Spring hammer - In at the Bethaus smithy

 Last weekend saw the sun shining and the folks getting nervous to be out smithing again. So we called each other up, and made for the smithy. Willy was already there lighting up forge.

 Nick dropped by, too. He wanted to get the little spring steel knife he started for his woman, ready, and found out the hard way that annealing is the harder part... don´t let it bother you, bro, you´re doing well enough, and we all know how it is to get the first one done!

 This is the bronze knife I forged that day.

 The kids kept coming, and we did some tutorials, too.

 Willy especially had a lot to do and did a great job as usual!

 The kids were right stoked to make their own projects!

 Then Daniel arrived and had a go himself. It was all  a good-natured and friendly atmosphere, and many of the kids weren´t there for the first time, but are there each weekend to do some forging.

 This is an iron age knife Willy made with the kids. Inspiring!

 I forged this teeter-totter snail, and it was almost as much fun making it as playing with it afterwards... guess there´s an idea!

 Then Alex and his kids dropped by. Alex is Viktor´s son and keeps the fire burning for sure. He brought his own barbecue, and we had a chat and a laugh!

 A Kopis I made, all integral, no grinding yet!

 When the moon came out, we lit the barbecue again. I had prepared some cheese- stuffed champignons and parika, the guys brought meat and bread, we had a beer and chatted the night away.

 Oh, and discussed the results of a day;-). Sgians forged by myself and finished by Willy... guess there´s a cooperation coming;-)...

 Viktor had got himself some cleavers on a flea market recently, and I like ´em very much. Presumeably from the 18th / 19th century, all hand - forged.

 Sweet!

When I rode home I was feeling content and glad of my acquaintance! Folks, it was a fun day, great to have you around!

Nick learning the tricks of the trade

 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...;-)

Children´s birthday party at the smithy - and an elven knife that wanted to be a seax;-)

On Sunday we had a children´s birthday party scheduled, and Volker had called the other day if I could help out. Turns out I could, and so I saddled my steed and rode out. Of course, there were not many surprises, business as usual, and I find I get more and more routine in that. Not that each and every time it would not be a new experience. It feels great to work with the kids, if they are willing and their parents let them be creative! Those kids were great to work with, minor quarrells are always part of the trade, but all in all, they were willing and enjoyed it well.

I wonder what will matter in their life more-the things they learned to make by hand or those abstract mathematic noone except a rocket scientist will ever need? And I simply hope to start the feeling they can actually make things by hand, and being capable of actually shaping their own world by hand and skill and will. If we could achieve but a tiny bit of that notion, even if it were in but one out of hundred, our work would not be for nope. We always welcome them back to the smithy, whenever they want to come, and not only for the reason they pay Volker for it!

You can always tell when kids are creative and eager to learn when the parents give them a backing. Those kids were socially educated, not yelling at each other, quarrelling some, but that´s normal, but not beating each other to pulp (and mind you, we had that, too, on more occasions than we´d like to mention). Mum and Daddy did not panic when the kids were playing in the nearby creek, building dams and coming back looking like swamp monsters;-), and in turn, it showed in the work of the kids. So simple!

The kids had a display to choose from this time, and we forged mini horsehoes with their names stamped into, knives, musical notation signs, snails, snakes, pendants and the like.

Here Volker stamps horsehoes with the name letters of the kids...

 

Nick came by, too, to have his first try of working with the kids, and he did a great job with the kids. His smithing skills still give us something to work on, but that was quite a feat; for he simply made clear that he was learning still and wanted to do it together with the kids! Really good, mate. The kids liked him and he got the right kind of control. 

"Hammer high!!!" was his command, and the kids had fun with it!

The kids always have to wear safety glasses, goggles, gloves and aprons for protection.

Some of the things we made. Celtic Kopis and utility knives, a seax and a skinner blade made from coldforged (work-hardened) steel. We offer a tutorial for a knife out of spring steel, but that takes way longer and costs 50 - 70 €, and most parents are reluctant to pay THIS! MUCH! FOR! A! KNIFE! DOH! *ggg*, so mild steel is what they get. It is surprising, though, that you can get ´em to cut, albeit not very good, by coldforging!

More of the stuff.

Then, suddenly, all was over, and I tutored Nick some more on blacksmithing, and then I worked for a project we are about to start. The idea was developed after the "Forging against racism" - event at the TFH in Bochum city. Petr mailed along and asked if he could contribute, and the magic troll, Volker and myself decided to start it for ourselves and blacksmiths and craftsmen all over the world, if at all possible. So, if you want, forge a chain link or even a chain, carve it, weave it, knit it, felt it, do whatever you want. keep it in your country, call all your friends to contribute, call anyone who would want to contribute, be it a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Pagan, Taoist, Shintoist, Shamanist, Animist, Philosopher, Atheist or whatever. We will start a blog and a facebook account and will offer anyone who coordinates the activities in her / his country admin / author rights on that blog. If you have already made something, send a photo smaller than 1 MB to an email adress I will establish soon, when the blog and accounts are on (I will post in two - three weeks time with all info!). And then, in a future yet to come, I hope we can all meet and link that chain together as a sign to all the warmonging arseholes around the world that we, the people of the earth don´t want nuclear threats and wars for petty reasons. If we had an argument, fine, that can be discussed. But we are fed up with the economists ruling out our life and death. With our work, we could fight without violence, not against something, but for a process of forging unity. That is not to say all will be grand. But tell us our story, and people all over the world will get to know your people. You can, of course, write in any language you´d want, but it makes more sense if you could do it in English, for it is understood in most any part of the world.

So, come on, get to the forge, the spinning wheel or the carving bench. Wood will be linked to wood, cloth to cloth, and iron to iron, and work to work and deed to deed!

Then I rummaged through my backpack and, deep down in the depths I found the elven hunting knife that broke recently for it got too hot. I realized it had a monstrous spine thickness and decided to give it a try to draw it out further, and made this seax blade from it. Wrought iron and 1.2842 three-layer - laminate, and it worked out well. Due to the additional pounding, and some annealing, annealing (and when I was done annealing I did some annealing and annealed, and annealed some more, just for  a change, before I did some annealing;-)) I managed to achieve a finer grain structure. Then I tempered it and tested it, and it works! Seems that the iron does not want me to forge fantasy knives, and I will keep that to heart!

The sun was setting when I said goodbye to Nick and Volker and made for the trail home.

Knifemaking day at the smithy...

 On Friday I had an appointment with Nick at the smithy, and some work to do. So I rode out to Witten. The sun was shining brightly, and I took in the silence and solitude in the Ruhr marshes and the hooting and singing of geese, cranes, ducks and singing birds.

 I met but few people, and the atmosphere was outright idyllic.

 But we were determined to change that!*ggg* Nick came by and we lit the forge, and I showed him some basics, for he wants to get serious about smithing and to help out where he can. And we worked on the En-Nep we forged at the Industrial Museum.

 Nick apparently enjoyed himself.  He suffered from some throwbacks, but I hope that does not bother him much.

 I showed him how to forge a swallow´s tail scroll, and a rat-tail scroll, and he tried out for himself.

 Meanwhile, I ground and tempered the sgian dhú blade out of spring steel for a friend of Craig´s. Sorry, Craig, it´s getting there, and I know I am a forgetful moron, for in fact, I simply forgot it. George will get a good one, though.;-) The other blade is a hadseax made from wire damascus.

 And some copper fittings and a spoon from mild steel I forged that day, too.

 When the sun was setting, Volker brought Nick to Witten railway station, for it´s a right trek out there! I had fun with Nick and I hope he´s here to stay!

Muttentalfest party on 24th of March at the Bethaus, Muttental

On 24th of March we will do a big party, the first of this year;-). At the Bethaus, we will celebrate the famed "Muttentalfest" from 11 am until 6 pm. The whole valley will offer a load of activities for kids, adults and families alike, and all of the museums will be open.

Good food, friendly people, and, hopefully, great weather ;-) will be abundant, and most important, Volker and myself will be there*ggg*.

Come around, have a coffee and a cake and a chat!:-)

Chrismas fair mayhem;-) in Langenberg and Schwelm

 You my dedicated readers might have noticed it was a bit silent the last two weeks, and that had a reason, two, in fact. We had to work on the Chrismas fairs in Velbert-Langenberg and Schwelm. In Langenberg the weather was all crap, but the market was situated at a great place and there were lots of friendly people around and we made a lot of connections. It was raining hard the whole time, and the snow was melting, making for a gooey mess. On Sunday, we had to try five times to even start a decent fire!

The smithy was built on a patch of grass, not quite the favourite, but we got it working. Volker moved his anvil around for about an hour, which resulted in a swamphole;-) and slippery it was.

 That´s an ugly fire, but all was wet through. We had an early start, and took it easy, sipping a coffee after the fire was going and having a chat.

 There were no visitors that early, but the site was located in a park near an old villa, which is used as a school these days.

 Preparing for battle...;-)

 After several futile attempts at getting a decent fire going with wet wood and wet tinder I simply stole some embers.

 Et voilá les enfants:;-)

 In spite of the weather the kids kept coming steadily. And in spite of the weather, we all had fun and made do.

 ...

 The site was beautiful, but the weather was so foul it became a total mess.

 It´s funny, but we could not complain about a lack of kids and customers. Having a smithy seems to attract people even under the worst circumstances.

 I made these little viking knives. I had the order to make them from mild steel. So I coldforged the edge and made it work. They can even cut a bit and take and keep something similar to an edge. I was fond of this one we made...

 ...like this heart...

 ...together with this happy family. They really enjoyed themselves.

 The medical rescue squad was present, too, and they (adults and kids alike) had a lot of fun working with fire and steel.

 ...and memories were conserved.

 Volker forging a heart of steel.

 When the day drew to a close, the steady drizzle of visitors slowly faded, and I made this leaf handled design knife. We packed our things and drove home.

In Schwelm, we actually were so busy I was not able to make any photos, but my boss did. Here they come:

 The place was thrumming with visitors, and the fair was beautifully built with colourful huts and a load of interesting booths with good food.

 We were working both days without so much of a looking up. Craig dropped by with his family and I gave him the Sgian Dhú I made for him, with an extra belt sheath. He seemed to like it;-). Then Nick and his girlfriend came along and I made him a tool for carving and opening walnuts, out of spring steel. I will make another, I guess, and keep you posted! Jürgen from Clan macLaren came by, too, and we had a chat,

I like this photo, for it well transports the spirit and the magic of blacksmithing with children. Here is an article about the fair.

It was a very busy weekend, and I was so exhausted I slept through the next day and the night, and awoke with back aches. But it was also a great experience to boot! The back aches have subsided, but the memory will stay.