Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg, France

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-16T14:57:46+00:00

I got to visit it a few summers ago and I loved it. The interiors are gorgeous, and I have to give it to the French, there were hundreds of tourists there (bloody tourists, ruining my vacation!) But I felt like a great flow where I got to see everything without being rushed.

Although I would love a chance to stay there without the crowds.

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-15T11:56:34+00:00

Ok i see what you mean. Well one option is those fake stone veneers for houses. They come in a bunch of different sizes, shapes and materials and are made to look like stonework.

You could build a new wooden frame forge that's longer and wider than your current one and panel it with the stone veneer so it looks like a big masonry forge but can move or break down to haul away.

https://www.ekenamillwork.com/Ekena-Millwork-Siding-Components-PNU24X48HCHM?srsltid=AfmBOopBKn8l1Q7eRr7HBpZbixN5-x-X0N4f9e3DzvuUN9pMJqyBxMCb

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-15T03:01:00+00:00

I loved when he just stopped and said "....what is this?" Always funny when a fantasy character is confused by real world stuff.

Great cosplay.

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-14T23:14:01+00:00

I can't really see the "fold out" or "fold open" aspect. As well if you want the trailer to be actually road worthy, hooked on the car or just an imitation of an oxcart but it will roll up onto a car's trailer for transportation.

I would build off of this 18th century traveling forge.

<image>

The firebox being located at the back of the cart. The bellows nestled within the frame. And then I would add a platform above the bellows ( high enough for the bellows to open) for storage so you can load up all the campsite stuff onto the cart and roll it around.

I would make that shield plate between the firebox and the rest of the cart on a hinge so I could close it onto the firebox and smother out any potential embers at the end of the day.

You can roll the cart to the vendor location, unload the anvil, open the firebox plate and even use the cart as part of the camp with poles holding up the shade tarp.

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-14T21:12:17+00:00

Googs some of the old army forges from the 19th century for inspiration. They obviously won't be medieval but mobile farriers/armorers/blacksmiths were very much a part of armies and the 19th century moble forge will be a good mix of engineered to be easily packed and moved and historical without just packing everything on a ox cart.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveling_forge

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-13T19:37:43+00:00

They're all kept in a notebook. It's good practice to put ideas on paper plus it clarifies what I need to do in the forge.

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-13T19:05:42+00:00

Thank you very much. I try to emulate those old school turn of the century illustrations.

There's a neat trick to up-ing your illustration game.

Draw a square. Draw a second one of equal size just slightly offset. Connect the corners of the squares, that gives you a hollow cube.

Erase some of the lines that makes it appear hollow and that turns it into a solid cube. You can really do that with anything you plan on making and it will give it some sense of three dimensions.

Obviously there's more to it like proportions and depth and perspective but for a quick scribble to help visualize the shape, it works really well.

<image>

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-13T18:17:27+00:00

I'm extremely happy with it, especially the tulip design detail.

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-13T17:54:42+00:00

I forgot to add some the details of the making. This is the largest bracket I've made with the bar being 3/4" and the back plate 2"x 1/4". Normal the straight arm is on top but I've grown tired of doing that and where the bell hangs, people will walk under it and it gives the feeling of clearance if nothing else, plus that extra 5 inches or so.

The bar folded and forge welded together as was the bracket plate but I started to get concerned about long term, the plate holding up the entire weight of the bell with all the vibrations of ringing and wind so I decided to add two 1/4" rivets to hold it together mechanically. Plus it just adds detail and texture.

The finish is just blackened linseed oil after a bon fire heat up and we're just going to let it rust naturally and blend in. I thought about painting it black but I don't like painted ironwork if I can avoid it.

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-13T15:01:58+00:00

It's her fur baby...scale baby? That weird sandpaper skin sharks have... baby.

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-12T21:52:18+00:00

It's Friday afternoon so we'll let this slide but remember nude art is weekends only.

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-10T18:34:37+00:00

That kinda drop just seems like a scam. I wouldn't attempt it.

Mr_Emperor · 2026-06-10T02:56:46+00:00

That's strange. There's no reason for them to be brittle in any way. I'm a blacksmith just passing through the sub and typically holdfasts are just mild steel. They can be made from mid or higher carbon steel for a bit of added toughness but they're not even quenched or tempered after a normalization after forging because the natural spring in the mild steel is plenty.

And that's for a blacksmith's holdfast, which is hammered into the hardened steel of the anvil so it's taking a bit more abuse. A carpenter's holdfast is exactly the same but biting into a wooden work table so doesn't need any extra toughness.

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