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Friday, 11 March 2011

Lüneburg Black Forge

I cannot produce enough sarcasm to do this bit of dreck justice.  For $89 you can buy this "hand forged" knife made of spring steel.  Cool Material coos over this... this thing as if it dripped of "authenticity", though authentic what I can't even begin to imagine.  I've handled countless proper knives and swords in my day–all of them hand forged and many where the smith had lovingly folded or twisted his own steel or case-hardened iron as if performing some timeless ritual of craftsmanship and dedication instead of yanking some spring steel off the shelf, bashing it about a bit, putting an edge on it as an afterthought, and calling it a day.  This is just an insult to real craftsmen and stuffing it in a box lined with straw doesn't alter the fact.

I think I'll pass, thank you.

Katana from the British Museum.  Not crude, so it must be rubbish!
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3 comments:

  1. IronmistressFriday, 11 March 2011 at 00:25:00 GMT-8

    Heck, I have made myself edged utensils and weapons. If you really love the iron and steel, you will finish the product really fine and nice and mount it with a handle equally made by a craftsman. I could do better than that.

    That katana has a nice ó-kissaki and steep yokote, and the hamon is clearly distinguishable. That swords just yells "Wield me! Do some suburi with me!"

    When I bought my own longsword, it was not that I had chosen the sword. The sword chose me.

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  2. SergejFriday, 11 March 2011 at 05:24:00 GMT-8

    There is a lack of texture in the modern world, and I think that the appeal of this bit of unrefined thinginess comes from this. While high craftsmanship, as needed to forge a good sword (or throw a properly rustic-looking tea bowl), remains rare, a factory can make you a knife blade, in a suitably hard and tough alloy, and it will cut, and hold an edge---and feel like every other piece of steel.

    This knife does look like something I could make from a lump of steel, a forge blown with a hair dryer and a couple of rocks. But my favorite knife for playing in the woods has a damascus blade, etched to emphasize the folding. And an axe that I'm hoping will work out, was forged from an old rasp. Raspiness knocked down just enough to leave the texture but not catch on things, a filler forge-welded in to make the head wedge-shaped, and neat, regular file-work for decoration. But the steel's origins are not hidden. (How it will work on kindling is a question for this summer, I hope.)

    When glazed porcelain coffee cups are $1.50 at Wal-Mart, a rough-glazed stoneware Beaker Folk-shaped beaker becomes interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. eonFriday, 11 March 2011 at 12:38:00 GMT-8

    Everyone to their own tastes.

    I've seen smiths make belt knives from broken files, and the finish is so mirror-smooth you'd need a very powerful microscope to see any evidence that the blade was ever anything else to begin with. With hilts made from anything from compressed leather washers to deer antler.

    The integral hilt on this one is so rough I'd be afraid to use it unless I was wearing heavy work gloves.

    cheers

    eon

    ReplyDelete

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