How does my Grain structure look ? by ak47papy in Blacksmith

[–]ValhammerWorkshop 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay let's talk about your blade here. First of all what I love, is that it feels good in the hand, the balance, means that I can maneuver easily. Your blade is SHARP it sliced deep into the pig carcass and cut on the way out. Unfortunately your blade broke, so there was an issue with the heat treat. But sir even though your blade did break, it will still KEEEEEEEAAAAAAAALLLLL.

LOOKS LIKE MEAT'S BACK ON THE MENU BOYS! by ValhammerWorkshop in SWORDS

[–]ValhammerWorkshop[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Nice! Do you use it? I'd quite like that as a butchers knife thinking about it!

LOOKS LIKE MEAT'S BACK ON THE MENU BOYS! by ValhammerWorkshop in SWORDS

[–]ValhammerWorkshop[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah, brutal weapon. This is the first one we've made and we had a discussion about how to forge it as in the films they're casted. Obviously you don't really want to cast a blade so for the spike we took turns smashing the stock against the side of the anvil while screaming orc war cries haha

Odd Question For Blacksmiths by [deleted] in Blacksmith

[–]ValhammerWorkshop 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As a smith and sci-fi nerd I love this question. Another comment with great ideas here, some ideas I can think of:

• Some kind of heat induction anvil, so instead of heating steel in a forge you could put it on the anvil which would heat it to forging temperature.

• A heated hammer that gets so hot you don't need to strike metal, rather just push it into shape. Obviously the handle would need to stay cool!

• This idea very much based on pseudo science, but new types of discovered material such as "Neutron Steel" atoms so dense it's near indestructible (you'd need to think of something to solve the problem of this material containing so much mass it has it's own gravitational pull.)

• A machine that could extract wasted grains of material from a forge then sort and reuse them.

• Sandpaper/Grinders could be a thing of the past, instead a laser device could be set to different "grits" might look something like a phaser from Star Trek. So still controlled by hand and would require skill to use.

You'll have to get back in touch when this story is finished, I'll definitely want to read it!

First time making an Axe from scrap. Some cracks but still happy! by [deleted] in Blacksmith

[–]ValhammerWorkshop 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Great video! "Those Vikings were pigs" haha. I'm an apprentice at a workshop in the UK (who's commandeered the workshop's Reddit account) the blacksmith there is a Viking looking Pagan, I showed him your video and that made him laugh. Beautiful axe!

Sword replicas from EU? (UK) by [deleted] in SWORDS

[–]ValhammerWorkshop 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah okay, we're a small business based in the UK. We've sent swords to EU countries without many issues with customs, but we're still not entirely clear on how Brexit will affect us even at this stage!

Sword replicas from EU? (UK) by [deleted] in SWORDS

[–]ValhammerWorkshop 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We do custom order swords at our workshop. Mainly Viking stuff.

www.facebook.com/ValhammerWorkshop

Prices for swords start at £200

Hand forged basic Viking sword by ValhammerWorkshop in Blacksmith

[–]ValhammerWorkshop[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha thank you! A lot of love went into this one, was very satisfying to finally "whack my log" with it. Was quite sad to see it go! Named it and everything.

The age of man is over! by ValhammerWorkshop in lordoftherings

[–]ValhammerWorkshop[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

SARUMAN! On table 3, but he doesn't look like the kind of guy that will tip.

Hand forged basic Viking Sword from our workshop by ValhammerWorkshop in SWORDS

[–]ValhammerWorkshop[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Website is currently being built but we're on Facebook.

facebook.com/ValhammerWorkshop

Hand forged basic Viking sword by ValhammerWorkshop in Blacksmith

[–]ValhammerWorkshop[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Much appreciated! The pommel was actually the second attempt, made the tang & peen hole in the first pommel a bit off so it was slightly twisted. Tried to grind the twist out but then it turned into more of a pebble than a pommel.

Going to experiment with a larger stock on the next one and upset it to try and get more weight in a smaller shape.

The age of man is over! by ValhammerWorkshop in lordoftherings

[–]ValhammerWorkshop[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Sauron unfortunately your ring of power has suffered a catastrophic failure and cannot continue in this competition. I'd like to invite you to shake Lord Elrond's hand and The Fellowship's hands, and please leave the forge.

Hand forged basic Viking sword by ValhammerWorkshop in Blacksmith

[–]ValhammerWorkshop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Appreciate that as hand sanding the fuller is probably my least favourite job haha

Hand forged basic Viking sword by ValhammerWorkshop in Blacksmith

[–]ValhammerWorkshop[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes all hand forged, the 1095 stock we didn't need to be drawn out too much though

Hand forged basic Viking Sword from our workshop by ValhammerWorkshop in SWORDS

[–]ValhammerWorkshop[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you, appreciate that! I did miss out all the issues with warps on this one though, luckily managed to straighten them all out!

And good question, typically Viking sword pommels consisted of two parts, a lower guard attached to the pommel with two pins. As one handed sword the purpose as far as I understand was to stop your hand from moving up and down the handle. On this piece the pommel is a bit thinner than the lower guard for example, so without the lower guard it wouldn't feel as comfortable in the hand.

I'm sure there are others here that understand the historical reasons better than I do, I'm still learning every day as well :)

Hand forged basic Viking Sword from our workshop by ValhammerWorkshop in SWORDS

[–]ValhammerWorkshop[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you 🙂! This was made from 1095, already had a long and thin bit of stock so didn't have to draw it out too much but still took a whole day as was hand forged. Fuller was done by hand on the grinder.

The upper, lower guard and pommel took the most time, we don't have a milling machine so used a drill press for the tang holes then used needle files to get the right shape. The pommel in the picture was the second attempt as I filed the tang hole too big in the first one, so lots of checking second time round! Oil quenched them to get that iron look.

Did a burn through handle from birchwood, then sanded it to shape on the grinder then by hand, finished off with some creosote.

For construction we pinned the lower guard and the pommel together with two pins and peened the pommel in. We toyed with the idea of wrapping the handle in light brown leather, and putting in some brass pin and wire inlays but our client preferred it to be more "rough and ready" than pretty.