Finishing an underpaid job;-)

 On Friday before the Ruhrbike race, I rode to the smithy to do some honest work again and to finish the job Volker had ordered. 20 tent pegs wanted to be forged, i.e. 15 scrolls and 10 tips, all from 16mm round bar. First, I did some degasing the coal, which was coke size 4 anthracite.

 Since I had to do some pounding also, I brought my big hammer also. I tend to use my own hammer more often than not, even if it´s light at 1.200 g. But it draws out very efficiently. Advice: When you forge your own hammer, make sure its weight is centered around the handle more, makes it very nimble! The whitehouse forge hammer I got on a flea market, and it´s a great one for harder work.

 I also made some more S - hooks which can be quite handy in a reenactment camp for kettles, for strapping down a tent, and whatnot. I mede them from 6mm round stock.

 I also made this dragon head tent peg for Volker.

 And a leaf-shaped tent peg just for fun (and for Voker to mess up the prices again;-))

I also started a leaf handled knife out of spring steel, but I stacked up and broke the leaf off*grml*:-), so I will forge it out as a rattail tang to be fitted into a handle. I will post some pictures then...promise;-).

It was quite energizing to do something other than damascus and the like. Not that I do not like that anymore, but sometimes you simply have to clear your mind to avoid getting in a rut.

I hope that Volker´s customer will be content with the outcome!

On the bench these days... the yew handle ritual;-).

Those are two knives I have got in the making. Topmost is a spring steel dragon head utility knife, a rugged bastard of a user with less than 1 % stock removal.

Below is a puuko with a yew handle and a prototype blade for either Puronvarsi or Iisaakki Järvenpää, which the master, Rudolf Broch, himself forged from 1.4110 steel. The blade had Rockwell markings from tip to tang, and it has a defined hardness from 55 HRC in the first cm of the tang, 57 in the middle and 58 near the tank, which suits me fine to know! As for the handle... I am not quite sure if I´ll ever make one yew handle again. It´s as if the Gods would require at least two handles as a sacrifice*ggg*. I go through at least two handles, and even this one had a crack near the butt. So I filed the questionable part off and fitted a copper buttcap to keep the mess together. It will work fine, but looks ugly. I´ll take this as another user, but it´s a bit unnerving. But, as always, I´ll work on it, and I keep learning still.

On the bench...;-)

 Those are some new projects I have lying around. A short sword for Jürgen, the mad Scottish chief, from some stainless steel, and from left to right: Leaf handle knife, utility / puuko blade that has yet to have its tang centered, and a dragon head Kopis / En - Nep, all of the latter from spring steel.

 Detail of the dragon head.

 And up front...HHAAAAARRRRRGGGNNNNNN!!!!*ggg* Have to do some finishing work to it yet, though...;-)

My saddest knife:-(

This is the saddest knife I made, still not mounted after all these years. I just could not stand working on it, because it hurt. Call me a sentimental old fart, but that´s how it is. I forged this one on the very last night in the garden of my old home. It was the darkest night of the year, two days before Chrismas. All our possessings except the forge and shop were already moved, and yes, they drove us out at that time of year... It was cold, and snow fell on my way through the woods (Went there by walking). When I reached the shop, it stopped, and the stars came out. I lit the forge in the darkness, using charcoal I had made myself in the garden. I forged this one with the dirt forge from an old cold chisel. At first, I wanted to make an Athamen, but I let it cool in the ashes. I had some beers too much beside the dying embers, while a piece of my heart died with them. I just sat there, and I knew I would never again be able to be there. Yap, I cried my fill, but the cold, cold stars were there to soothe my searing wound that was to become my heart. Frost came, and it went colder still, and I made for the long and lonely walk home. The blade I left in the dying embers to anneal and for the stars to shine upon it. But another smith came to forge it, and his hammer was older, colder and mightier than mine; frost bit a crack along the middle of that would- be Athamen. I have not yet quite understood the story that this tells, but I want to understand it. I ground one half away in Matthias Zwissler´s smithy, who was so kind to teach me and let me do it. There now is just a tiny hairline crack along the integral side, but runs away from the blade, so I will use it. The wood for the handle lies beside it, and it´s a part from an old rotten 98 K Wehrmachts carbine I found in the lake when the dam was to be repaired. Noone wanted it, so it´s still at my mother´s. It lay forsaken for sixty years, deep in the water. It is a part of a weapon thrown away because peace made its violent way. I like to see it this way. You can see it otherwise, but still there are sixty years of lying submerged in the water, beneath the trees, the wind in the leaves. I see it as a gift of the power I worship, which has so many names and still no name that comes close to it. I will make a bronze buttcap to counterweight the dark walnut wood, and I forged a dragonhead to top it off. But I still have to take my time.

Playing around at Volker´s smithy

 On Saturday I got in some quality singletrail riding and did some real hammering, pedal-to-the-metal mountainbike riding in the morning and got out to Volker´s smithy after lunchtime. There were little traffic and no kids, so we just played around a bit at the forge. Volker forged a big kitchen knife from an old file, quite a thin blade in the spine, so it will be quite a beast when cutting is concerned.

 Volker doing some straightening. That anvil´s one of my favourites. Viktor annealed and then ground it (!) from a piece of railroad section, drilled and filed a hardy hole in, and tempered it.... that guy is MAD!

 The coming to birth of two blades, and what might become of the second?

 This is a twining rod for the garden Volker forged. These are very popular with passers-by, a very popular gift! (How come?;-))

 The birth of a dragon... I tried out another dragon head with spiralling horns, but it was quite the fragile task. I made this one from spring steel, and could have used five hands, and I was all thumbs. Tell me a tale of flying, burning steel!;-) Have a scar on the belly now, and one intact bike jersey less. (Ever heard Polyester burns excellently?;-))

 That´s the finished one. I ground it with a new roto-grinder Viktor (again that madman!;-)) built from crap.

The head in detail... not as bad as I thought, but not as good either.











We forged for some three hours, cleaned up and had some really great asparagus soup, Jochen, the cook made. That guy is another great craftsman I have the privilege to know. He teaches me to have respect for food, and even love it. To be grateful plants and animals gave their lives, not (only) out of  some religious impulse, but simply because it makes sense. He treats the food he prepares with a deep love, and relishes in his work and the fruits of his work. He only uses materials of high quality, and the result tastes as great as they come. We had some great talk along the meal, had a cuppa coffee afterwards, and I rode home, again with the deep feeling of fullfilment I always have when hanging out with these folks. For this, I am grateful, too.