Mästermyr hinges made off-grid using stones for tools

I have made hinges of all sorts but this must be the most primitive ones. Forging the mechanism can sometimes be a bit tricky but in the Mästermyr hinges that is made simple. Even when using stone tools the fitting of pieces almost makes itself work just fine. The problem with primitive stone tools is that they do not allow holes to be made. You need tools to make tools and in this video I forge a punch using the stone tools and then punch the holes in the hinges. However, this sort of use makes the stones wear down rather fast. Next time around a steel hammer will come in handy.
The hinges are made out of mild steel that I brought to the site and the punch is yet another tool made out of the old harrow mentioned earlier in this series. The coal used was made in the coal pit featured in a previous video. The punch will not be hardened but is made out of a rather hard steel, that way it is no problem to sharpen it between every second hole or so. I prefer it that way. Also that way I do not have to worry about unwanted annealing when the punch get stuck.
Design wise the model for these hinges are as mentioned the hinges of the Mästermyr tool chest, an archeological find deriving from the Viking ages in Gotland. The original hinges are severely corroded and may have had a completely different end decoration. But this straight design with a lot of holes may well have been the look of the original considering how holes easily make metal rust more than solid forms and shapes.

[@alloydog613]

Very cool! Personally, though, I would have made one "modern" concession and worn safety glasses! ;)

[@gustavthane2233]

Yeah, I never thought of it until the other day when I edited this video, those stones are breaking up quite a bit. Thanks for caring.

[@ИванКовалев-г8к]

Так как канал позиционируется как историческая реконструкция то очки должны быть выкованы или сделаны из бересты😊

[@ironcladranchandforge7292]

While I enjoy watching you Blacksmith using stone hammers, I cannot figure out why? The Mastermyr find had several hammers in the collection. Are you experimenting to Blacksmith items as primitive as you can, bushcraft style? I know the Nordic Vikings were more sophisticated than this 1000 years ago.

[@gustavthane2233]

Yes they where, but also stone anvils where used in Scandinavia at least until the early 20th century... So stones are not that primitive. (1) I choose the Mästermyr chest as my toolbox mainly because it is a design that can be built without glue or nails (not counting the hinges) and my hypothesis is that it is also adapted to be built in wet wood without braking when drying. (2) If I would have an historical interest in this it would not have been what happened 1000 years ago but rather what I imagine it will be like 100 years into the future, there will be unlimited scrap metal but not enough skills to do anything about it... unless lots of people learn from those videos😉(3) my real focus is to look into what it means to make something by hand, how close a human body can be to everyday products in a production way of thinking. That is why I make hand tools and a box for hand tools, but also why I try out the tools making a box... and to close he circle (4) I also do research at the university and this experiment I use to see the difference in technique between working with really simple tools compared to more fit-for-purpose modern tools.

[@ironcladranchandforge7292]

@@gustavthane2233 -- Excellent!! Thank you for the explanation.

[@goingdurden967]

how long did it take to make those?

[@gustavthane2233]

Well, the time aspect I would say is the biggest difference from working with proper tools. In a modern shop I suppose they would be done in less than three hours, if the holes where drilled maybe one. But in the primitive setting of this video I worked on them for two days and maybe one day on the punch... but I also made a charcoal pit that same weekend so it was not full time in the forge.