Damn- Three things. 1. This magnificent bastard isn't using more than about a two-pounder, and look how much steel he's moving. 2. Right around the six-minute mark, see how clean and even is isolation is? 3. And using a drift for his socket-form is so obvious, it's brilliant. We'd use a hardy for that nowadays, and wouldn't even consider taking it on by hand. Life goals, people.
The large size of old blades were for another purpose besides aesthetics. Over time blades became smaller and smaller due to resharpening and breakage. Starting off with a overly large blade allowed the owner to pass his weapons down to his sons, who also passed them down. There are many instances where antique swords and spears are much smaller than the day they were made.
Aspiring blacksmith, my anvil was a truck-frame that I drawfiled dead flat in one area...Now I've got a pair from old world anvil similar to yours, a fuller tool and a 1.5x1.5 faced anvil that works fairly well for small things. I tend to do work in mild steel. I also do a fair bit of blademaking, but wouldn't say I'm Don Fogg. I mostly do stock removal when it comes to blades, I'm afraid of making the perfect knife and then ruining it by overheating it or cold-working it.
Wrap the middle and rear portion. Forge weld the forward section. Reverse and repeat. The video makes a good demonstration of this as you see the heated section localized to the front at the beginning. Once you have a decent weld you no longer need any wire. If you're trying to do small sections then don't bother. You're better off using long sections and then cutting whatever piece you need on your hardy. If need be then forge weld the front section and cut it away from the other sections and work it. You'll need to watch for drift but that's just taking your time and some extra effort. And don't forget to be very liberal with your flux.
Do we know how most bellows and forges were installed? Did the Celtic people operate the bellows on the ground as shown in the video or is there evidence of bellows for this time period being installed at an elevated position to allow for operation while standing instead of kneeling?
I forged a small belt-kitchen knife, and just finished doing final sharpening, 5.1" blade, flat-forged-ground-whatever....It seems to have worked out well, made it a through-tang.
what was the steel/iron mix? for being steel that sure looks malleable... I'm hammering out a hand and a half with high carbon using a propane forge I run at 15 psi 0.o
The thing with simple steels like this would be is that it will bend before it will ever break and the grain of the steel adds to that structural integrity. the only remotely brittle part here is the point and even there it's just harder than the rest.
all you need is a slave to quench the blade and you are all set....lol..Nice work, you are a hammer swinging dude. You handle that hammer like it is an extension of your arm.
Of all the black smithing videos on TH-cam I've seen, raw effort like this is rare to find. This is something to be treasured.
Damn- Three things.
1. This magnificent bastard isn't using more than about a two-pounder, and look how much steel he's moving.
2. Right around the six-minute mark, see how clean and even is isolation is?
3. And using a drift for his socket-form is so obvious, it's brilliant. We'd use a hardy for that nowadays, and wouldn't even consider taking it on by hand.
Life goals, people.
MrMalikLucius this guy is a human power hammer
This guy is so damn good with his hammer it's unbelievable! Moves the metal so quickly and accurately!
Makes it look so easy..
It is easy, the more you do it, the easier it gets :)
The large size of old blades were for another purpose besides aesthetics. Over time blades became smaller and smaller due to resharpening and breakage. Starting off with a overly large blade allowed the owner to pass his weapons down to his sons, who also passed them down. There are many instances where antique swords and spears are much smaller than the day they were made.
very lovely forge work with minimal tools.
Thank you for this wonderful program
I am so impressed guys ... Blacksmith regards from Poland !
Aspiring blacksmith, my anvil was a truck-frame that I drawfiled dead flat in one area...Now I've got a pair from old world anvil similar to yours, a fuller tool and a 1.5x1.5 faced anvil that works fairly well for small things. I tend to do work in mild steel. I also do a fair bit of blademaking, but wouldn't say I'm Don Fogg. I mostly do stock removal when it comes to blades, I'm afraid of making the perfect knife and then ruining it by overheating it or cold-working it.
I found 2 Iron Age Spearheads with my metal detector back in 2011, it's nice to have the real thing. Got them preserved in a box frame on my wall.
When I have tried to forge weld with wire around the blank it all falls apart as the wire melts too fast. Is there a trick to do this properly?
Clamp your pliers,
use small rivets.
Wrap the middle and rear portion. Forge weld the forward section. Reverse and repeat. The video makes a good demonstration of this as you see the heated section localized to the front at the beginning. Once you have a decent weld you no longer need any wire.
If you're trying to do small sections then don't bother. You're better off using long sections and then cutting whatever piece you need on your hardy. If need be then forge weld the front section and cut it away from the other sections and work it. You'll need to watch for drift but that's just taking your time and some extra effort. And don't forget to be very liberal with your flux.
***** The Netherlands.
Do we know how most bellows and forges were installed? Did the Celtic people operate the bellows on the ground as shown in the video or is there evidence of bellows for this time period being installed at an elevated position to allow for operation while standing instead of kneeling?
Awesome job, especially keeping it all within the context of the materials available for the period. Did you even make your own charcoal?
@jaskamakkara The first hammer was a stone, so was the anvil and the first tongs were fresh-cut branches from trees.
@blacksmither1 '
Indeed, 64 c.m.
The spearhead was found in a wagon grave in Wijchen NL.
I forged a small belt-kitchen knife, and just finished doing final sharpening, 5.1" blade, flat-forged-ground-whatever....It seems to have worked out well, made it a through-tang.
what's the purpose of tapping the block between hits on the actual piece being forged?
What's the tool that they use to shape the socket for the spear called, not the blacksmith's hammer, the metal spike
is called: Mandrel.
In Dutch: Doorn.
Thijs van de Manakker. Thanks
I might just give this experiment a try sometime. There's a lot of iron ore in my area.
Fascinating series of videos... certainly increased my understanding.. cheers all!
what was the steel/iron mix? for being steel that sure looks malleable... I'm hammering out a hand and a half with high carbon using a propane forge I run at 15 psi 0.o
Is this kind of spear durable? Isn't it very "breakable" where blade is connecting to the "tube"?
+TheReal Minus25 yes!
+TheReal Minus25 One solid piece of iron. Should be very strong if they made it right.
The thing with simple steels like this would be is that it will bend before it will ever break and the grain of the steel adds to that structural integrity. the only remotely brittle part here is the point and even there it's just harder than the rest.
Thank you, that was very helpful :)
ever tried something different from white silica sand, like ashes or mud or Sceliphron caementarium cells?
I love your post anvil. Did you find an original or is this something you made?
Is there somewhere I could see the completed spear? Or was the spearhead an end in itself?
The way he tempered that iron.. Genius.
Where did the celts get thier iron billets from ?
What kind of metal are you using? Shouldn't heating it up till it's white and sparking burn off the carbon?
So, this is steel from the bloomery furnace? The steel they just made?
Two iron bars on the outsides and one steel bar in the middle, from a previous furnace.
A bare bones anvil 2 hammers and occasionally a set of thongs. That's a REAL blacksmith
what is the white sand looking stuff he's throwing on it while in the forge ?
happy to see this nice Video -where did you make it ?
+aratanatar
Made in Eversham, iron age settlement of Eindhoven Museum.
+Thijs van de Manakker are U still doing reanactions there ? look at Teutatesnet.de maybe we can meet one day
+aratanatar
facebook.com/thijs.vandemanakker/media_set?set=a.331689023558428.78511.100001519982564&type=3
You guys are living my dream
What was the source for your metal?
This looks fun. I wonder if the guy who made this vid does this for a living
ahhhhh I see... how bad does it tend to rust?
Lol. Uses a boss to quench. This guy knows exactly what he is doing. I would pay him for training.
guitardaddy6 www.thijsvandemanakker.com/DemonstratiesEnglish.htm
I don't think you have enough bear pelts for lessons from him.
kan ik bij je in de leer ?
Enjoyed all your videos, good work
Thank you !
Reconstitution historique ha juste une question que fait un marteau Américaine la juste un detail
Marteau allemand . . .
Bloomery iron for the outher layers and bloomery steel for the core
C: 0,006 on the outside layers and C: 0,7 for the core.
This forge runs on birchcharcoal at 1 mp.
wijchen in gelderland?
What flux is he using ?
Quartzsand
Also helps to stop in fire oxidation
A non-tempered spearhead is not too brittle?
Iron outside, steel core and dark red quenched, no need for tempering.
@thesparitan So you didn't read the answer ?
What went first, his eyes or his lungs? Tough job.
What did they use for flux?
Quartz sand.
How long did this take to make?
Don't worry, it's in a museum's showcase now !
5:06 Ball-pein hammer in the iron age ?
i wonder how they forged the forging tools ''back in the days''!
wheres the globes and eye glasses??
ben hahaj
What's eye glasses ??
Ppe safety first
ben hahaj this is a historical reconstrution, They did not have safty glass in the Celtic times. Saftly nanny´s need to stay outside.
The molten sand around the iron/steel billet prevents Carbon to burn out.....
11 years ago? This shit belong in the museum
@thesparitan What about the answer?
@HowToHistory
Bog ore from Stiphout
spears are actually just as awesome as swords in right hands!
what kind of anvil is he using like the true name
Wade Maharg Small block anvil.
@akdude182
try to move yourself to the period 700 BC.
a cool thing with such a long spearhead is that if it isn't on a stake then it might actually be used as a short sword.. makes sense, no?
why are they making layred steel spear head i thougt that it was used onely for swords
Iron prevents steel from cracking
What's types is he using?
Bloomery.
Parabens muito bom trabalho.
A spear??? This looks like the huge bolt of a ballista^^
Nice work though. I will try that by myself but doubt that I'm that fast ;)
Tijdens Rakuvaria life met Pinksteren is er een workshop oersmeden.
So you're a blacksmith?
what kind of a house is that? it's fucking beautiful.
It's the smithy of Eversham, the Iron Age settlement in Eindhoven .
all you need is a slave to quench the blade and you are all set....lol..Nice work, you are a hammer swinging dude. You handle that hammer like it is an extension of your arm.
@MrThijzer Okay. Thx!
...
I'm convinced. This is what I'm making my money from from here on out.
Watch this video with Dio's "Holy Diver" playing in the background. It's epic.
This is absolutely amazing! I recommend them trading some of their iron in for some modern eye protection though.
Hot forging is a lot faster than stock removing, if you pay a little attention you will not ruin the steel.
@gswiaczny thanks Greg
that things like a freakin sword on its own
Talk about "Old School"! Hellava Long-ass spear!
Well jose emilio, the guy in the yellow shirt is the prehistoric messenger, he can have it / hij kan wel tegen een stootje !!
why would they need something that large seems like a waste of valuble meatal to me
akdude182
Iron was more available than you may realize. It was actually much more available than bronze.
Best advice my father ever gave me : "Don't force it, use a bigger hammer".
Thank you
cool, thanks for the reply
And nitrogen being added
so badass
@debater96 One Celtic day.
wish i could learn under him
AWESOME!
Thats not a spearhead. Thats looks more like a sword but supposed to stay on the top of a stick.
COOL!
Last few seconds, there was a disturbance in the Matrix.
that billet would have taken aaages to hammer out by hand
Dank je wel!
Thanks btw, Thijs
thats gonna be a huge spear!
not when i had commented...over a year ago
It's not borax, it is what it looks like....
Not much.
That spearhead came from a long line of conservative spearheads, but secretly deep-down he wanted to be a SWORD!
Bij Nijmegen.
Dank U !!
lol, you've never seen a celtic spearhead before have you
SiO2