How to FORGE a MEDIEVAL SPEAR - Just a big ARROWHEAD?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ต.ค. 2024
- Recently I visited Will Sherman of Medieval Arrows ( www.medievalar... & / medievalarrows ) and asked him if we could make a medieval spear in the same way he makes arrows. Then I tried to do it!
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#archaeology #medieval #blacksmith
Forging the fan for the socket: th-cam.com/video/h2KTmNRBJ3o/w-d-xo.html
Rolling the socket: th-cam.com/video/h2KTmNRBJ3o/w-d-xo.html
Forging the neck: th-cam.com/video/h2KTmNRBJ3o/w-d-xo.html
Cutting the excess tip off: th-cam.com/video/h2KTmNRBJ3o/w-d-xo.html
Forging the point: th-cam.com/video/h2KTmNRBJ3o/w-d-xo.html
You may not see this but I'd love if in one of the future Royal Armouries runs you could do an Oakeshott XVIIID sword. I can't really find a lot of examples but I saw a couple presumed examples in the RA collection. A long, cut and thrust type sword seems like it would sell pretty well especially if it has side rings and pas d'ane like some descriptions say they have. I struggle to see which I'd like more, the long fuller or the full midrib
I have been a blacksmith for a couple years now. Have made knives tomahawks tongs and various tools and cooking utensles. I have always wanted to forge a glave maybe now is a time to start on one. Really nice video.
Well I think that design would be much easier to both enter and withdraw from a body. The added width of a more diamond shaped blade would seem more difficult as the wound closed around it once it sunk past the corners of the blade. That shape you made lends itself to the same design of a sword . I guess as long as it had a sharp edge along the whole blade it wouldn't matter. Iv always liked the boar hunter spears with the wings. I know it's fantasy but the spear in Dragon Slayer was one of my favorite.
As a smith, I'd love to see more forge content from my favorite historical melee channels.
I've heard it said that every melee fighter (sword, spear, axe etc.) should attempt forging at least once. Both to build a fuller appreciation for the workmanship and intricacies of the design, as well as to build a better understanding of their weapon's design and construction over all. Like Field stripping a gun and analyzing each part and it's purpose. XD
A fair demand. The making of weapons is just as fascinating as their looks and application !
As a smith I second this comment.
So all the smiths want to see more smithing, right? I do appreciate seeing people try forging and gaining an appreciation of it
As a non-smith I concur!
"I think I'm probably more used to hammering things than pumping things"
Oh Matthew....
Nice video, Will's such a talented chap and makes great arrows.
Oh yes. He's certainly talented, Commander Kingsley. Will is quite notable for his many appearances and citations by the UK arms and armour community members.
It was fantastic to watch the difference between an armature and a professional here. This was a fantastic video. Matt did an admirable job for the experience he has, but once Will picked up the hammer you instantly saw the muscle memory and expertise in his efficiency of motion. I love this kind of content.
I just realised that it is just as encouraging to watch someone struggle all the way, forging a functional spearhead, as it is watching someone making it look easy. Well done both of you!
The more I learn about the difficulty of forging a good spear head, especially when it comes to forming the socket, seamless and completely closed on all sides, the more I appreciate my beautiful medieval spear made by the good people at Arms & Armor up in Minnesota! It really is a work of art.
Been forging knives and forged a few arrowheads, tried a few spearheads (need to do one properly), but yeah, the sockets can be a pain. You could do it without forgewelding by closing it off as an even (sometimes uneven) seam and leaving it that, some things like machetes, trowels, spearheads, etc. Do that with town smiths. Or some of the viking age spears were partially forgewelded, if you look close enough, with some seam left. Though probably a reason why 'tanged' spears were first a thing, before people transitioned to sockets, same with arrows. This is in-terms of historical context, some of the gaps are due to impurities in wrought iron left or the leftover gaps.
Yeah, a clean, smooth, and gap-less socket is probably the most important thing on spear-making from a "quality control" point of view, unless you just forge the socket separately and then weld it to the head. On TH-cam I sadly see that the greatest part of guys that forge a spear make pretty ugly sockets, uneven and with huge gaps. I have forged quite a number of spears and javelins, and from my experience, starting from round stock gives a better result, the majorty of flat stock spears I have seen turn out pretty ugly in the socket. One advice I can give is to forge a small fuller in the transition between socket and head to favor the wrapping movement of the two laps. In this way it's harder to leave a gap. Of course it must be brushed often and kept clean of scale, since that part will be welded in itself
I am saving up to get a few spearheads made by them, myself. I love Arms and Armor's work. Good stuff, and I highly recommend them!
The easiest way I have found is to start with a section of appropriately sized pipe, taper it, and forge weld it to a tenon on the spear head itself. Of course not historically accurate.
I've been blacksmithing for around 35 years and actually started learning at an 1850's era forge. Sockets can be a bit of a problem, made easier if you use the proper swages and drifts. If you want a real challenge, try making a medieval period key....the stem of the key is rolled up from flat stock (usually 16 gauge or thereabouts) into a hollow stem maybe 1/4" in diameter, all the while keeping the seam straight and then forge brazing the bit and the bow without them getting out of alignment. It's quite easy, when you know how........like everything.
I think every archeologist should spend some time doing hands on work in historical trades like blacksmithing, timber framing, and masonry.
There is a large trend in modern archaeologists to actually go speak with people from that industry, or ask locals about stories from an area. Long gone are the days of ivory tower archaeologists sitting in lounges with an artifact discussing it among peers with assumed knowledge. Some famous stories include: why there were small brick rings only 2-3 layers tall inside huts, answer, raising chickens, mama can step over the bricks but the chicks cant. Leather scraper tools, items no archaeologist had a clue about so was labelled as "ritual items", turns out they were scrapers used to the modern day for leather work. Or why in huts knives and certain sweet foods were kept in the rafters (About head height) and not with all the other kitchen tools and foods, answer, small kids cant reach them.
Absolutely no better way to get insights into the process. though sometimes easier said than done.
Will is SUCH a good teacher - I'd move to the UK and pay a good bit to apprentice to him if money weren't an issue.
Spears and javelins (La Tène stuff expecially) are my favorite things to forge, and yeah you can forge a spear just like a big arrowhead and you'll get a very good result. Clearly the making and the closing of the socket are a bit awkward on the very big ones, and expecially the perfect sealing of the two laps in the transition between the socket and the head. This is likely the way many spears were made, since a lot of them from the iron age appear to be made of just iron, possibly from a single piece. Later medieval ones tend to have heftier sockets, in this case forging the socket separately and then welding it to the head is the best way.
I have on my wall a 19th Century whaling harpoon, which has to all intents and purposes a 5 inch giant arrowhead shaped virtually identically to the centre one on that display board. It is forged as part of a 2 foot long iron shaft with a 5 inch socket connecting it to a one-and-a-half inch diameter 5 Ft. wooden pole. A relic from one of my seafaring Ancestors here in Australia!
I appreciate the lack of over editing, so we can watch the whole process 👍🏻
When I was 15-16 we used to go out stingray gigging and we made our gigs out of 3/4 O/D rebar by heating it with a blow torch and pounding it into a spear head but we used the shaft of the rebar as the spear shaft itself, we wanted a heavy spear so it would pin the Ray to the sandy bottom, we would stand on the front of a flats boat and as we went over the top of a ray they would take off from the sandy bottom and we would spear them, yes we were catching them to eat, so I find this video very interesting and informative for a first time go you did pretty dang good
This is such a cool video format. Watching Matt do one of my favorite things and talk about things I love.
So, as a bladesmith with several years under my belt and a few blades between...
I'm genuinely impressed. That's a nice spearhead for a complete novice. (I'm going out on a limb here and taking your word about only ever having forged a single knife before.) 😊
Even with a master smith at your side, it's hard to do that kind of quality as your first. My first blade was a complete catastrophe. My second as well.
I have never made a spearhead... 🤔 maybe I should try it.
I made a chape for my scabbard, and for such a small thing it was amazingly hard to do. It looks like somebody that had received a sword blow to the head made it, but I like it since at least I can say I made in myself.
Hey Matt. ❤ Nice seeing you , making weapons this time! Feels great, doesn't it? I felt every hammer stroke with you, because it's also part of my job, forging I mean. Keep up the good work, make more stuff, you'll love it.
I enjoyed the video and I think Matt did a good job
I was a professional blacksmith for many years, made mostly antique knives and axes but made more then a couple spears including one a friend used to kill a huge boar with.
A few things , forming the “ fan” would be much easier if you forged it out on the horn or on a bottom fuller Hardy. This spreads the iron out faster.
I would form the socket around a mandrill also I made the body out of iron and then forge welded the socket together on the mandrill
For hog hunting we needed a wider , leaf shaped head.
That was fantastic,the difference in your posture near the end you seemed to relax more and straighten up and your hammer blows become more confident,well done big chap.all the best from sunny Troon 😊
I love force content!
Also, and this is not a commentary on your skill at forging Matt, I firmly believe this spear should be called “The Dog’s Breakfast.”
Fascinating and impressive well done Matt. I've forged a longsword blade but with more modern equipment and it was still pretty knackering, you're clearly fitter than I am 😄
While you were working my mind was literally going "that's what apprentices must've been for", I can only imagine a forge of 4 or 5 people all working together like that
Nice job. Agreed, definitely need more smithing content!
I’ve recently stumbled across some articles about Viking-era arrowheads recovered from a glacier in Norway, and was surprised to see that they were all tanged as opposed to socketed. I’ve known that this was pretty common in places such as Japan, but was wondering if you might have some input on this subject?
Who? Matthew Jensen?
Sorry, I forgot his name is Will Sherman…My apologies to this great arrowsmith 👍
Tanged arrows are much easier to make-less work and fuel.
@@hendrikvanleeuwen9110 there’s an argument strongly against that though, Why were the Japanese and Ottoman’s still using them as late as they did?
@torianholt2752 Being cheaper and faster to make is an advantage in itself, particularly for something semi disposable like an arrowhead.
My guess is that socketed arrows became a thing in the context of heavy European armour. (Although lots of socketed arrows are clearly not antiarmour).
Tanged arrows did exist alongside socketed arrows in medieval times, though.
Interesting, i always thought one would use the round part of the anvil to forge the socket. :D This was awesome, thank you.
Great vid, nice to see you really getting involved too!
It's a tricky time for all content creators - but everything you've done has been really interesting and entertaining.
I love Will's hat.
It's best to leave the edges quite thick when heat treating. If you bring them down too thin they will burn up in the heat treating process.
I've done a tiny bit of forging and really enjoyed it. Watched it all the way through.
At 10:34 it sounds like the fast forwarded audio is playing over the regular audio.
Love to see more of this type of thing. Well done.
If you do medieval media in England long enough you will eventually end up in Will Sherman's smithy. Love it :)
"Oopsie"...is a word no actual blacksmith has ever used...ever!!! I'm surprised he allowed you to remain in the shop!😁
Awesome, need more crafting like this!!!
This is the best thing i have seen this year on youtube
An arrowhead as big as spear? That must be some sort of "assault" broadhead. Quick UK gov, this needs cracking down on!
And, can be made in just some crude shop. Unserialized. It's a ghost assault broadhead.
@@btrenninger1 It really is laughable, isn't it, lol.
This was awesome! I'd love a tour through that shop and all those tools
Good experiential archaeology
This is by far my favorite video that I've seen from this channel. I would love if you did more of this hands on traditional forging with smiths. Probably because I forge as well, but it's wonderful to see a traditional smith working with nothing but fire and anvil. No swag blocks or drifts, just sort of get to it. I bet Will must be a very good friend. My uncle and cousin were the pair who trained me in the beginning, I could just sort imagine them of slapping the #$%^ out of me while I was learning. He seems to be a very talented ....cheers.
Awesome video. You ended up with a very nice spearhead. Well Done
Will seems like such a quiet fellow every time that I see him. Excellent work, Matt. I admire your determination. Thanks for the video.
How's your arm and wrist? I am not sure how long ago you filmed this. I am curious to learn how it affected your body.
Looks like a blast while being a ton of work nothing as cool as moving steel!
Amazing!!! From some point on I felt that I empathized with every blow of the hammer!
That’s an amazing one day effort Matt, beautiful spear
good teacher.
I love watching forging videos! I miss working the forge.
People now forget just how much work is involved in making things.
Thanks for the video it's always good to learn how to forge & make your own weapons
Amazing video
Fix it to a Rangoon cane. Love to see it fully fitted. 😊
This was a really funny video, great idea Matt!
Nice one matt looks very hard work, wills a great instructor thank you both 👍outstanding vid.
I don't normally like long videos but that had me riveted all the way through. No that wasn't a pun!
haha matt easton the apprentice, not half bad! you guys always make good content, love it!
There are multiple ways to make both arrow and spear heads and most of them are fairly similar to each other once you consider the scale. The part about hammer handle fit can't be understated, i have relatively small hands and can feel pain from using an oversized handle after about a day.
Grandfather was a blacksmith, but I only have photos. I never saw him work in person. He was 74 when I was born. I think you started to get the feeling when you let the hammer slowly bouncing come to rest on the anvil between blows.
"If you have a propane forge, you're resting..." Wait, what about your second and third piece you're working at the same time...oh that's why I'm so tired after six hours.
But we've also done triple the work at the end of a session 👍
6 hours?....you're a beast! With the propane prices these days I'm going to have to start working 4 pieces at once!
Our induction forge is magic by comparison.
I'd imagine it's easier! More material to work with and larger shapes! less fine work with the hammer and LESS skill required, practically a noobie to the world of bladesmithing but I'm currently working on an offhand parrying dagger for my first real piece. I really do have to say thank you to BOTH you guys for taking the time and effort to share this gem as I'd been wanting to do a couple of spearheads but found the concept of a socket rather intimidating for a first thing.
I'm no blacksmith, though I do watch a lot of smithing videos, and I learned that you should use your shoulder instead of your arm because you're less likely to strain or develop arthritis in your arm
Actually, a very nice spearhead. I like it. Be proud of it. I bet it works. 😉
Hypnotic
Huh. An interesting bellows design there, never seen that before. I'm more familiar with the so-called "great bellows," which uses a stationary plank with an expanding chamber above and below, and one-way valves between. It's operated by a pulley system that lets you lift the bottom board by pushing on a foot pedal; air enters the bottom chamber when you drop the board, then gets trapped and forced into the upper chamber when you step on the pedal, and finally gravity forces the air from the upper chamber through the blower. It occurred to me as I was watching this, that a setup like that would probably be easier for one man to operate (and so better for the frontier smith), while this design might have been used more by well established smithies with many apprentices.
But all in all, great job on the spearhead, especially if this is only your second time at a forge. When you showed it off there at the end, I was thinking that might be just the right size to double as a dagger if you just added a pair of wings to act as a guard.
These are great bellows which work in exactly the same way as the ones you're describing. Same valves, same chambers above and below a fixed centre board.
The only difference is that below the bottom chamber, is a third chamber, which pushes the air collected as the handle drops through a pipe at the back into the top chamber as well. Far more efficient than Great Bellows, and they were the standard bellow design in the UK from the 1800s onwards.
@@MedievalArrows Okay, that is really cool. I'm not sure why I've never heard of this design but I definitely want to know more about it. Why the shoulder pull mechanism though? Is it just something you get used to, and he wasn't?
10:34 they are speaking the language of Gods.
Oh yes, there's a lot of work involved in forging. I'm only an amateur and make for myself or friends (for free).....I'm absolutely certain people have no idea of the work involved!
Even stock removal knives and swords take soooo much work and effort and mess!😊
But, whacking nearly white hot steel with hammers really is as fun as it sounds.
We are one step closer to making a godendag
Hello Matt, I wanted to ask you about your ranking of Dequitem's top 10 weapons for an armored duel. In your response video you said you would rank the poleaxe higher and the mace over the falchion but how exactly would you rank his top 10 weapons? Would you replace any with some he didn't include? If so, maybe it would be a nice idea to make a video ranking your top 10 armored duel weapons.
This may be a bit off topic, but I'm really curious about how they got the actual bar stock in the medieval period. I've seen other examples of forging before as well and it feels like they're usually starting with some pretty nice materials and just doing the forging process. Which is interesting, sure, but how was that raw material made to begin with in the medieval period? I've never seen a video really go into depth on that part. Maybe it's a bit too technical to be interesting for people, but I'm interested...
It's fairly straightforward - iron ore gets popped into a furnace along with charcoal, the whole lot is brought up to critical temp and kept there with bellows until the iron and charcoal becomes a lump (bloom) and is removed from the furnace. The bloom is then simply worked by the Smith into whatever section is required - long, narrow, square, layered multiple times etc.
It's no different to taking a random chunk of iron from the scrap bucket and forging it into a length of 8mm x 8mm bar to make arrowheads, or 20x6 to make knives etc.
Will’s comment on historical items being much thinner and more delicate than people expect is so incredibly spot on. I’ve been searching for basic reproductions of things like firesteels and knife blades at markets for a few years, but the modern stuff is just so crudely made compared to the originals. I guess it’s a combination of cheaper materials and more expensive labour, but it also just seems like laziness and poor craftmanship.
That would make a fine ballista(or is the correct term scorpio?) arrow head-you know,a giant torsion crossbow that can split tree in half and nail a guy in full plate to a doors!
Something I've sometimes wondered when I've seen the shape and size and design of certain spear heads, if it got broken off the shaft, could it be used like a sword given that some of them do resemble a sword with a cross guard.
When and where did the sockets become welded? From what I understand the norse did it earlier, but did it become mainstream elsewhere?
I reckon steel would have started being used as well at some point.
Question for the patient smith; what did medieval iron stock look like ? you mentioned bar stock, I have a feeling they didn’t have rolling mills …
Use your shoulder when hammering larger thing like this. So you dont ruin your arm, and it gives alot more power. It is best too not heat up the steel again and again, but do as much forging as possible between each warm up
interesting, he doesn't use the horn or a stake for the socket. professional eye!
Great!
Awesome video, and EXCELLENT end result for your 2nd ever forging! For the people who enjoyed tgis contrnt thoroughly, I suggest an addirional youtube channel: Officina ferraria. Does alot of historical recreation of spears, javelins, arrows, etc., all hand forged (some videos have a power hammer, but mostly not.)
A good way to consider who-does-what job in black smithing. Do you have the apprentices that will help drive the steel into the physician that it needs to be in when you're making a sword or set, basically drawing out the blade and getting it to rough shape and then fine-tuning the blade is. The headblack Smith job also doing all of the welding and.
Turning sockets is the head blacksmith job.
The lowest man on the rung would be literally just making rings. It would be the head blacksmith job to Close the ring's after the chain mill was put together one line at a time.
Basically, you make a chain and then the wrongs are closed by the head. Blacksmith, and then you add a chain to that chain. And the head blacksmith closest those rings. And you proceed Intel you have.
The chain mail Sheet pattern desired.
And the sheets would be put together by the head blacksmith. And only the headblack's misled had a glow torch yes a blow torch.
Well, now I understand why that man has such developed forearms.
Have you ever thought of doing a collaboration with Alec Steele? He has made some rather amazing things based on historical items/ weaponry.
Yeah I've communicated with Alec, but we never made it happen so far.
More forging content Matt!!
New job title for Matt: Apprentice Blacksmith.
So question more for Will, why do Blacksmiths hit the anvil after a few hits on the metal your working with? I seen it in everything from Hollywood to Modern industrial forging.
Find your groove, matt.
Is a tanged spearhead easier to make than a socketed spear head?
Sorry Matt, but us gas and electric bellows users don't rest while the thing is heating up!
We put two, or 3 or 4 projects in the fire at once and hammer non-stop to get the most out of our fuel, time, and latent heat.
Big applause though. Anyone interested in history, tools or weapons should have a go of this. It's rewarding, but hard as hell. I'm sure you felt that elbow pump
first rule of the forge: "It's hot. Don't touch it."
second rule: you will spend most of your time drawing out or tapering metal
I am assuming that he brought out this anvil for you. Because that anvil seems to be a little bit too large to make an arrow head like three times the size at least.
More of this. Do a sword next, then a complete harness. Name it Matt Makes:
❤Majestic❤
Designing he bellows lever into a chain down to a foot pedal would save your arms for hammering.
Spears by far what I forge the most of.
20:50 Drop Forged!
"Pumping and hammering,waiting for it to get hot"not my idea of pleasure
40:50 He hammered the point home
Sorry
Shouldn't you wear hearing protection?
what i was thinking
Its ad1135
Yesn't
If you're regularly working at an anvil, with power tools, go to concerts, and/or just hoover a lot, you should wear something.
For a one off video or during a lesson like this, it's far more important to be able to hear one another
With proper hearing protection you can hear far better than without. With tactical active hearing protection, for instance, everything is amplified and much louder than normal. You can hear and clearly understand whispering from many metres away. As soon as something loud (e.g. a shot) occurs, however, the headset cancels it out. And you're wrong about the "regular", too. A single loud incident can damage your hearing forever. @@skilletborne
Ah Matt’s learned how to be a apprentice
Watching you hammering Matt, I see you hammering with a movement from the wrist and elbow. That's quite exhausting. Try to move from the upperarm/shoulder, keeping your wrist and elbow in the same position, eg don't move them... I experienced a severe tennis elbow using my elbow instead of my shoulder in the past...
Love this demonstration. However, back in the day most of the grunt work would have been done with the help of apprentices swinging heavier hammers.
Actually, I just got to thinking about it and a railroad rail should be enough to make an envelope out of.
I like to watch people at work 🤣
Can a Mughal Talwar be made with out a disc pommel?
Shamshir/kilij style (mamluk) hilts were also used in India.
Thank u so much