Another Hammer - In in the Industriemuseum Ennepetal - Weird and wonderful tales:-)

 It was the first Sunday of June, when the monthly Hammer - In was on schedule. Preceding the event was a bit of a disarray, for we were informed that we had to face something of a trial in the evening. It seemed then the head chairmen of the museum were not amused that we are making tools and knives and only some few pieces of jewellry- in fact, what inspiration makes us do- and that we were not members of the museum club. Those were the chief grievances. Some hints suggested that some of the smelters (I do not like categories at all, but I did not start it) were not so amused that we were having altogether too much fun. So, all in all, we were informed that it was play according to their rules or don´t play at all, and we had decided, if that´ll be the case, we´d rather play somewhere else. So, I contacted the guys and gals and informed them that this could as well have been the last time to meet in that museum. That turned out to be a real kick up the south end for the lot of them;-), for the smithy was brim full with people eager to make some noise. Sort of like the ultimately last ´Stones tournée...;-). Volker and Marcel with their little ones from Dortmund, Rolf from Münster, and people from as far as the North of Hessen came by. Daniel was there, Willi and myself, of course, Nick and many visitors, and, did we have fun? BOY, DID we!!! There were smiths from six to sixty years frequenting the smithy, and at times it was too full to properly work, the downside of it all.   

 Here Marcel checks the gas forge, which was roaring the whole day through.

 Willy doing some sanding of one of his miniatures.

 Rolf came by and had his knives and hatchets on display.

 He brought a new friend of his with him, whose name I unfortunately forgot, but he had two knives with him which left me flabbergasted!

 He does stock-removal for the most part, but hey... we are Borg... you are being assimilated. Resistance is futile;-)...

 I was most fond of this titanium slipjoint folder with next to no tolerances...

 The handle is titanium with a mirror(!) polish... schwweeeet!!!!;-)

 Since it was that full in the smithy, I grabbed the opportunity to have a decent lunch this time and to make the traditional photos of the historical automobile show.

 I was most fond of this carriage. Four horsepower, and is fueled by renewable resources;-).

 Trust those guys, they are in charge!

 Marcel forging a badass fighting knife.

 Did I say trust them...*ggg* Rolf doing a blacksmith´s interview...;-)

 BAM!!!!

 BAMBAMBAMBAM!!!!! Forging a setting hammer.

 Puky, the fly man;-) at the belt grinder...

 I was really delighted that my smithing groupie ;-)came by, too. He started smithing some years ago at an event I did for the Bethaus smithy, and, time passing by, he grows to maybe become a blacksmith himself. This is great to observe!

 Volker forging a badass birka style... er... sword???*ggg*

 Daniel showing Marcel´s son new tricks in an old trade...

 Nick having a go himself.

 Top to bottom: A forging exercise in brass Marcel´s son made, the monster Birka sword by Volker, a leaf and a blade by Marcel´s eldest son.

 And his youngest son having a go, too. It was a very friendly atmosphere the whole day through, an atmosphere of learning and creativity, and the youngest not only contributing the least to the latter. You can learn a lot from children, best when tutoring them freely!

 I did not achieve much that day, however, with quite a bit of tutoring and supervision and all that stuff;-). Then Julia, the Erdmuthe*ggg* came by, and I lent her an ear and a shoulder, and there was still some ordeal left.

When I went outside to meet with the second chairman of the museum to have a discussion, he greeted me in front of the café. Now Rainer is an enthusiastic smelter and historian and, no mistaking that fact, I pay him a huge amount of respect for what he does and what he is, and he is capable of some constructive discussion, too. I informed him that we would like to continue, but to be left to our own devices. His main concern was that everyone should wear proper safety gear, which catched me out cold, for I had forgotten my goggles and could not yet afford safety boots, mea culpa. But that´s no only fine with me, but one of my main concern, too. What made my day (and Willy´s, who came, too), was that they did not want us to make WEAPONS. Oh, pleeeaase, most of the blades we make are up to 10 cm in blade length. Other than that, the Ennepetal and Breckerfeld regions as well as the city of Hagen were leading regions of edged weapon and tool knife production from the early medieval ages, maybe dating as far back as the elder bronze age, up to early modernity, when the excellent bladesmiths of Hagen-Eilpe were recruited by some Mr. Eversmann (this will be dealt with in another historical post) to produce under the Tsar´s reign in St. Petersburg in the 19th century. Catch a glimpse of the art that might have been trademark of our region if they would have stayed here. The iron ore of the Breckerfeld region was famed throughout Europe and Russia. So, as we always refer to and lecture on that tradition, with not just a tiny bit of research done, I think we might have a legal reason. We will never, ever, make legally prohibited artifacts and weapons. Most of the stuff we make does not even have weapon characteristics (even that Birka saber;-) does not have) according to §§1, 42a WaffG (German offensive weapon act) and other laws. We told him, and offered to have a book handy in case anyone would ask. On that he agreed, and we parted as friends;-).

But it is unnerving still, and I daresay we do not have seen the last of it, for he is but a tiny cog in the machinery. We are enthusiastic about tutoring and doing something for a region that has social problems enough. We want to educate youngsters to achieve a socially adequate use of edged tools. We want to achieve a regional identity and identification with the region by the inhabitants, be they young or old. In fact, we have a dream: We would like to see old smiths passing on their knowledge to us and to the little ones.

With prejudice and fear we will not achieve this. But with education and hard work we will.

And if we are not welcome at one place, we will continue at another. We are many, and we have fun doing what we do, even if it is hard work at times. Handforging speaks louder;-) (Thanks, Joel, for that slogan, I really love it!!!*ggg*).

Then, suddenly, it was all over, and I saddled my steed to ride out into the sunset;-), and in the woods I sat and had a cuppa tea to calm down and to contemplate what the day meant to me, and to simply hear the birds singing.

First Forging Session of the season@Industriemuseum Ennpetal on 7th April

On 7th April, Willy, myself and many others will meet at the Industriemuseum Ennepetal again for the first Hammer-In of the season. There will be a historical automobile show, a crucible demonstration, handmade cake, sausage, bread and coffee alike, friendly people, and we will do demos of blacksmithing, knifemaking and history of iron culture in the region. Might be I´ll have a go at the "Knopmetz" project.

If you are around, you are welcome to pay us a visit!

Last Hammer-In of the Season in the Industriemuseum Ennepetal

 On Sunday it was that time of year again, and Willi and I met in the museum to have the last hammer-In of the museum season. I rode my bike to tha smithy, and was I motivated...? Not at all. But as is, my appetite for blackmithing grew with the work again...;-)

 Willi forged a Nessmuk blade out of some magic Wolfram steel;-). I look forward to the finished knife, bro!

 Our products on display. Willi had quite the assortment at hand, axes, hatchets, sickle, knives and tools and BBQ fork and pendants...

 I forged this leaf handled knife. Spring steel, 1 % stock removal, 110 mm x 4 mm recurve, spring steel with a selective temper (see another post!)

 The folks had a crucible roaring and a children´s program. It was quite busy in the hall...

 This is the hall. I really like those columns dating back to 1890 or so!

 Rainhard, the crucible master, makes those foxes... I have to get myself one, for I love foxes...*ggg*

 This is Rainhard´s wife selling those little goodies and books alike.

 The kids apparently had fun!

...and Willi does a new economic version of his pendant hatchets. C 45.

When I wanted to ride home, the sister of the head of museum stopped me in my tracks. Then followed a conversation like this:

"er... hullo, I want a word..."
"-yes, ma ´am?"
" Must you always make knives and tools?"
"We are knifemakers and bladesmiths, ma ´am, and we want to show that trade so that it does not die out completely. The museum knows that well."
"...but, I mean, can´t you do other work? I mean, hearts or pendants or snails or the like? Must you always make knives and tools?"
" Ma´am, as I said, we are here as knifemakers. We can also make anything else, provided we can use the smithy."
"You are there on the first Sunday! Can´t you produce pendants in this time, to sell for the museum?"
"We are involved in a demo and children´s program then."
"But you always make knives and tools!"
"Yes, ma´am, we are here as bladesmiths."
[insert a quarter of an hour of that type of conversation]

The culprit was, I agreed to make pendants just to get out into the rain. I was not overly enthused, for I work there without pay, since four years. It´s our own tools and forges in use for the museum. We pay gas and coal and material from our own money. No, I do not want to complain, for it´s fun. We get coffee and cake and sausage for free (after we fought for it), and the atmosphere amongst the smiths is really great. And, yap, we are bladesmiths. I love making knives, for to understand steel and the "name of iron" in heat treating, in forging and annealing and grinding and working with steel, wood, horn and antler, with copper, bronze, tin and leather is very broad and gives a vast room for my creativity. But it´s always the case in society: Stand out, and you shall be levelled out. I was half-mad with anger, but I choked my words and made for the trails home. As is customary for me, I stopped in the woods and took a deep breath.

Boy, am I glad I have a spare smithy to work in!

Rant over and out. I do not want to belittle the museum. They do a great job with little money, and there are a lot of friendly people around. Even that woman is a very nice person to boot, and I am not exactly angry with her personally. But that mindset is one I encounter ever so frequently, and it makes my life even more difficult. Even doing something for free and with enthusiasm does not warrant even that you can be left alone doing your work.

Hammer In in the Industriemuseum Ennepetal-Enter the Dothoppers;-)

 On the first Sunday of this month there was a hammer-In again in the Industriemuseum Ennepetal smithy. This time I did not much forging myself, and the reason was a most pleasant one. Willi was there, of course, and this was great in itself. Willi, it´s always a pleasure you are a difficult co - worker;-), and no irony intended. You make me a better smith and a better human.

Then Mark and Gesa with little Erik came by. Gesa has been a good friend for ages, and we shared a lot of laughs and tears and trail runs through the underbrush;-). Gesa is another great person, a mother with three children, and a victor over many blows of fate. Mark, her husband, once was my boss;-) as a master mason and always wanted to talk me into becoming a mason myself and to mess with the wrong kind of housewives, gah!*ggg* He is another beloved friend of mine. Unfortunately, they have moved to the utter North of Germany, and I have a flatland allergy;-). Little Erik was content to simply sit silently in the smithy and watch on. I went on with my forgework, for on the way to the smithy I had found an ancient piece of steel that wanted to become a knife. My plans were interrupted, for suddenly I looked up from my work and looked into the eyes of the most beloved person in my life.

Silently, smilingly, she stood there, accompagnied by the Dothoppers Erika and Hans-Jürgen - Drui. My gentle, intelligent, beautiful, skilled, tough, soft, hard, and always creative and productive Drui. I nearly fell arse over tit, I can tell you! So, I set aside my work and set to work on the Dothopper´s projects. Erika forged a bottle opener "for band use"*ggg*, and Hans - Jürgen made a scrollwork pendant. My Drui made a tiny fibula, so tiny in fact that you have to hold your breath not to inhale it*ggg* but insanities like that I am accustomed to when she is concerned*ggg*. My deep respect for a first try like that!

 It was a real joy to work together. This is something I value most in our relationship: That it does not end when the going gets tough. That we can have fun together, even when life´s a sucker encore un fois. It showed in the way we forged together, and it always gives me a lot of hope.

 Then it was a tour of the carpark, which was full of oldtimer automobiles. Erika especially enjoyed this ancient Volvo.

 Drui, in turn, was most fond of this tractor;-) how come?*ggg*

 Then we had a delicious cuppa coffee and a cake and a long chat. Then they had to go on the road again, for there was a journey to make for them... home to the South.

 And a journey for me to make, too, for it felt like a time travel to go back to the smithy. Willi had kept the fire burning and did his usual good job with kids.

But the steel was waiting also, patient, but roaring in the twilight, an ancient bar of crucible steel that had waited so long in the dark soil to become something; and so I continued with my work.

 A Birka style knife with a bushcraft pedigree. It is a style that seems very easy to make. But to make one that feels right is quite a different matter. To achieve balance and a comfortable handle design is very difficult. There is little room for correcting anything. It is all steel, and no compromise. It takes little energy to make one, but a lot of knowledge to get one right. Must I mention that I always have the impression that I do not quite succeed at it? The only Birka knives I have tested that really felt right were the ones by Thomas Hentsche or Mielenko Bednarcz. This one has a feel realively close to those, but there´s still a lot to learn for me. I was pleased by the outcome, but not content, if that makes any sense to you.

 Willi sold his mini axes like hotcakes that day. he also made a mouse and the pendant below.

 This knife is another example of one that "feels right". But it is not my style. Three-layer laminate, and Willi got it from a smith on a big Hammer-In.

It was kind of an unreal event. When we closed down the smithy, and I made for my  way home, I had a head full of thoughts, so I stopped in the woods to do some contemplation and stump - sitting.

And the green did what it always does.