Some stuff I've forged for reenactors recently

MikesMakery

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Hi! I've recently decided to go full time with all my crafting and I figured who better to share it with than Imgur.

I'm primarily a smith. These aren't anything special, but I've gotten in touch with a reenactment community that puts up a lot of tents and tarps for their events. Stakes like these have become my regular side project when I have the forge lit to work on other projects.

This is a cooking tripod I just finished on commission for a guy. There's a few S-hooks included with the sale which will eventually hold a pot that I'm also making for him

A few women I know do soft arts and are tired of buying cheap, breakable stitch markers. I made these for one of them and that quickly turned into making some for all of them.

A few knives. Everybody's gotta eat!

A simple flint striker. If you know of a good striking stone I'm all ears, especially if you also know of a cost effective place to buy them

Many penanular brooches. These are fun putting togher since there's multiple parts. These are used for putting on cloaks or foot wraps, it's also what the hand-of-the-king pin in GoT was

Not forged, but this is also for reenactment so I'm including it. It's a period accurate viking satchel! The handles are maple and the bag is deer hide stitched with sinew.

I'll be posting some other completed works periodically as well as things I finish in the future so keep an eye out!

Purrsephone is my pet tax today. She's not mine but the legs under the blanket are.

raptor41887

I love Purrsephone

2 weeks ago |

gordy77

You know what are fun and sharp, Frankish eating knives. We used them.in our reinactment group

arajad

#4 You're *that* close to making scissors here. And I like how the assorted S-hooks for the pot tripod let you adjust the height. As for the tripod itself: Can I suggest a small zigzag at the base of the legs, so they'll embed in the ground but won't sink past that point?

It has them! They're just in the ground lol. The thing is for an older dude, so I even made them pronounced enough so he can put his foot on them for easy setup

Psyskwr

The best and economical way to get viable stones for your fire striker is a hike along a river. You need to find stone that is hard enough to knap a fragment off of. When you strike the stone and break a chip off it, it needs to look like a concave fracture, similar to a glass pane that is chipped. geological location has a lot to do with availability though. you won't find Flint in North America, (other than a city) but there is Chert.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkd1DTaHewM

Thanks!

Knifesmith

Also, where are you at (roughly) OP? I've made flint strikers for the ren fair/re-enactor folks before, and there are a LOT of rock types that will work. I've used agate, jasper, chert and even fine grained quartzite.

I'm betting that there's probably something near you that you can get for free (as in the noted going along a river, or going to a stony beach). Mindat.org may help you find what you need.

TheGoudaKaramazov

I have always wanted to pursue metalsmithing as a hobby.

May I ask how you got started? I do not have a forge, yet...

I actually started as a kid. Took the blacksmithing merit badge way back then and just kinda never stopped.

If I were to make a suggestion look up classes in your area or try working with copper. You work copper cold, it work hardens as you hit it, but you just need a propane torch and water to soften it to a workable state. It's the opposite of steel. Starting there removes the need for a forge and tongs so all you need is a comfortable hammer and a small anvil. Happy to answer any questions!

1 week ago |

albester

#2 Ooooh, the tripod looks great! What weight can it carry approximately?

Thanks! I haven't tested it with anything exact, but i did put a large portion of my bodyweight on the hook. I should probably go hang something of a known weight from it...

EveryBodyLovesMe

Not sure where you are but I visited Jamestown recently (both the real site and the model village just across the road). They are both doing restorations and new build things and they are hand making all of the nails, if you wanted a side project you could contact them and see if they need more hands. Watching that one poor smith hammer out nails for hours was grinding. He was awesome though.

Thank you for the suggestion, but I've made enough nails to know that I don't want to do it full time lol

Hahahah. Absolutely fair. If I had the skills I’d be contributing just to say o got to be part of it. It was SUCH a cool experience. But yeah, it would get old after a while. That smith said he’d been working on and off on the nails for a year and would be for at least another year to make enough to build what they wanted. He was getting the really real experience lol

copingcabana

Is this some kind of forgery?

BlacksmithSam

Full-time smith here wishing you the best of luck! Good for you finding your niche.

TheJomsborgViking

#4 The handle design looks a little dangerous.
The loop end should have a finger guard, so instead of ending flush and even with the blade, it may fit better if it looped down to block the hand from slippage... if what I said makes sense.

Yeah I got you. I made these with scrap pieces but future ones ought to have more of that bolster

I just like the style, and think the aesthetic can be saved while also having a finger guard. Since it ends in a spike, it could even have minor function by curving down. Other than that, I like this kind of blacksmith art.

Thanks! When I get around to making another batch I'll do them like that and post it so you can see the result. There's a ton of ways to do simple knives and I'm looking for styles that I like that don't take too long to make, we'll see if that idea fits the bill

itstheendoftheworldasweknowitandifeelfine

Nice work. I've been smithing on and off for many years but really just started to sell things in the past year or so. Your work is very clean--nice consistent quality and replication. Do you utilize jigs?

Sometimes, but when I do it's usually just a simple bending jig. For more complicated bends I have a 1/4" plate that I drill holes in, put some stock through, and clamp to a bench. Most of the time I just measure out on the anvil and mark one piece that I want as the baseline

VolcanoHerder

These are awesome, thanks for sharing! As someone who camps for not-at-all reenactment purposes, I'm digging those tent stakes - all the ones I have are lightweight but bend if they so much as look at a rock. These would probably be fantastic for car camping (less so for backpacking)!

I know the type lol. These ones are extra chunky at 1/2" stock but only because they were requested at that size. I usually make them from 3/8" because it's all people really need. You'd lose some weight, but 1/4" stock would be reasonable to carry on shorter expeditions. Even mild steel hardens a bit when you quench it, so stakes made from 1/4" round and quenched would be a durable and 'light' option

And just throwing it out there because I'm trying to make this a viable business, I'd be happy to make you something like that. Standing offer!

This is great to know - I'm currently going through some gnarly health stuff t(hat will probably be a lifelong condition) but I gave you a follow so that if I can get back to regular camping trips I'll hit you up. <3

I'm sorry to hear about the lifestyle change. I hope you come out on top.

Thanks, me too! It's certainly been a challenge but I'm stubborn as heck so I'm determined to figure it out one way or another. Out of curiosity, roughly how much would a set of 6 tent stakes cost? For car camping, so they wouldn't need to be super light or super strong.

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