Axes & Straight Blades
Steel Bits for an Antique Adze and Two New Axes
On July 23, 2014 by jaustinA friend brought me an adze forged from wrought iron that had surfaced on the agricultural land that his family has owned since 1845. He asked me to re-steel it so, …after overcoming my reluctance to risk a historical artifact on my first attempt at re-steeling, I set a piece of 1075 onto it. I
Axes & Straight Blades
Forging a Small Block Anvil
On July 15, 2014 by jaustinOne of my goals as a blacksmith is to forge my own version of a beautiful bickhorn that resides in the smithy in Bavaria where I did my apprenticeship. To accomplish this will take a lot of practice and planning. Last weekend I took a step in that direction by forging a 13 pound anvil
Axes & Straight Blades
Tools and Materials for Teaching Axe-Forging in Santa Fe
On July 15, 2014 by jaustinI’ve been busy forging special tools and preparing materials for the axe-forging class that I will be teaching at Helmut Hillenkamp’s blacksmithing shop in Santa Fe next week (July 25th – 27th). This is the first class that I will lead on the asymmetric wrap technique for forge welding Viking style axes. Wish me and
Tools
In Pursuit of the Forge Welded 3 lb. Viking-Style Hammer
On July 14, 2014 by jaustinI thought it would be an interesting challenge to develop a 3 pound version of the Viking style hammers I was working on a few months ago. Those hammers were in the weight range of 24 ounces and made excellent, small blacksmithing hammers. It seemed natural to try a larger version which was for more
Axes & Straight Blades
Axe-Forging Needs Constant Practice
On May 9, 2014 by jaustinIn a few days I will travel to England to demonstrate Viking style axe forging at the International Symposium of the Axe ‘n Seax in the shop of Owen Bush. This seminar is devoted to blades of the Anglo Saxon and Viking eras. I’ve already sent many of the tools and materials I need will