The Friday after that Ennepetal hammer - In we met at the Bethaus smithy again, and Nick brought his first knife with him... makes me proud, somehow! The blade we forged together in a Khukuri / En - Nep / Kopis style from cold - rolled file steel with a conservative selective (edge quench) temper, for it shall be a chopper also. He already tried to sharpen it... and I daresay we have to do that together, but no harm done at all, he has got nothing at all to do it with, and for that, it was great. The handle is yew, riveted against a buttcap and a bolster from brass.
Then we lit up forge, and I showed him how to forge those snakes that are so popular with the kids:
I was amazed about the product. Really lively, with a good feel for the lines... respect, bro!
I forged a three-layer-laminate that went not too well and started a new damascus.
Nick, however, had a go at a spring steel knife for his woman...
The damascus blade with some raw filing.
I also normalized an old silver plate to forge a buttcap for my licce integral, and quenched the damascus blade (36 layers file and crucible saw / shear steel, by the way). Nick would have liked me to do some more tutoring, but I am simply confident he can manage without;-) and I was being a bit short while forgewelding, for I am learning still, myself, and had to concentrate a lot. I hope I keep the balance right!
Then evening came, and Nick took the bus, and I cleaned up, had a chat with Volker, and made for home.
These days my life seems to be brim full with experiences and encounters, sometimes it is stressing me out, but, for the most part, I really like the fact that I, unlike so many others, have the privilege to live a hard life on the edge, but a real life. Meeting real people, doing real work experiencing real back sores, real hunger, real saturation and real satisfaction, real grief and real joy. I hope that this will amount to more than the sum of its parts...;-)
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