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... ;-)

Progress on my "Grosses Messer"

I just thought to give you some WIP pics of my "Grosses" Messer. The blade is all quenched now, selectively tempered (edge and half the spine).

The wrought iron guard is roughly filed and waiting to be polished, etched and polished and etched... ;-).

The spine edge is sharpened now. Balance point (CoB) is some 8cm from the guard with the guard fitted, which is causing me quite some pain in the arse, for there has to be the Nagel still fitted and some elk antler scales which are not the lightest, too, and I originally wanted to fit a pommel or at least a sheet of wrought iron to the end... still a lot to learn, but this is a good thing!

I want to thank Lukas Mästle-Goer a lot, who is hinting out a lot and helping me with the progress! Being a professional swordsmith and trained HEMA swordsman, he gave me a lot of valuable input on balance and percussion.

Anyway, I look forward to the outcome!

On the bench: "Grosses Messer" hanger short sword

 

This is currently a project that takes up a lot of energy, not necessarily in forging, but in research and creativity. I did quite a lot of research on this type of short sword, which was in use from the high medieval ages (13th century) to early modern times and which was argueably the predecessor of European hunting swords and sabers alike. Especially the "Wehrnagel", a kind of horizontal additional crosspiece which served a double duty in fixing the crossguard (not yet made on this project) might be the feature that eventually evolved into a hilt basket. The blade is some 40 cm long and has a taper from 8-4 mm to date. When nearing the final grind (which I will do after tempering), the taper will be even more severe. This is found on some originals. Lacking a fuller, the blades in question relied on the taper to achieve a better balance. I am currently thinking hard about whether I should fit a kind of pommel to it. Originals often had a pommel to achieve the balance, but fact is, even now I have taken too many liberties for it to be anything other than a creative interpretation of the style of sword. It is a way for me to learn how to temper and achieve the correct physical dynamics of a sword.

 

A lot of people ask me these days why I need "another knife". So I want to tell you some more thoughts on my motivation. I am a bladesmith, and I would professionalize would there be any chance for me to even earn a modest living from it. The first documented ancestor of my father´s family lived in the 16th century and worked as a bladesmith and armourer, and from that time on I come from a family lineage of blade- and weaponsmiths from my father´s side. There´s also some nobility in it, especially from my mother´s side, dating back to early Prussian tribe nobility, back to the age of chivalry and even  earlier. I like to think that the "Gods with the amber crowns" still had a part in the life of the earliest ancestors of my family.

 

But the "symbol of our time no longer is the sword; it´s the tank and the whip" (Ernst Wiechert)... and the credit card, one might add. And the most people uttering doubts about my motivation forgings knives and swords are Mammonists. They do not pray to any God but almighty Mammon-Baal. And they are very afraid that they might lose their hoard, so much in fact, that they distrust everyone. It is in our culture. Moral integrity is scarce in most people´s background. Law is the one thing keeping them from running wild in greed and lust and hate, and they cannot accept that someone lives according to a moral codex that is far more strict than their judicial system can ever be. I am not of nobility, of course not. But I have a moral codex I try to live up to that is strict and unforgiving. A sword not only is a weapon for lunatics running amok with it. In fact, this is the abuse of a symbol that carries far more meaning than just the killing properties of the edge. Owning a sword, even just holding it in hand, can be enlightening in that. It is useless to tell what you might or might not feel when holding a sword of the correct physical layout, but in any case there is a huge responsibility involved. It might be obvious that you´d better not use it, but there is more. If you ever get the chance to hold a real sword, not a wall hanger,  I strongly suggest you seize it. Then you might be able to actually feel why anyone owning a sword WILL live to a strict moral codex, provided she or he is not a lunatic. It is not that anyone asks you to. It just happens. If you carry your sword around or not does not even matter. If you own a sword and know how to use it (which means you had a professional and experienced adviser, a master even), it will happen, if you want it or not. Your mind will change.

 

We need less tanks and credit cards.

 

Ever since I made my first attempt at making swords, I realized it did something to me. It had nothing to do with the actual weapon. And it did nothing to change my mind on being a pacifist. In fact, ever since I handled my first sword, I became even more of a pacifist. It is the sword that taught me that there is no option once violence has started, and to use my brain more than my fists. If you whack someone in the face, might be you break his nose. If you smite someone with a sword, you WILL lop off limbs. Anyone who´s not insane that way will not want that. So you have a sword and live along the warrior´s way of doing things, and you are not insane. So you have to develop a steely resolve to constantly question your actions and your self-control. You realize that every action is the seed of consequences, some of them very grave. It simply will not do to put a taboo on violence. You have to realize it is in every one of us, including me, including you. And then, out of your rational evaluation, obstain from it. Not the other way round.

 

A sword was the weapon of chivalry. It was to protect the weak against the enemies of God and the forces of evil. I pre-Christian Greek culture there was a name for a special type of sword, xiphos, meaning, piercing light, which metaphorically also stood for analytical evaluation and intellectual capabilities. The Chinese Gim was a poet´s sword or rapier, and bore a strong symbolic connection to the poet´s calligraphical  brush.

 

Anthropomorphical Celtic sword finds are presumed to come from a Druidic background, maybe serving a mythological or sacrificial purpose. All of these examples hint of a strong sociological function. Now, you ask, is that not a sign of a very violent layout of society in these times? Now. I ask, is not putting a taboo on cutting edge weapons for most of the populace while on the same scale developing weapons of mass destruction like nuclear missiles (and, by the way, acting so carelessly around them that whole islands were bombed to oblivion just in order to see what happened), far more violent? Also, one can postulate that in ancient times, everyone who owned a sword was trained in its use. Imagine starting a pub riot on a martial arts convention to get the idea. Fancy the idea? No? So you better be polite, which, by the way, is the reason politeness and respect are an integral part of any martial arts training even nowadays.

 

Making a sword, is even more of a difficult matter. It is a matter of respect, and I am not talking about wall hangers. Of course, swordsmiths tend to have a very special kind of humour. But I have yet to meet one of them (accomplished or at least dedicated one, that is), that is not polite and respectful to anyone but the most moron customers. To make a real sword puts you in line with the masters of old. Even if it most certainly will spend its entire life sitting in a box, it should be made as if the future owner´s life would depend upon it, and with the very personality of the owner flowing into the process, for it should not only be an elongation of his or her arm, but an elongation of her or his soul, nothing less.

 

This Grosse Messer is for me. It is a mere practice piece, but I am taking my time. I like this style of sword, because it was a tool at first, and most certainly served a double purpose. The Kriegsmesser was a weapon of warfare, but the shorter "Bauernwehr" or "Grosse Messer" originally was a farmer´s tool and weapon.

 

I forged it from repurposed train wagon leaf spring steel, which was leftover from the forging of a claymore that I forged with a clan of drunken Scotsmen ;-). 

 

The crosspiece is made from a lump of rotten wrought iron I found submerged in the surface of a local trail. Holes are all hot - punched and chiselled. I think, I will drill the hole for the Wehrnagel, though, for the wrought iron did not take too well to the punishment.

 

I had to weld it back on several times to even get it that far. But as is, the cracks will not hinder the performance much, and are not going that deep, so I guess I will leave it that way.

 

Anyway, the project is something that keeps my mind racing these days. No, I do not need to make another sword. But I NEED to make another sword. You might be able to make out the tiny difference.

Oh the loot! ;-) Or: The adventure of steel processing

I went foraging for steel again in my local woods, and was stunned to find a treasure hoard again. As you say-one man´s trash is another one´s treasure. In this case it applies in the truest sense of the word. A lot of the steel I keep finding there is ancient crucible or extremely high carbon tool steel or saw steel. I found a chisel with a kind of octagonal shape, and having already processed one of those, I strongly suspect it is made of a very funny kind of steel. Spark analysis on the Sica blade showed dark-red, almost invisible sparks-but with bright-white sparks at the end, and, compared to file and spring steel, very funny shapes. Fact is, I can´t make heads nor tails out of it. Might be Tungsten in it or any such like, but what matters most to me is that the blade I forged from it keeps to a good temper with a very fine grain and a high amount of flexibility. So I look forward to the next.

Yeah, I know. I might not be that good with metallurgical theory. I make knives that have to work, and if I want to work with stainless or other stuff I should know my theory better. Yeah, I know, but DO I? Do I have to?

I have to admit that a lot of my tempering is done very intuitively. Of course, sometimes I get it wrong and have to do it all over again or worse yet, the knife breaks when testing. But, honestly, the last time I broke a knife is 3 years ago, and I have made a lot of them in the meantime, and the times when I get it wrong (with steel utterly unknown to me) I can count on three fingers.

I do not want to brag about my oh-so-extraterrestrial capabilities in bladesmithing, because I am not that good. What I want to say is, that it is possible. I forged a blade out of 440C intuitively and it stood up to some severe pounding while keeping an edge well. I daresay that´s what it´s all about. To be honest, I thrive on the adventure. There is something very archaic about bladesmithing and I find it more intelligible when you do it intuitively. It is like getting to know the NAME of iron. Not just the word, but what it really means, if that makes any sense. It is like I can tell you the word blue, but you have to feel it to know the blue sky on a warm summer´s day.

Patrick Rothfuss in his novel "The Wise Man´s Fear" (which I strongly recommend!) tells the story of a teacher of the arcane teaching "names". Not what we commonly think, but the actual names, not the sign, but the meaning, if you get my erm... meaning;-). He states that he will throw a stone at a given time with a given force and asks his pupils to calculate where the stone will fall down. Several well- educated people then start to make calculations, drawing diagrams and the like. When time is out, the teacher just opens the door and calls on a messenger boy, and without further notice, throws the stone. and the boy catches it on an instinct.

I know a lot of accomplished blade- and blacksmiths who make great knives, strictly according to the book of rules. Some make very durable knives, but some don´t.

And then I know several old Russian blacksmiths. One of them even could up until recently not read the newspaper or write his own name. He uses scrap steel, even rebar for his knives, and they are standing up to an abnormal degree of abuse with amazing edge-holding capacity. Viktor used rebar, too, and mild steel, and scrap and junk steel to amazing effect, too. They taught me one thing: That there IS the name of iron. You could put a piece of rust-pitted steel into their hands, and just by touching it they knew what to do. When asked, they failed to give a satisfying answer and just said that it had to be that way. Mielenko knew his numbers well, but was capable to tell the carbon content by the sound the steel made on the anvil, by weight and resistance alone. None of his knives, he told me, has ever failed.

I am a poet. A lunatic, if you so will, beloved of the moon. I tell a lot of crazy tales. Only on a secondary level am I a blacksmith, bladesmith or even bushcrafter. Might be it is like a kid once told me that in a different world or different time I´d be called a wizard. I like that, of course, but we live in 2016, and the world's not at all a place for wizards or warriors or even blacksmiths.

I have been on this path for a long, long time now. I know the wind and what lies therein. I know the sun and the moon and the stars and I love them. I love the earth and the trees. I listen to creeks and the murmur of the wind in the "soft, round tops of the pines and firs". They tell me of another world, a world of meaning, without signs, but names to be learned.

And with each piece of iron I find in the woods, I tell a new story, and learn the name of iron and fire. My knives are always more than just a blade and a "been there, done that", at least to me. It is not just a thing you covet and because you can´t afford it, you make it yourself. Their names are an armour I wear in the everyday mayhem of our world, even if their blades lie in my drawers. They are the gift of the woods, tormented by man and crooked and weird and powerful. Beyond the dream road through the wood of steel - lord of the forest makes love to his goddess; beautiful is the image of the moon in the water (to corrupt this famous Bujinkan meme;-)).

Every time when I go foraging for steel then, it is a kind of spiritual experience. It is an initiation as well as a lesson in humility. When you find, you find. If not, you find not. But if you do it according to the meaning of it all, chance is, you will find a treasure.

Eikinnsleikr is ready!

I have taken itr really slow, but now it´s here... prét a porter, so to say;-) made a sheath for Eikinnsleikr. Oak, of course, and a scandi style upper. The stainless insult to the right;-) is a removeable chain link I use to carry it on my foraging belt. The lower part is made of two halves of oak wood from some leftover beam of my old home, the handle is yew which grew before that old house, the blade is made from 1.2842 and wrought iron, which was given to me by one of my best friends, Elmo, that is, the bolster is Mokume Gane which does not show. It is in itself a rune, and the runes of the oak went into it.

My personal carry...;-)

Handforging speaks louder;-)-Hammer-In @Bethaus smithy

 Last Friday we just felt the urge to make some mischief with steel and fire, so we met at the smithy. Volker was there, of course, and Willi came by as well as Nick, and Kathrin, his lovely woman, and the mad basssstard;-), Kai. We lit up forge, and just got started. It was a great and friendly atmosphere, with different skill levels influencing each other in a positive way. Everyone followed his or her gusto and projects. Volker did a lot for the atmosphere again, for he provided us with a steady flow of hot, strong java and lard sandwiches, a local speciality. Thanks, mate, for that!!!

 Nick really got the bug bad....*ggg* and really wants to learn the trade. I often have to slow him down a bit, his projects are a bit ambitious most of the time!

 Kathrin just sat there calmly and, not wanting to forge, simply read a book and contributed to a friendly atmosphere. Kathrin and Nick both are people I am outright glad they stepped into my life. They are both people with an unusual approach to life, and that´s great!

 I prepared some wrought iron from an old barn door for forge - welding laminate. I will keep the beautiful scrollwork, though;-), but use the straight parts for knives.

 Kai, long time, no see! I was glad to meet you once again, and to make some noise with you!

 Willi thinking about his projects and showing off...;-)

 Nick talking a huge pile of rubbish;-).

 Willy forged a ring to keep the tongs shut and to ease the stress on his wrists, suffering some problems at the moment.

 I welded a piece of file steel into the wrought iron, but, having too little borax, had a welding flaw at the utmost end, but no harm done, I can weld that back.

 Kai working on a whittling knife. Blimey, that guy already takes commissions... even though he still does blacksmith´s yoga before the anvil*ggg*.

 I then set out to probe a small piece of ingot I found in the local woods. I take it to be crucible steel, and it has a carbon content not far from being not forgeable anymore. The temperature window was so small, you just had to pound two times and had to reheat. We discussed its properties, and as it broke, discussed the grain, we did a spark test and all that stuff. It was great to have some more opinions, and this is a great way to learn. I have a BIG supply of these ingots, and I daresay, some of them might even have some Wootz properties. Thinking of Wootz, that is a dream of ours, just to have made that;-), too.

 Kai was tutored by Willy how to forge mini hatchets, and this came out... RESPECT!

 Nick had an idea for a chainlink for our anti-racism project. This is his second project blacksmithing all in all which he made all by himself. Amazing in my book!

 Willi made this Nessmuk basher out of 100Cr6... what can I say;-), maybe not my style, but I look forward to seeing the knife, which will be great as usual!

 He also made one of his dwarves;-)... Willy might be the only lunatic out there making eight knives and calling them "snowwhite and the seven dwarves", snowhite having a blade length of about 85 mm or so, and the dwarves at about 50 mm. They look flimsy, with a two-finger handle, but they work surprisingly great! Have to try that myself sometime soon.

 He also sharpened his spoon knife, which is coming along nicely.

 My achievements for the day: Retempering my hadseax out of wire damascus, forging a ram-headed eating kopis knife, probing the ingot and forging a laminate seax blade...

 A detail of the ram´s head, which came along nicely.

 Another perspective of the ram´s head.

It was a great day with great people and good fun, with a lot of learning and silly jokes. We all went home quite content with our achievements. Nick made a huge progress, and, keeping in mind this only was his second project with next to no help, his achievement was amazing. Kai, however, is already taking commissions, and he has made a huge progress with his tribal knives. Willy, on the other hand, is a treasury of knowledge. Kathrin and Volker contributed to the whole thing, and them all give me the feeling of being part of something great. It is an atmosphere of friendship, respect, and learning, and it seems that we all profit from this thing.

I had a chat with Volker, then cleaned up, and off I was, riding calmly along the lane through the Ruhr marshes, with the song of water birds in my ear, and the wind in my helmet.

A perfect day.

A day in the smithy-folder and elven hunting knife blade

 On Saturday I saddled my steed;-) and rode out to the smithy. Noone seemed quite motivated to do some spring fire partying, so I resolved to take refuge:-) at the hottest fire I can imagine, and the one that has never failed me... the roaring, spitting, violent forge. The weather was shitty at best, but no harm done, I am not made out of stuff that will melt in rain and snow. On my way I met practically noone, and I paused to listen to the water birds. In the smithy, it was Volker greeting me and quite some filing work on my elven hunting knife I forged some time ago to do, for I decided to do some more fileworking than I normally do. Volker, that good chap, provided me with good, hot, strong coffee as usual, which was quite appreciated, given that the smithy has no roof worth mentioning and no walls at all;-), and blimey, the wind was coo-o-o--oold.*ggg*

 Then Daniel showed up with his lovely girlfriend, Marie. And he did what he always does, taking the sledge to do some intricate and delicate scrollwork just to show he´s capable of it. I really wished he would gain some self - confidence. He does some good work, but could easily be better if he concentrated on the work and not the proving himself. But I understand he is in desperate need of it, so I leave him be, swallow my tongue, although I keep making fun of him;-). He ´s getting on many people´s nerves, and certainly sometimes on mine, too, but it´s not easy growing up in this shitty mess we have made from this society. And blacksmithing gives him something to cling to (and doesn´t it to all of us?) and makes him something special. And I daresay he´s a good guy and on a good way. His lady was looking on and rightfully proud of her man.

 

 She even did some smithing herself, and fared well at it.

 I did little forging, for the elven hunter did require quite a bit of filing, but finally it got there. Then I forged the bolsters on the integral liners for a friction folder and filed the bevel on the folder blade from Zwissler damascus I made a while ago.

 Björn dropped by. He had found an old forge in a garden of a buddy of his, and decided he wanted to have a go. He had his head humming with projects, and boy, do I know this feeling! We gave him some coal to get the fire started, and some advice how to keep it low at first. I also offered him some free tutoring if he wanted, which he gladly accepted-we keep the flame burning!

Then suddenly they all were gone, I quenched the blade, had a chat with Volker, Jochen and Renate, and before you could say "degasing" I was on my bike and riding home through the silent twilight of dusk. In the distance I saw the spring fires burning down. But another fire will never cease to kindle.

It is the fire in my heart.

Learning by failing:-/- three-layer laminate from wrought iron and 1.2842 that went not so good...

 On Saturday I made it to the smithy and had a go at some welding practice, and I had this piece of wrought iron Elmo once gave to me. Now Elmo wants a knife for her birthday present;-) and I thought I´d give it a go. Had little borax, but I thought I´d try it nonetheless.

 This is how I normally forge-weld. I forge a spatula, fold it back with the help of my hardy chisel and insert the first layer. Then it is a bit of a balancing act, but it usually works quite well. Harald Schmehl, my first blacksmithing teacher, taught this technique to me, and Viktor and Mielenko do it in the same manner. Normally, when I make damascus, I fold the steel several times, insert a new piece of high-carbon-steel and fold some more. The advantage is that you can get a damascus with high layers without too much loss of carbon content due to burnoff, it does not require many tools and it is good for your coordination skills;-). The definite disadvantage is that it requires a fair amount of eggdancing;-) to get the first layer done, and each time you insert a fresh piece of carbon steel. It welded okay, only in the fold there were some two or three millimetres. The shadow in the pic you can see is overlap. What I noticed, however, was that the wrought iron required an extremely high temperature to weld, and the 1.2842 was not amused;-).

Nonetheless, it came along quite nicely, and I forged this Kopis shape to the blade, nicely centered and all, and I was quite enthused, when I had ground the scale off and noticed the beautiful structure.

Then I put it in a vice to engrave it.

BUMMER! When I set the chisel to it, the blade broke in two, and I could see a structure of extremely coarse grain, visible even with a naked eye. I can tell, you, I got a mediocre tantrum!;-)

But it´s defeat also where I can learn. Simply got too hot... and I guess I´ll use more Borax next time. And the magic troll might get a beautiful awl... who knows...;-)

Hammer-In in the Industriemuseum Ennepetal: Classic cars, knives and hop

Last Sunday, it was a hammer - In at the industrial museum Ennepetal again, and I rode by bike to work. I was feeling kinda exhausted, as seems to be the norm these days. I guess that´s what happens to you from time to time when you live a life that´s exciting and sometimes strenuous. It´s starting to take its toll. My dedicated readers might have noticed...;-). My holiday has done a bit of relieving, but I could have one again, already. But none in sight. Forging is starting to get on my nerves, too. It´s not the kids, but the circumstances. It´s not the hard work, either. But hard work for nothing or very, very little money is another matter, and if you work hard all the time and always give your best - whatever that may be worth - and have to wonder if there will be bread until the month´s end in your cupboard, something´s wrong. I actually often forage for my food. Others are just queuing for their dole, but that´s not my way of living. Some of them don´t do anything, in the contrary, I have met several people taking pride in the fact they have never done a bit of work in their entire life. I do not step into the trap set by the wizards of our society by hating them or despising them for that opinion. In fact, I do not know what has led them to get that opinion, and it might work for them. And there is a prominent desire by some individuals in the social context, usually higher up the ladder, (but not even necessarily so) that citizens would not socialize or even solidarize with each other. Thusly, I believe that the stark opinion poor people were lazy, is made up, partly, at least.

For me, that would not work. But I work hard at times, and get about one third of the income I would get if I applied for a minimum dole, which would amount for the limit at which one is considered legally poor. No, I am not complaining, it´s all my fault. I even take pride in the fact that I manage, and I believe it has taught me many valuable lessons. I even believe, making do with less might be the most profitable thing to learn for our society there possibly could be.

Where was I?*ggg*

Ah, yes, I was feeling exhausted. So I decided to take it easy that day, and smell the roses. There were, as usual, many beautiful classical cars. Enjoy!

The bakery "Kritzler" was there, offering their delicious products. You do not know the taste of bread until you have tried a homemade one, industrial bread simply does not compare.

There also was an abundance of grilled sausage (BRATWÜRST!!!!*ggg*). I had three!

Ah, yes, we even did some forging, and we got some valuable compliments about our style. Seems we were not taking it as easy as we thought...

Willi forged some really great damascus blades from Matthias Zwissler damascus billets. I had a go, to, and forged out a rod. I also finally got the temper on my railroad screw knife wired:

When I had another break to have a cuppa coffee and a cake, most of the cars were gone, but this jeep had arrived.

From a piece of iron I found in the woods I forged a large camp knife. It took a strange temper, though, so I have to try again. We discussed matters and came to the conclusion it might be wrought iron. It showed a high carbon content in spark analysis, so should take a high temper, up to 60 HRC. Turns out it doesn´t.

I heat-treated it very conservatively. You can better temper it higher afterwrds than fix a blade broken in testing!

At the end I forged this dragon-head with funny teeth*ggg* didn´t turn out too well, either.

When all was said and done, we went to the parking lot to have a chat, and what did we find? Hop in blossom (Humulus, in German: Hopfen). Good as a nerve-calming tea, or for brewing. We were happy and collected some of the flowers.

Willi was quite amazed at the find. We had some good hour of a chat, did some foraging, and then we said goodbye and I made for home.

On the way back I had to stop in the woods to relax a bit. The sun was out and enchanted the trees.

Then, on my way home, I passed the schoolyard of my old school. And there I finally shot a photo of this monument that has followed me through my school years and later on. Now I can finally understand it.

I rode on, towards my sorry excuse for a home, and I knew again why I live life the way I do.

Never give up.