From the flames a beast is born-Seax collaboration

I feel very privileged to have made the acquaintance of Ambar Bahadur Bishwokama, a very accomplished swordsmith and knifemaker from Kathmandu and owner of KC Nepal (https://nepalkhukurihouse.com/). It´s obviously that I have developed a fascination with Nepalese cutlery and with the hard-working craftsmen who are able to create beautiful knives with next to no equipment. This is an inspiration to me, and this is what "Tribal Knifemaking" as we Westerners call it out of a grave misunderstanding, is all about. We tend to see this as romantic, but it is not. It is the way these guys make a living. And in my opinion, they can be very proud. It is not about the fancy tools, it is in the skills that make the knife.

Coincidentally, I also feel very privileged to have made the acquaintance of some Ms. Janet Fischer ;-), owner of www.nordisches-handwerk.de, retailer of fine Scandinavian and bushcraft knifes, materials and fine art in Germany, and chance is, they had a design for a seax lying about don´t doing anything. Some PMs on facebook later and we had a collaboration going, not always easy, but a communication no less (message included for a mad world). In fact, Ambar went outright enthusiastic about the knife and forged away in no time. 





The knives are made from high-carbon spring steel. And next time you whine about not having the equipment to start making knives or tools better shut up- this is how they do it the traditional way. Those are exactly the same tools common in Europe in the viking age. So, while the design of the knife might not exactly be period, the manufacturing process is actually nearly the same as they might have done it in the viking age.

Safety boots? Quit whining! Roughing out the tang... fullering tool? What you need is a hammer and tongs-and skill.
 


The handle roughly hewn...



...would not stay that way for long!

The finshed product surely does not fill the bill of some showcase viking, and of course it would not do for museum reenactors. Taking some liberties, you could see it as similar to some Anglo-Saxon types (See: Wheeler Seax typology)

But keep one thing in mind: In general, you can get a lot of knives for reenactment camp chores. And a lot of them are crap. I am meaning no offence, but there are a lot of smiths on reenactment frairs around thes parts who are better at drinking than at smithing, so to say. This knife is made like a Khukuri and quenched in the same manner. I hope to be able to provide you with a video of a brutal test soon. As far as I can say for now, I am very intrigued by the knife and that does not happen easily! 

You can get them soon from www.nordisches-handwerk.de in the shop or you can write them an Email at kontakt [ätt) nordisches minus handwerk dot de. 

New hadseax for Tina

 This is a knife I made for a friend of the magic troll´s and me, a reenactor of Celtic culture and aspiring Viking ;-). The seax is made from steel I found in the woods, and which is apparently crucible Damascus.

 The handle is reindeer antler and birchwood burr.

 I carved a little dragon knotwork in...

 ...and fitted a raw garnet in the butt cap...

 The knife is rather thin and cuts very good. It´s roundabout 85x3mm long and thick with a high, almost flat convex bevel which should serve her well when carving, preparing food and other chores.

I just hope she likes it... I had to rush it some and I am not that content as always... but I guess she will...

New hadseax with treasures of the deep

 This is a very special knife with a strong historical background. The blade is made from crucible steel I found in the woods and a middle layer of 100Cr6 ball bearing steel, 90mm long making for a great everyday companion. The ferrule is from the new knifemaking supplier in my hometown, Hennes & Mauritz. Oi there, give me a break, was that H&M?

Yap, it was, the ferrule is a fashion jewellery finger ring made from actual bronze.;-) I was quite enthused to find it and had that idea nagging at the back of my brain the whole time. The handle is made from bog walnut from the lake I lived beside for most of my life. The dam had to be repaired, and when it had dried out, I found the wood of a WWII 98k carbine´s stock. After trying to give it to three museums in the vicinity, I simply kept it, and since it was gravely damaged I decided I´d do that swords to plowshares - thing and make a knife´s handle from it. 

 Into the pommel I fitted a blood agate I found myself on the banks of the river Rhine in Cologne. A bit too much glue still...

 The blade has a severe taper from some 6 mm to zero.

 Here you can see that I still have a lot to learn how to forge a three-layer-laminate. To me it is an absolute challenge, even more difficult than to forge Damascus, because it is quite hard to get the symmetry right. Also, when forging Damascus, you can drive out any impurities in the weld in the process, but with a three-layer laminate it has to be right on first try.

Having tested it, I can safely say it´s one of the sharpest blades I have ever forged. The tip got a bit too hot when grinding, so I had to cut off a mm or so, but now it does what it should and more.

What I like best about this knife, while it does the cutting, it is also a constant reminder to me of several things. When I look at it, I remember the moon over the silent lake, the hooting of owls, the flittering of sun on the waves and ripples. I again see what I have first seen in my life-treetops of the pines and furs gently moving in the summer wind, I smell the smell of resin and mould. But I also smelled the stench of gunpowder when I worked on it. The gun it once held had fired a lot and got hot in the process, so much in fact that the smell became a part of the wood. This wood had once been a walnut tree swaying in the breeze. The gun had presumeably taken a lot of lives. When the alliance came to free Germany, the soldier who had used it threw it into the lake. Dark and still, it guarded its treasures and curses of the deep. It is safe to say that the soldier who threw this gun into this lake had been not a big-term Nazi functionary, and if he performed any deeds of heroism, those might well be those of an everyday sort. Might be he killed with a feeling of guilt. Might be he killed with a feeling of purpose. Might be he just tried to survive as best as he could, as most soldiers did and still do. The dark and deep abyss has kept the secret. The secret is a part of the wood, as is the secret of walnut leaves swaying in the wind. There are stories in the wood of children scooping up the walnuts or might be a farmer and many farmers or might be it was harvested on an industrial scale, which is most probable. And just like the wood, the stone in the pommel had also been washed up by the stream, secret in secret and  stories and tales. This is the real power of this knife. It is a weaver of nets, of webs, of dread and dreams and joy, a teller of secrets. It is a key to hidden doors of copper on an iron hill with a golden lock. It remembers the abyss and its secrets but it now lives again, not as a weapon in the first, but as a companion for a dreamer.

And last night when I went for a short stroll into the woods, I heard the cat-owl hoot.

New damascus hadseax completed

 It has been some time going, but here it is: Finally the Damascus hadseax I started some time ago. The blade is 1.2842 and rebar, 60 layers, selectively tempered and carburized in the forge, handle has Mokume gane bolster and buttcap, reindeer antler and yew fittings.

 I had a go at carving again, and while there´s still a lot of room for improvement, I notice some progress and hope to be able to do some more complex work soon.

The tang is riveted against a Mokume Gane buttcap, own work, copper and silver.

The yew handle is treated with my own version of violin finish:

1 grain Mastix or Dammar
1 grain Daemonoropos draco (dragon´s blood)
1 grain turpentine resin
1 grain beeswax
1 teaspoon boiled linseed oil
ca. 3 cl isopropylen or ethanol or other until the whole mess is soluted.

I also used the concoction for tanning the carving.

News from the magic troll´s shop;-)

 Now this is a blade I made for the magic troll...;-) A Seax, three layer laminate, carburized spring steel / mild steel, 120x 3mm or something. This is after she polished it some.

 In the meantime she made this at Susanne´s shop...Susanne is a friend of hers, a gold smith tutoring her a bit... and seeming to learn summat, too;-).

 Then the magic troll made this out of my crappy steel;-).

 I LOVE those carvings.

 ...lost for words...

Am I proud? BOY, am I!!!!;-)

AYAHI-and yet another hammer-in;-)

 After the Solingen Knife expo (see monster post;-), we decided to do some forging again and met at the smithy. Volker was already busy with the kids, so we geared up, and got at it. Nick was there, and he is making some huge process. Great to see, how well he gets along with the kids, too! He forged some pendants, chain links for "The chain";-), oh so little knife-lookalikes from mild steel (that´s easier to forge for the kids, and by  cold-working the edge even cuts a little), snakes, awls, and the like.

 I was taking it easy a little, doing some "making" work and less smithing, like grinding and polishing this three-layer laminate, spring and mild steel. I experimented with some pattern-controlling. Did not work out quite the way I wanted, for the laminate is a bit off - centre, but I guess, it´s a learning process, and there´s a lot to learn still.

 Then I worked on the handle of those two Kopis knives. Above is a damascus blade, 115x2,4mm, bronze fittings, volcanic fibre, mule deer antler, and below is the would-be "Uhlenfang", "Plattdiütsch" a Northern German branch of language dating back to ancient continental Saxon, meaning  "owl´s fang".High carbon steel given to me by the forest, 120mm long with a distal taper from 8mm at the handle to 2,4 mm at the tip which might be crucible steel, for it shows a pattern, Mokume Gane, and reindeer antler.

 I made a buttcap for Uhlenfang to peen the tang over. Not that it needs it, but I like the looks;-). It´s Mokume Gane also, not yet etched.

 A fork I made quick and dirty for the barbecue after work... this tends to become a tradition, and I don´t complain...;-).

 Then I redid the edge bevel on the knife of Kathrin, Nick´s woman. Volker provided us with a steady flow of caffeine, so much in fact that it became hard on my stomach and I had to decline...;-) imagine that!

 Those two girls came over all the way from France to visit the smithy!

 But there also were kids from the neighbourhood... many are not here for the first time, and drop by whenever possible. This is the best compliment we can get.

 The young ladies enjoyed the work thoroughly.

 We forged hearts and a pendant, and it was fun to work with those two.

 Then the dale fell silent, and I set out to normalize the Seax I forged recently. I am currently thinking of how to fit a handle. I am fond of the Torgard seax, but also like the ones from Lembeck... we´ll see how it goes;-). It´s made from spring steel, with a rather thick spine and a medium length.

Then Goldemar obviously rode me;-) and I started a damascus billet from 1.2842 and mild steel. No progress shots yet, but it´s in the making, and I´ll keep you informed. Nick was getting somewhat hungry and started the BBQ fire, while I was firing away and salting;-). Do you know that feeling, when you were a kid, and were drawing away at arts classes, and completely lost in the work, and the teacher called "Now, lads and lassies,  should you come to an end...". I hated that feeling. It was not without humour that the situation remineded me of that;-), when Nick sat  there waiting (and making no secret of the fact*ggg*). Then I ran out of Borax, and had to close up. Crazier still, the stuff I thought was Borax was no Borax, and as I used it as a flux, resulted in a stench of flowers and the cockrot;-). The billet came apart at the end as a result, but I will try to weld that back on again. Just an exercise is all...

I was feeling all fluffy from the effort anyway, so I cleaned up, with great help from Nick, and we finally got to the point of grilling. I had prepared some champignons with a stuffing with cheese, lard, wild herbs, garlic, onions and cream, Nick had brought steaks and stuffed baguette, and Volker provided us with beer. Renate soon joined us, we had a simple but magnificient meal together, and chatted and laughed and generally enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Then suddenly it was all over, and I saddled my steed and rode home, with a big gratefulness for the fact that life, while being a right bastid from time to time, generally is a great place.

On the bench these days... Wootz / Bulat-blades from steel I found in the woods

 I can tell you, I nearly fell on my south, when I learned the "crap steel" I found in the woods actually was refined Wootz! In the etch you can see the characteristical carbide distribution...Click here for a scientific article on Wootz / Bulat / Pulad steel.

 Even if it were not this kind of steel, there´s be no harm done, for it makes for a blade that wickedly sharp and holds an edge very well. Okay, so it got some dents, when I slammed it full bore into an iron rod, especially to the rear, where it did not hit the tempering concoction fast enough, but no harm done... when´s the last time you used a knife to chop through iron rods?;-)

 I fitted a stag antler handle that´s currently being tanned.

 The spine´s rather thick at 5mm, the blade´s 95 mm long. I love the Kopis design, for it makes for a smooth cutting motion!

 And my hadseax is there, finally, and talk of being snobbish, the damascus is of ancient file steel and Wootz steel... as I have learned now. It is wickedly sharp, flexible and boy, I simply love it.

 If you look closely you can see hints of the wootz structure in the layers.

 Okay, I have to remove that glue;-)!!!

The blade´s 105 mm long and 3,2 mm thick, has a high convex bevel with a very slight curve. The handle is bog oak from an old mine with a lovely burgundy colour. Fitting and bolster are brass, the white piece is reindeer antler that will see some carving. Watch this space, I am back...!(that a threat?);-)