Ilkka Seikku´s got a blog!!!!!

I have long become an avid fan of Ilkka Seikku. I just love the knowledge, versatility and no-frills appearance of his woodcraft tools, and I keeplearning from his vast treasury of woodcraft skills, but ranting over and out, now he´s got a blog, so anyone could go and have a look and build an opinion for oneself:

http://rautasarvi.blogspot.de/2013/12/metso-primitiivi-jousella-copyrights-by.html?showComment=1389038070726#c5628810110846854675

I especially love the post about the bush prowler knife, a favourite of mine.

http://rautasarvi.blogspot.de/search?updated-min=2014-01-01T00:00:00%2B02:00&updated-max=2015-01-01T00:00:00%2B02:00&max-results=1

A dark day in the smithy and the birth of a bush proto;-)

I went to the smithy on Sunday to prepare some work and to help out smithing. Michael was there, and we did a children´s birthday party that day. The I forged pendants, ear hangers and the like for the upcoming Chrismas fairs we will forge on.

And, feeling very inspired by Ilkka Seikku´s knives, I started myself a bushcraft design. Not wanting to simply copy another knife, I contemplated what was proprietary to my style and what I wanted to achieve with it while sharing some characteristics with the intent in Ilkka´s knives. It shall be long enough to be useable, rugged, but an able cutter. To achieve that, I chose spring steel that I tempered selectively. I am also fond of a slight recurve design and I figured I wanted a finger grove for the index finger and a milder version of the handle shape I have come to like as quite ergonomic.

All the while the forging fest with the kids went on, and I helped out whatever I could.

The forge had been repaired by Viktor. I really love the versatility and the simplicity of a forge with no electricity. It could work just about anywhere, and I like that.

Renate, Volker´s girlfriend, provided us with a steady flow of caffeine... man, I drank like a gallon of the java stuff! Was feeling slightly queasy afterwards...*ggg*

That´s the downside of working with a low-key forge and anthracite coke: If you go for a leak or have to do some filing, you have to build a wood fire to keep it going....

The weather was foul the whole day through. It was very dark, and a bit of a drizzle fell from time to time, but no harm done, really.

As you can see, the knife´s forged into shape with little stock removal required once again.

I also made some copper ferrules for a certain Sgian Dhú ;-). It was some strenuous work, but a very satisfying day.

A flaming autumn day´s ride, trail etiquette, cuppa tea and knife testing with a sundown as icing-perfect, I´ll take it.

 Yesterday, th sun was out and the day exploded with colours ever so vibrantly. I am currently depressed quite often, what with neither time nor money resulting in longtime "friends" taking their excuse, so to say, and grey weather in the bargain.

But one thing has always been certain to me: The woods are out there, and the spruce tops are singing in the wind. It was the first sound in my life I heard, for after I was born in hospital, I lived in the forest for 33 years. I think to remember opening my eyes from a sleep that was deeper than life, and awakening to the wonder of green, with the vibrantly green leaves and the dark green of the spruce and fir tops moving in a breeze. There were runes there I could not decipher, and of runes i knew not in the first place, but I was calm immediately and looked at the gently moving signs amazed. It is a world that has always embraced me, and it was never natural for me to live in a city, and all the roaring noise frightened me as a kid. Now, as someone who is seen as an adult;-), I know exactly why it frightened me. I overcame my fears and now there is but a mild pity left for the ways of modern day man, and, with a sense of self - irony I realize that I am part of the whole mess already. I have to, as anyone has to, at least to a certain degree, partake in the everyday madness.

And yet, the woods are waiting. They are not self - conscious. They just exist. They are not nice, and you might die there as well as live, and the trees and beasts could not care less. But if you really want to, you can become a part of it all, and all that will not matter any more. It is not important if you are "but" a newborn child or a grown individual, in fact, you stand more of a chance understanding it as a whole if you see it with the eyes of a newborn child. And since it is not possible to refer to that phenomenon intelligently, for it is autotelic, I will shut up about that for now and tell you about the ride.

 I rode towards the hills, and I was quite exhausted, but I carried on and made it into the woods.

 I was rewarded ever so richly with the flaming gold of a low sun in a crystal-blue sky. The air was cold and frisky, and every silhouette was standing out clear and sharp in this clean atmosphere. This space made me breathe deep and calm, and, even if the trail went uphill quite technically challenging, I managed without a dabbing of a foot. Then I saw two horseback riders approaching in the distance. Noticing one of the horses was rather shy, I pulled to the side of the trail to let them pass and waved them on. As they passed, we had a chat, and this chat turned out in a way chats like this unfortunately have a habit of turning out; both of them were quite amazed that I had let them pass and had some friendly words for them, for normally mountainbikers yell at them, slam into their horses (which is a most silly thing to do, for who wants to be confronted with a ton of whinnying, kicking, biting, half - mad horse must have but some three brain cells, and those situated in the Amygdala at best), find it funny to scream at the horses while passing at top speed from behind. I have to believe those two horseback riders (and the many others I have talked to, and I sometimes feel ashamed for my "fellow" mountainbike riders. Many are Testosterone-blind morons only interested in their own "fun", which mostly consists in putting the hurt to their "fellow" riders. In my time in the club I have encountered every facet of antisocial behavior, from slightly moron to outright dangerous, from relishing in hurting others up the hill to leaving injured riders with a wrecked bike in the middle of nowhere and laughing afterwards about that while telling the tale, to spooking horses and destroying private property just in the name of the almighty "fun". Those individuals are, in my book, retarded, anti - social, superficial arseholes. I have worked for trail access since 1990, I have worked for bettering the communication between the "user" groups of the woods, and, for the most part, have lived to the IMBA rule codex.

I took my trash home.
I controlled my speed.
I respected other trail users.
I avoided shortcuts and stuck to the trails.
I avoided offensive behavior such as yelling, skidding, and jumping at the encounter of other trail users.
I only modified trails with the permission of the land owner / the forest bureau or rebuilt the natural state after doing so.

Of course, there are morons amongst the other user groups as well, but, hey, if you do not communicate, you cannot better any situation. And if you behave like an asshole, you deserve to be treated as one, mountainbiker or not.

The culprit is, I had a chat with those two horseback riders, told them to address the website www.mtb-hagen.de in case they had one of those unfortunate encounters again, we wished each other to have a fine day and went on our merry way, content with the fact that we had done something good. Simple as that. And it does not mean you can´t have fun. I had. I took the next trail down the hill, and really let loose.

But, if you don´t know what brakes are for, you should not ride a bike. Period. I know, and if anyone asks, I will teach anyone, for free even if you ask politely enough.

But, as is my wont these days, shredding simply does not suffice all of the time. So I visited my oaken friend atop the hill overlooking that lake (I hope you appreciate I spared you another picture of the vista*ggg*). There, I had a cuppa tea (ten, in fact;-)), an apple and some bannock, and out came the bush knife for some testing.

 It´s the one I made in the Bethaus smithy the other day. I put a bevel on it (not that it needed it:-), take note I was proud:-/)

 I did a quick leather wrapping to the handle and it was ready to go.

 Spine thickness is about 6mm. The blade is 140 mm long, and made from selectively tempered spring steel that has seen some very conservative heat treating. It supports my weight. As a prybar, it´s a cinch!

 First came the prying test. I slammed it up to 1 cm into that log and levered the tip out-no damage whatsoever. In fact, I kicked it with my boots to pry it out. No harm done.

 Then I hacked halfway through that log. Then I realized that a cylindrical handle shape as with that knife is not feeling exactly right for that kind of task. Also, I blistered my hand on the sharp butt of the handle. Not so good. What was more grave is that it did not shave after that. But I forgot to test sharpness before, so it might as well be the bevel was not fine enough in the first place. I have to check it out encore un fois at home.

I leant the ride gainst a tree and snuck inside the stems of the three-stemmed oak...

 I sipped my tea and savoured the golden light and the fading warmth. Then I had the sensation of warmth radiating from the bark of the tree itself, and not only the energy it had stored from the light of the sun. It warmed me from my belly up, my heart as well as my head. I smiled, had another swig of tea and thanked the tree for its gift.

 It has been the source of many mocking, cynical remarks by many people I met, but, yes, I love trees. I love them as a piece of creation, as my fellow beings, and for no reason especially as well.

 In the depth of the bark, there were tiny ants squirrelling along, and in the cold autumn air some few midgets were dancing their strange dances, their wings translucent with flaming, golden light.

 There are worlds inside worlds, worlds above, inside and neighbouring, life everywhere even in the autumn, even in winter. Life itself is wonderful and deserves better than the ridiculous mess humans make of it.

I then really enjoyed practicing my feather stick skills with my new Nessie. It makes some really delicate shavings. It feels light and nimble. Not a knife for hacking, though, even if batoning works quite well, too. There are better whittlers, too, due to the offset of the edge line, but you can grow accustomed to that. I think I´ll make more like this...

 Then the sun was sinking, and I relished in the vibrating colours.

 I put my headlamp on and made for the trail home. By the way, I was on the road with the last shred of light. I have, of course, done rides where I could not avoid being in the forest after dark with a torchlight on, but doing so scares the animals, who need all the rest they can get in winter. So please, if you have any sense in you, do not ride at max speed with max headlight on through the woods. Going silently and unlighted is another matter, if you can do so, or, if you must, stick to fireroads that are also widely frequented during the day. That way, animals can grow accustomed to your impact and do not panic all the time.

 Overlooking the hills of home with the last shred of light.

It was a beautiful day, and a solemn calm filling me up to the brim. Of course, all the peace in my heart did wear off suddenly with my next encounter with the next urban human, but that´s another story, and it´s not worth telling at all.

The light, however, and the energy of the trees, are mine. And noone can ever take it from me.

Another day in the smithy-some musings on steel qualities and how to forge a Tai - Goo - style bush knife..

 On Tuesday, Istopped by the Bethaus smithy do do some projects for myself. First and foremostly, I had that urge again to do another bush knife;-), but I also tempered the leaf handled Kopis knife I made on Sunday, and a Nessmuk design knife with a flat tang. Then I took the uppermost piece of spring steel and set out to forge a hollow tang bush knife after Tai Goo.

 First I forged the blade part and set it to be about half the width of the handle part. A tip was then forged.

 Then the tang part was flattened, and, with the help of a hardy device, rolled onto itself. You can also use a vice with the jaws slightly apart. Use the peen of the hammer to do the preform. Then you can use the anvil´s surface to roll it onto itself. Be careful to execute the same number of blows on both sides.

 Then the blade was forged, and at the end of the handle a hook was formed to prevent a wrapping from sliding off, the handle being not conical. The blade itself was forged to edge. This knife was already ready to use after forging with no stock removal, and no, I am NOT going to tell you how I did it;-). There was clay involved, so much I can say;-).

The knife will get a ground edge surface, though, to enhance the geometry and get rid of some irregularities in the edge line, though. The blade has a selective temper.

Now to the steel: I find I use spring steel ever more often, in fact, I realize that there is all you need in this steel for bushcraft and hard use applications. It simply works. I have thought about that. The spring steel I use ranges from a carbon content between 0,55-0,80%, with manganese and slicium in the alloy, making it tougher, and maybe one or the other Chromium atom. It´s nothing compared to highly alloyed steels that are all the rage in the knifemaking world. D2 is an example I love to use to illustrate the fact. Known in Germany under the material cipher 1.2379, it is most commonly referred to as "tool steel", and most commonly used for stamping tools and cold and warm chisel tools. As the saying goes for knives out of that material, "they take a lousy edge but hold it forever". The high degree of alloy in this steel makes for vast carbides, nearly visible to the naked eye and resulting in a more coarse edge, almost like micro - serrations. For a hunting knife, this might even be an advantage, but for a bushcraft knife you want a fine edge. Woodcarving requires a polished edge surface to make controlled, powerful cuts manageable in a better way.

Spring steel, which is alloyed with Silicium, which, generally spoken, delivers a higher ductile strength and a higher flexibility, and manganese, which is also responsible for a higher flexibility and contributes to even out the carbides in the steel, is, while offering a tempering potential up to 61 degrees Rockwell after annealing, higly flexible, and makes, when treated the right way, for quite a tough blade. Plus, it is dead cheap and widely available. I really put my blades through their paces, and I hope one day they might pass the ABA test. I have worked with some fancy materials, and I get them to work quite often, even tested hard. But in an equation, I tend to return to spring steel more often than not, for, honestly, a knife has to be reliable and serviceable, especially in the woods.

For that, I have come to love those bush knives. They are dead simple, and that means little can go awry with them. No scales to come loose, no handle either, and you can even cover them up with makeshift cordage. They are widely used by indigenous cultures for a reason. You can use them for knife throwing or fit a stick into the hollow handle to make a spear. I have even harvested wild apples and plums and maple blossom that way. I already tested the knife some, for I was being curious, and it supports my weight when stuck in a wooden pole, and that´s a feat;-). A think a thorough test will follow soon...*ggg*
Try that with a 64 HRC D2 blade*ggg*.

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.

Tactical? I´LL GIVE YOU TACTICAL!!!!*ggg*

This is an En-Nep bush knife I made some time ago. Wrought iron / tank bearing laminate, with a resin-impregnated leather wrapping. Ground two fullers and a false edge into it. It looks quite crude (okay, it IS crude;-)) but I like that. 90x3,5 mm blade.

Industrial museum season has just started;-)-for me, that is.

It´s been a while, but I finally managed to get to the traditional hammer-in at the museum smithy to meet with Willi and Daniel, and we had a ball as always. It was raining hard, and I got the flu, so I went there by bus. Blimey, I was on the road for one and a half hour. I get there by bike in one! Funny. I was a bit late for that, but no harm done. I forged this celtic belt chain. Mild steel. The rings I made myself, by simply wrapping around a piece of round stock.

 Daniel forged this leaf and a hook. The bronze finish he applied by brushing with abrass brush while the material was still hot.

 Willi had his knives and hatchets and mini-axe-jewellry on display. Those little thingies sell like hotcakes!

 I simply like Willi´s craftsmanship, and he´s always inspiring me.

 This knife was his first attempt at forging with an air hammer. Silver steel, integral, and polished to a high lustre. Note those bronze fittings, very neat. The sheaths he also makes.

 Here he forges a "dwarf blade"... I look forward to seeing it when it´s done!

 ...the blade.

 And he set out to forge a chain himself. Seems it´s also working the other way round;-).

 I made a dragon head knife, a seax, a chain, ground my dragon head kopis / En - Nep and a leaf handle blade...

 ...and made this "tactical" Thor´s hammer to wear as a pendant. File steel, can be used as a striker and for other purposes, too (bottle opening*ggg*, and those tactical-minded folks of you out there might also think of other purposes*ggg*)