blue hue was achieved. This turned out to be too much, so I repeated the quench and just tempered to a golden hue. The blade appeared too soft afterwards still (testing by slamming it edge first into mild steel rods).

 So I annealed it once again, and, gathering my resolve, did a selective water quench, first with a long temper to a blue hue, then again to a golden hue.

 Afterwards the blade still dented when I slammed it into iron rods. A file was able to take off shavings, not as easily as before, but still far too easy.

Bummer, I thought, you have messed that one up and was right mad with myself for that.

48h later I tested again. Still denting on steel rods, but now it chops stag antler without denting, carves the spine of selectively tempered spring steel knives, and the file slides off with the minutest of shavings. A knife of defined 58HRC can carve the edge of the knife, but a Karesuando blade of 12C27 with an estimated hardness of 57HRC just slips off. Blimey, what´s that, I said, and tried to carve the 58HRC blades edge... and it bit. From all I can know I would estimate it to 54-56HRC, but that last feature simply is not logical. My theory is that the blade is not that hard, but makes up for what it lacks in hardness in tensile strength and ductility. The fact that it dents on iron rods but chops stag antler and carves spring steel could maybe be explained by the composite nature of wrought iron. Some areas dent, others do not. It´s not a homogenous material after all! Bending it to 15° showed no adverse effects, slamming it tip first into hardwood and levering it out bent the first millimeter of the tip, but left the knife unaffected otherwise.

Be it as it may, for a 16th century steel this would have been state of the art.

Now I have made a big fuss in the beginning of this article by saying that there was just a coincidence, and the events are not linked to each other, and from a logical point of view, this cannot be supported. But then I can say I have never searched and researched consciously for that steel. It just came to be. It just happened. Word led me from word to word, deed led me from deed to deed. It has been a fairy tale so far, and it still is. And in this fairy tale there´s another story that goes like this:

"once upon a time, in a land far away and around the next corner..."

It just happened. t occured to me. Again, and I like it. ;-)

We are told a lot of lies these days. I daresay I´ll stick to my fairy tales more from now on... ;-)

The quest for the "Brackersfelder Knopmetz" - an iron hike

 Kai called the other day if I was in the mood for a hike and some looting and pillaging;-), and it turns out I was;-). So he fetched me by car and we drove out into the hills.

 By the road we found woodworking bum´s paradise....

 We were not exactly sure what wood this was, but it looked great for sure, and Kai took home a huge pile of it. I took a piece of dog rose wood (rosa canina). Then we made for the city of Breckerfeld to do a bimble on the historical trail too have a lookout if we could find signs of the old Hanse trail, ruins and geological info on the iron ore and the potential steel quality of the famed "Breckerfelder" iron ore.

 This certainly is no iron ore, but it hinted we were on the right path, for the red ochre in it hints of bog iron ore. At least in the find context of Breckerfeld it does. It was a bit tricky, for it had snowed and little was visible.

 The historical trail lies somewhat submerged in the underbrush, and it was quite difficult to follow. Here we paused to take a look at the creek, and there we found some first examples of bog iron ore.

 The trail lead into the thicket, and since it´s not quite fair to shy away animals in winter, we did not venture any farther.

 In the next creek we found this very interesting piece of ore. Its frontside was a rich rust-coloured red, and the backside was a quartz stone. Processing this ore would have meant that the resulting steel would have a silicium content. Silicium makes a steel more flexible while reducing the size of carbides. Nearby we found some more stones with a hint of Manganese. The secret of the Breckerfelder steel, provided this ore (of which I found several examples) was processed at a larger scale, would then be a very fine crystalline structure and material properties similar to 1.2842, O1 or common spring steel, depending on the contents. No wonder it became a legend in that time. A steel like this would have provided a high degree of flexibility and a fine edge.

[edit:]I also learned that Manganese might also be responsible for a Carbide-buildup which is characteristical for Wootz steel, which is famed for its edge-holding and flexibility properties!

 In the creek we found some beautiful ice crystals I simply want to share.

 We passed by the ancient cabin and this huge spruce, ancient and benevolent guided us farther into the valley.

 More bog iron ore and more ice crystals.

 See the greenish side of the left piece of ore-it´s mossy quartz.

 In the creek, life well prospers. I take those to be leeches and water worms. I know much too little about the fauna in creeks and want to learn more about them. Of course I put the stones back into the creek!

 Then we drove home. The next day I went there again. Forgot my camera, but this is what I found there:

 An ingot! I will try to forge a blade from it....

Watch this space, the quest has just begun!

Through the dark and onto the storm-ridden heath

On Monday I felt the urge to leave the city and its distractions and the sound of ever-present doom, and took the bus into the hills. It was raining, and relatively warm, and I packed some extra clothes and a flask of tea. I ventured to a place near Breckerfeld I had not seen in a while, and followed a not commonly known historical trail into the Steinbach valley, a remote place with dark forests and a lively and vibrantly singing creek. The trail is an ancient trader´s route, frequented in the late medieval ages by the Hanse, and even earlier, I guess, for there is the site of a prehistoric hill - fort, the Wenkenburg. It is also very interesting that along that ancient trail the primary products of trade in the medieval ages were transported, and those were knives and daggers. The "Breckerfelder", presumeably a short dagger or knife was a product of export of that era (1400-1543) that even was traded as far as Riga, London, Wisby and Novgorod. All over the place so-called "Sinnerhoopen" (slag heaps) can be found. In the region, and even in this valley, bog iron was smelted to a steel of premium quality which was either sold as raw material to the sword- and knifesmiths in Cologne and Solingen or processed in smithies in Breckerfeld, which were situated outside the city´s wall, due to the danger of inflammation. Even to this day, the woods bear the impression of coaling and the crop-change agrary symptomatic of the coaling and smelting regions. The trees that grow there are often hardwood such as beech, oak and other woods suited for coaling, and the underbrush bears the stamp of those times, too. The trail I followed, however, was different at first with ancient fir and spruce. I like these trees, especially the sound the wind makes when it sings in the treetops. It was the first sound I ever consciously heard when I opened up my eyes to this funny life;-) after all, so I might be forgiven;-).

The historical trail runs somewhat lower than this, and I took some time to explore. I met an elderly gentleman who saw me fumbling my camera and, with a sneer, addressed me if my GPS did not work. He laughed. I then showed him that it was a camera, and he said: "You are lost, are you?" I smiled politely and said that I grew up there and knew all the woods from Hagen ´til Wuppertal like the back of my hands. It did not bother him any, and he described me the way into a direction I did not even want to go! Strange.;-) Then he told me that he had to discipline himself for he had to train for mountaineering and that he was on a "march". When he told me (without me saying so much as a word) he went on and described where he intended to go, and how fast, and why. Then it was his biography, and familiar and private relations and the like. Do not get me wrong, he also told me some valuable facts about the history of the trail (which I already knew, but he could not know that), and it was not uninteresting, but when he left, I was standing still in a state of wonder. I just hope he would find someone to share his thoughts and feelings, he appeared so lonely and lost. I sincerely wished him all the best, and he went on his merry stride. When he left, I was standing there and had to take in the silence and solitude like a drowning person would take in air. It´s a weird place, this society. If more people actually listened, and less people were constantly rushing about and in a hurry to buy and sell and buy and sell some more, the world would definitely be a better place. I just hope he finds it in him to rush a little less, for instance not in the woods...;-)

I then went on my merry way, and I came across this old cabin, which I have never seen open in my entire life. It is a great place, and I´d love to spend some days there, but all of my research had led to nothing to date. But we´ll see what I can do....;-)

This is a poem that reads:

"Hei, Ihr lieben Wandersleut,

Ihr seid hier gern, was mich sehr freut.

Doch geht Ihr nach verdienter Pause

Erst durch den Wald und dann nach Hause,

So hätt´ich an Euch eine Bitt:

Nehmt bitte Euren Abfall mit!"

"Hello, my dear hiking folk,

You love to be here, and that pleases me.

But if you go home after rest,

Through the woods, then I´d find best

You took home with you your trash"

The cobwebs indicate that it has been quite some time someone was there. Perfect...;-)

Near the stump of a nearby tree, there lived a.... don´t have a clue, really. Do you?

And the trail went ever on and on, and I trod tracks seldom trodden;-). Whereever there was a hint of a Sinnerhoopen or a coaling site, I had a look, wherever my curiosity led me, I went.

Then I came across this piece of roe deer, already picked clean, presumeably by a fox, for I found excrements nearby. I left it be where it was and made to the top of the hill. On a storm-ridden heath I put my blanket on a stump, and wrapped in another and put an extra sweater on, and there I sat to contemplate and to take in the wind and the silence and the solitude in deep breaths, and out came the tea. It is funny. The weather was certainly nearing the fouler end of the scale, but something as simple as a warm blanket and a hot cuppa tea can do so much for your contention. I felt as smug and sound as if I sat at home in my living room, more so, in fact.

The sun was sinking, and the light went dim. Clouds were racing above, and the wind howled its song in the sodden shadows of reeds that were an overwhelming garden in summer.

And light and shadow battled in the sky. Spring is growing stronger, but winter reigns still.

Slowly, but surely, the light came peeping through the clouds. But shadow does not admit defeat easily...

I was getting colder, and it was getting dark, and with the last rays of the storm-ravaged sun I made for my way home.

It was a wonderful hike with a lot to think about, and this place has not seen the last of me. I also hope to find some more information on the knifemaking history of Breckerfeld, and I´d love to make my own interpretaion of a "Breckerfelder" short-knife. I also hope to find a folder or something like that in the local museum I could be inspired by...;-) we´ll see how it goes...;-) In any case you will be informed!