I just got back from the Hammer-In at Larry Harley's Lonesome Pine Forge and I've got to say that it was a great opportunity to meet and learn from some of the best steel beaters in the world.
(A hammer-in is a gathering of knife/sword makers that forge instead of stock-reduce {grind everything that isn't "knife"} where they give seminars on their art)
I got to meet some truely stellar people in the art and learned quite a bit. I also had great fun and handled a $10,000 katan that is as near perfect as anything I've ever seen http://johndswordpolishing.com/available/lmtachi1/index.htm. They heated and beat and folded damascus. They discussed steel chemistry. They made Wootz in charcoal and gas furnaces. They brought in a charcoal furnace, loaded it with iron ore and charcoal in alternating layers and fired it for 2 days to make steel bloom.
I almost bought a gas forge and anvil!
(A hammer-in is a gathering of knife/sword makers that forge instead of stock-reduce {grind everything that isn't "knife"} where they give seminars on their art)
I got to meet some truely stellar people in the art and learned quite a bit. I also had great fun and handled a $10,000 katan that is as near perfect as anything I've ever seen http://johndswordpolishing.com/available/lmtachi1/index.htm. They heated and beat and folded damascus. They discussed steel chemistry. They made Wootz in charcoal and gas furnaces. They brought in a charcoal furnace, loaded it with iron ore and charcoal in alternating layers and fired it for 2 days to make steel bloom.
I almost bought a gas forge and anvil!
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