Forging tutorial with special people and an underpaid job;-)

 Volker called the other day to ask if I could come over to do some forging with some special customers from Orthopaedic institutions Volmarstein, and I went over to play a bit with fire and steel and learning a bit myself. Also, he had some things waiting to be made, so I looked forward to the work! The lads and lassies came soon, and we had some great fun together.

 One of the guys sister putting me to a real challenge. She wanted to forge a shamrock, and I had never done that before. Even more challenging was that she wanted it to be worn as a pendant, so it had to be quite light...

 Volker made one of his trademark hearts.

 This is the outcome, looks more like an iron cross;-). I first forged a nail, and then squared the head (which I will not do next time:-)) and then we took the chisel to it. She was a bit reluctant at first to hit with all her might, for she did not want to hurt me, but when I said, hammer away, you WON´t hit me;-), she took her resolve and we made the thingie above. I daresay it´s all in your head...

 She was righteously proud of her achievement, and it was a pleasure to work together with her.

 Then Karl came by. Karl is an old miner working for the Zeche Herberholz in the neighbourhood. He slammed a jack-hammer-chisel on the bench and said: "Oi there, quench it." I said "Er, beg you pardon?"
"Now, just heat it and stick it in the water. But don´t anneal the back. Oh, by the way, this one is older than you are..."-"Do you know what steel it is?" - "It´s chisel steel. When I was still working, the smith just used to stick it in water."- "Boy, I must know a bit more, and I can´t guarantee.."-"...just heat it to 1.200 degrees then quench it! I come fetching it in an hour."1.200 degrees Celsius, mind you.;-) Did not do anything like that, but heated it to non-magnetic and quenched it in lard, which came along nicely. To avoid softening the rear end, I wrapped a wet (wet through, and constantly re - soaked) piece of cloth around it. Bit tricky, but it worked.

Then I started another project. This photo is exclusively for my druidic friends out there and it illustrates quite well what drives me;-).

May the AOUEIn guide you always!

That said and done;-), Volker had a job to be made, some 20 tent pegs. I was going at it like a pit bull, all enthusiasm and stuff... it was only halfway into forging tips and scrolling away that I learned how much he wanted to have as pay... I was near a hysterical fit: 2,00€ apiece. For a tent peg with scrollwork.:-/ never trust your employer. Would not mind if I was not earning my own money with the jobs he acquires. But I do not want to sound greedy. It´s just that at the end of the month having something to eat waiting in the fridge,wait, the cupboard, for I can´t afford a fridge, after 12 hours of forging would be quite relaxing for a change...;-) But it was fun to make anyway, and I hope he gets the prices right someday. I made fun out of him for that, and he promised to "go into negotiations" with the customer again. We´ll see how it will go;-).

Dangler sheath for my little EDC

 This is a new dangler-style sheath for a little EDC integral from Zwissler damascus I made. Nothing fancy, and it can be easily stitched more cleanly, I know...;-)

It was wet-formed and hotwaxed for stabilizing it. I tanned it with iron oxide, dragon´s blood and a CD marker:-).

Whatever became of that little damascus blade...;-)

 So here are two progress shots of one of my most recent damascus blades: 32 layers out of file steel and crucible shear/ saw steel I found in the woods. 85x4 mm. If you look closely, you can see that it shows the quench line.

I plan on fitting a scandi-style handle to it or maybe yew or maple burr... we´ll see, but in either case, I think I ´ll fit some reindeer antler to it, too.

Nick made a sheath for the small chopper

 Nick mailed me some pics of the sheath he made for the small "khukhuri"-style chopper we made to publish it in my blog. And here it is!

It´s made from leather of unnown provenience to make for a diagonal carry. From looks alone I would have to say, that, from my experience, I suspect it will get top-heavy and slide out, for it looks as if there were no straps to hold it in. But, with no tutoring at all, a fine first try, mate!

For all you newbies out there wanting to have a try, too, here´s an excellent tutorial on sheath making:

Click here

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...;-)

Another Hammer - In in the Industriemuseum Ennepetal - Weird and wonderful tales:-)

 It was the first Sunday of June, when the monthly Hammer - In was on schedule. Preceding the event was a bit of a disarray, for we were informed that we had to face something of a trial in the evening. It seemed then the head chairmen of the museum were not amused that we are making tools and knives and only some few pieces of jewellry- in fact, what inspiration makes us do- and that we were not members of the museum club. Those were the chief grievances. Some hints suggested that some of the smelters (I do not like categories at all, but I did not start it) were not so amused that we were having altogether too much fun. So, all in all, we were informed that it was play according to their rules or don´t play at all, and we had decided, if that´ll be the case, we´d rather play somewhere else. So, I contacted the guys and gals and informed them that this could as well have been the last time to meet in that museum. That turned out to be a real kick up the south end for the lot of them;-), for the smithy was brim full with people eager to make some noise. Sort of like the ultimately last ´Stones tournée...;-). Volker and Marcel with their little ones from Dortmund, Rolf from Münster, and people from as far as the North of Hessen came by. Daniel was there, Willi and myself, of course, Nick and many visitors, and, did we have fun? BOY, DID we!!! There were smiths from six to sixty years frequenting the smithy, and at times it was too full to properly work, the downside of it all.   

 Here Marcel checks the gas forge, which was roaring the whole day through.

 Willy doing some sanding of one of his miniatures.

 Rolf came by and had his knives and hatchets on display.

 He brought a new friend of his with him, whose name I unfortunately forgot, but he had two knives with him which left me flabbergasted!

 He does stock-removal for the most part, but hey... we are Borg... you are being assimilated. Resistance is futile;-)...

 I was most fond of this titanium slipjoint folder with next to no tolerances...

 The handle is titanium with a mirror(!) polish... schwweeeet!!!!;-)

 Since it was that full in the smithy, I grabbed the opportunity to have a decent lunch this time and to make the traditional photos of the historical automobile show.

 I was most fond of this carriage. Four horsepower, and is fueled by renewable resources;-).

 Trust those guys, they are in charge!

 Marcel forging a badass fighting knife.

 Did I say trust them...*ggg* Rolf doing a blacksmith´s interview...;-)

 BAM!!!!

 BAMBAMBAMBAM!!!!! Forging a setting hammer.

 Puky, the fly man;-) at the belt grinder...

 I was really delighted that my smithing groupie ;-)came by, too. He started smithing some years ago at an event I did for the Bethaus smithy, and, time passing by, he grows to maybe become a blacksmith himself. This is great to observe!

 Volker forging a badass birka style... er... sword???*ggg*

 Daniel showing Marcel´s son new tricks in an old trade...

 Nick having a go himself.

 Top to bottom: A forging exercise in brass Marcel´s son made, the monster Birka sword by Volker, a leaf and a blade by Marcel´s eldest son.

 And his youngest son having a go, too. It was a very friendly atmosphere the whole day through, an atmosphere of learning and creativity, and the youngest not only contributing the least to the latter. You can learn a lot from children, best when tutoring them freely!

 I did not achieve much that day, however, with quite a bit of tutoring and supervision and all that stuff;-). Then Julia, the Erdmuthe*ggg* came by, and I lent her an ear and a shoulder, and there was still some ordeal left.

When I went outside to meet with the second chairman of the museum to have a discussion, he greeted me in front of the café. Now Rainer is an enthusiastic smelter and historian and, no mistaking that fact, I pay him a huge amount of respect for what he does and what he is, and he is capable of some constructive discussion, too. I informed him that we would like to continue, but to be left to our own devices. His main concern was that everyone should wear proper safety gear, which catched me out cold, for I had forgotten my goggles and could not yet afford safety boots, mea culpa. But that´s no only fine with me, but one of my main concern, too. What made my day (and Willy´s, who came, too), was that they did not want us to make WEAPONS. Oh, pleeeaase, most of the blades we make are up to 10 cm in blade length. Other than that, the Ennepetal and Breckerfeld regions as well as the city of Hagen were leading regions of edged weapon and tool knife production from the early medieval ages, maybe dating as far back as the elder bronze age, up to early modernity, when the excellent bladesmiths of Hagen-Eilpe were recruited by some Mr. Eversmann (this will be dealt with in another historical post) to produce under the Tsar´s reign in St. Petersburg in the 19th century. Catch a glimpse of the art that might have been trademark of our region if they would have stayed here. The iron ore of the Breckerfeld region was famed throughout Europe and Russia. So, as we always refer to and lecture on that tradition, with not just a tiny bit of research done, I think we might have a legal reason. We will never, ever, make legally prohibited artifacts and weapons. Most of the stuff we make does not even have weapon characteristics (even that Birka saber;-) does not have) according to §§1, 42a WaffG (German offensive weapon act) and other laws. We told him, and offered to have a book handy in case anyone would ask. On that he agreed, and we parted as friends;-).

But it is unnerving still, and I daresay we do not have seen the last of it, for he is but a tiny cog in the machinery. We are enthusiastic about tutoring and doing something for a region that has social problems enough. We want to educate youngsters to achieve a socially adequate use of edged tools. We want to achieve a regional identity and identification with the region by the inhabitants, be they young or old. In fact, we have a dream: We would like to see old smiths passing on their knowledge to us and to the little ones.

With prejudice and fear we will not achieve this. But with education and hard work we will.

And if we are not welcome at one place, we will continue at another. We are many, and we have fun doing what we do, even if it is hard work at times. Handforging speaks louder;-) (Thanks, Joel, for that slogan, I really love it!!!*ggg*).

Then, suddenly, it was all over, and I saddled my steed to ride out into the sunset;-), and in the woods I sat and had a cuppa tea to calm down and to contemplate what the day meant to me, and to simply hear the birds singing.

New integral from steel I found in the woods

This is one of my current projects "on the bench", a semi-integral from quite an interesting piece of steel. As it seems, the steel rod I found was from an old corporation producing shears, saws and spades and gardening tools from the late 19th century up to the 1950s. I found an old receipt lying nearby, nearly unintelligibly, for 50 shears. Since I found ingots and spillings from a smelting process closely by, I assume that the bar might have been crucible steel. Spark analysis showed a carbon content of roundabout 0,8-1,2% with little othe ingredients. It forged best at roundabout 1000-1100 degrees Celsius and had a relatively small window of forging. It took a  good temper in an edge quench with conservative annealing, and it still carves iron rods;-). We will see what happens when I etch it... Also, I will make a butt cap, and there she goes...;-) Lousy pic, apologies for that. The handle is burned stag antler.