At the forge
Home » Blog » Nate Savill » At the forgeAnother instalment from Nate the blacksmith — quietly discovering his creativity while buried in the depths of a West Coast winter.
The forges are a blazing source of heat as the temperatures continues to drop on the coast. It’s been snowing on the hills, and raining on the plains which the locals are hoping is a sign of a good whitebait season. At the smithy the welding bays have been empty as students and tutors congregate around the roaring coal fires, conversation spills out the huge open doors of the smithy back out into the cold.
Time weaves a gentle net and I must say that my pleasure at the forge has returned. I have been busy making a fire set, which is a little like reinventing the wheel. I wonder if the world really needs another poker, rake and ash shovel? But the world’s never seen one made by me, and perhaps never this slow. It’s been serving as an immense indicator of how comparatively snail-like the world would become if we returned to a craft based society, never mind the time it would take to relearn these skills.
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time learning to make leaves, by tapering round piece of steel and then hammering it flat into a leaf shape. The chisels I have made add veins, and the hammer’s ballpein gives the texture of bark to the stems. It’s much more subtle work than I’m used to and it is easy to set the paper-thin leaves on fire.
To see a piece of steel become a leaf, a koru, a spiral or a crooked vine is exciting. It’s incredibly satisfying to see lifeless steel come alive in this way.
Other natural elements have begun to appear in my work. The fire set has sprouted vines and spirals and the stand for the fire set will come alive as a tree, and a wall sconce (medieval candle holder) has draped itself in vines and leaves. To see a piece of steel become a leaf, a koru, a spiral or a crooked vine is exciting. It’s incredibly satisfying to see lifeless steel come alive in this way.
In an interesting take on can recycling, hundreds of cans procured from Westport pubs have been recently turned into molten aluminium on one of the forges. The red hot liquid metal is then poured into moulds made of beach sand. So far the ‘smelters’ have turned out a number of crude crosses, and attempted to make ‘bling’ in the shape of the letter N for a puppy named Nibbles. Mostly they’ve just made hard silvery lumps and generated toxic fumes. Needless to say it’s probably not a longterm recycling option.
In other projects around the smithy, the ‘ring to rule them all’ has been forged out of brass. This is the real one apparently, so keep it quiet. The armory is full, with the ongoing production of all manner of knives and daggers, and machetes. The attempt on the full-sized katana (samurai sword) has been abandoned, but the chainmail (armour) production has resumed. We shall be ready for the apocalypse, or perhaps that phone call from Weta Studios.
Here on the Coast when the weather’s a bit gloomy, the pubs aren’t really happening and the blacksmithing fix hasn’t quite left for the day, then there’s always the ‘home forge’. A good fire in the hearth, a bit of mild steel, a hammer and a railway iron anvil and the home smith is born. So if you’re cold and bored this winter, pound some metal with resources available in your own home.
Stay warm!
Nate is a regular Good blogger, read more of his thoughts here.
The forges are a blazing source of heat as the temperatures continues to drop on the coast. It’s been snowing on the hills, and raining on the plains which the locals are hoping is a sign of a good whitebait season. At the smithy the welding bays have been empty as students and tutors congregate around the roaring coal fires, conversation spills out the huge open doors of the smithy back out into the cold.
Time weaves a gentle net and I must say that my pleasure at the forge has returned. I have been busy making a fire set, which is a little like reinventing the wheel. I wonder if the world really needs another poker, rake and ash shovel? But the world’s never seen one made by me, and perhaps never this slow. It’s been serving as an immense indicator of how comparatively snaillike the world would become if we returned to a craft based society, never mind the time it would take to relearn these skills.
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time learning to make leaves, by tapering round piece of steel and then hammering it flat into a leaf shape. The chisels I have made add veins, and the hammer’s ballpein gives the texture of bark to the stems. It’s much more subtle work than I’m used to and it is easy to set the paper-thin leaves on fire.
Other natural elements have begun to appear in my work. The fire set has sprouted vines and spirals and the stand for the fire set will come alive as a tree, and a wall sconce (medieval candle holder) has draped itself in vines and leaves. To see a piece of steel become a leaf, a koru, a spiral or a crooked vine is exciting. It’s incredibly satisfying to see lifeless steel come alive in this way.
In an interesting take on can recycling, hundreds of cans procured from Westport pubs, have been recently turned into molten aluminium on one of the forges. The red hot liquid metal is then poured into moulds made of beach sand. So far the ‘smelters’ have turned out a number of crude crosses, and attempted to make ‘bling’ in the shape of the letter ‘N’ for a puppy named ‘Nibbles’. Mostly they’ve just made hard silvery lumps and generated toxic fumes. Needless to say it’s probably not a long term recycling option.
In other projects around the smithy, the ‘ring to rule them all,’ has been forged out of brass. This is the real one apparently, so keep it quiet. The armory is full, with the ongoing production of all manner of knives and daggers, and machetes. The attempt on the full sized katana (samurai sword) has been abandoned, but the chainmail (armour) production has resumed. We shall be ready for the apocalypse, or perhaps that phone call from Weta Studios.
Here on the coast when the weather’s a bit gloomy, the pubs aren’t really happening and the blacksmithing fix hasn’t quite left for the day, then there’s always the ‘home forge’. A good fire in the hearth, a bit of mild steel, a hammer and a railway iron anvil and the home smith is born. So if you’re cold and bored this winter pound some metal with resources available in your own home.
Stay warm!
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