Forging ahead

After working as a volunteer for Smederij Atelier Alkmaar at the DKE (Dutch Knife Expo) i had some new inspiration.
The Expo was great, the workshops were busy and we had a real good day.
In this period a made some new things, tested different materials/shapes and mostly i had allot of fun.
I made a 'Brut de Forge' outdoor chef knife for a customer and my second axe.
The passion for Bushcraft and forging comes here together  by making knives and axes:)
Take care Igor

After quencing i forgot to soften the blade and broke it with the stress test

Started this order for a chef, a outdoor kitchen knife, ModifiedCM60 steel.

Finished product, with Desert Ironwood burl  handle, silver/nickle pin and silver dutch coin.

The silver coin is a 2,5  dutch guilder from 1939.

'Brut de Forge' mini bushcrafter

A 'Brute de Forge' mini Bushcrafter and a small Tomahawk/double side axe.

Made a Poplar handle and broke it after testing, so i  made a new one from Beech.

It's my second forged axe and not the last one.

I did not make these two viking axes, bought them on the DKE!

And made another Beech handle

Tim Lively inspired washtub forge

Together with my friend Sammy we made a new style logo and business cards and i am happy with the result.
Last two weeks i have been building on a simple portable washtub forge. I found some time ago a hand crank blower from 1925 out of New York and got a old washtub from my dad who was laying somewhere in the garden.
A family member gave me some old clay with, plaster in it and a couple of heath prove stones.
I mixed the clay with ash, sand and water and  used that to make a shape in the washtub.
On the bottom and the sides of the tub i placed the heath prove stone and the iron tube with the little holes for the air flow of the hand crank,  and finished it all off with the clay.
A couple of day's later  i made a small fire inside the forge to harden the clay.
After that i connected the hand crank on a frame and used an old vacuum cleaners pipe between the blower and the tub for the airflow.  Now it was ready for some heath.  
I had an old small anvil on a woodblock and together with the washtub forge i had built my own portable forging setup.
This weekend we had a demo/workshop with my other company 'PolderBushcraft' and i tested my setup if it was working the way how i wanted.
Thanx to the site of Tim Lively (http://timlively.com/washtubforge.htm)it was very easy to build and it cost nothing to make, all recycled materials.  
I also made a small case with glass to present the knives in.
Check out the photo's below and the first two knives i forged in this great washtub forge on coal!  
Take care thanx Igor.

Making Wootz/Pulad at Smederij atelier Alkmaar

Just came back from making wootz steel at Smederij atelier Alkmaar.
Dave van Wijngaarden and his wife Renske own and run this forging studio and are real nice people with a lot of knowledge.
It was a great day and  i can talk a lot about it but i think in this case the photo's will speak for itself.
More info about Smederij atelier Alkmaar see the link on the right side of the page>

flint strikers

Brut de Forge Mountainmen

It's been a while  due health and time  problems,  i have not  been forging for about 9 months now.
It's great to start again and put some new energy into the steel.
Here some of  the work from last week, i need to get back into the whole feeling but here's some pictures i made.
The first knife is a 'Brut de Forge' Eggerling damascus blade,  i call it the Mountainmen, with a 16th century ships trader coin, a handle from deer bone and a butcap made from abalone shell.
The others are some tryouts to get back into the ritme again.
First knife was a antique screwdriver, the second one i tried to make a machete but it melted  into two pieces when i did not pay attention.

The 3th is a flint steel and bodkin, and the last is a ramshorn flint steel.

'Forg de Brute' utility/kitchen knife

This week i have been sawing wooden scales, stabelizing and forging.
The stabelized wood came out very nice, most of it is Buckeye burl fungi.
I made some mistakes to, for example i try to make cable wire damast but the cable was to fat for my little hammers and skinny arms.
By just manpower and no machines i ended up with blisters on my hand and a fucked  piece of steel what wasn't damast.
The good thing is that you learn allot from the mistakes you make and there were some good things that came out.
From the age of 6 i have been collecting like a magpie; stones, fossils, shelss, bone, wood and alot more, i still do that and now i have a great collection of material for knivescales.
My newest found was a box of  dinosaur/mammoth leg bones from the bottom of the sea, found and sold by a fisherman, beautifull and luxe material to work with.
After forging a copple of hours i ended up with three knives and one i finished of because i liked it, the 'Forg de Brute' kitchen/utility knife.
Here some pics, take care Kampman.