Friday 26 February 2016

A Spot of Blacksmithing

This post is more of a short and sweet 'Look what I made!' than anything else. You see that vicious looking hooked thing below? I made that with steel and fire and brute force. Well, maybe that's not completely truthful. My brother helped me to do it last week. He's training to be a blacksmith and he's set up a forge in the garden which is made out of a metal bin and a lot of coal and a air bed pump. 

It's a hook that can be hung over the tops of doors, for people like me who aren't allowed to drill holes in their walls. Could also be one half of a grappling hook, or a weapon for the impending zombie apocalypse.


I wish I'd taken photos of it in the making, but you probably know the principle of blacksmithing. We sawed a split in one end of a steel rod, then heated and bashed the ends into thin curly points. The other end got flattened and bent round into an angular shape for hanging over the tops of doors. It took hours and my arm still aches from all the bashing but it was so much fun. I never thought I'd be blacksmithing in my pyjamas but I did and it worked! I've commissioned a kitchen knife for my birthday, because he was adamant that a sword would take him way too long.

In other news, my little tiger cross-stitch is coming along nicely. He even got to accompany me on the train.



Visiting home and bashing hammers,
L

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