Wales part 8: The sword class

[fbhjr]

We got to the class site Friday night. We were welcomed with a dinner of shepherd’s pie and a room to stay in. I took the floor and cosmicirony the bed. (I sleep on the floor at home, so no problem for me.)
In the morning we had a nice porridge and toast breakfast and headed out to where the casting was being done.


The copper and tin are melted together in a crucible heated by gas.


The airflow is critical to the right temperature and chemistry of the flame. The copper needs to be preheated before melting.


Dave makes his own soapstone molds. The small ones he has 4 different things carved in the outside and how he matches them determines what he makes.



He also has bigger ones and lost wax ones.


He had set the molds heating all night so the stone was warm. They get mounted vertically and clamped together.

The bronze is poured in from the top.


In addition to melting copper and tin to make bronze, he also remelted a sword not up to his standards.



The swords can be pulled out of the mold quickly. Only after a minute or two.


This is my sword from the mold.


I also reminded Dave of the two others I wanted. Good thing too. He thought it was only one extra.
He did the work on them to get them partially done.


The fill point at the bottom must be cut off. I cut so hard I bent my handle. It could be bent back. Good thing too…

cosmicirony was more careful.


Then, it is clamping and the files.


There is a lot of filing.


A lot. Hours. Hours and hours of back and forth with the file.


The high spots on the blade are no problem. It’s the low points.
Everything else needs to be removed to get to the low points.
Did I mention there is a lot of time with the files?


Dave has the amazing superpower of being able to find any spot you missed, no matter how small.


But, by lunch time I was thinking it wasn’t looking too bad.

Then, I remembered the other side…


File, file, file.


Then, both sides started to look OK.


Those pits?
Yeah. They are still there now.
There are some you just can’t get unless you want a paper thin sword.


But, when it came time to do my edges, Dave said I was making good progress.


He did use a power took to take off the edge. This was mostly to make sure it had the proper shape along the edge. Much easier to keep by grinder than hand file.


And, it was doing OK.


There were lots of interesting people talking about interesting things.

A dozen of us total in the class. Several others do historical sword work and we traded some good stories. We know some of the same folks too.

By mid afternoon I was starting to see some other guy inside the sword working away too.


Then, it was handle time. Another point where we got modern help.


Dave checked my shape and declared it good, even with all the filing.

I was happy with it so far too.



Once the holes were drilled we had to burn on the handle. That means heating up the sword again and clamping it between wood blocks.


You really need to see the video of cosmicirony doing it to get the full experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAP6QTZxUx4

After that, it isn’t as shiny any more.


The good news is the burn comes off fairly easily. With more filing.

Then, cutting the rough handle with more power tools.



The saw broke doing mine.


It was Dave’s saw so we all let him poke inside it to get it going.

It was only jammed on a small block of wood and soon fixed.

So, I had my rough handles done.


By about 4 in the afternoon a light rain had started.

This was the only rain we saw in 5 days in Wales and England. It lasted less than an hour.

And, I was on to using the wet polishing paper by then anyhow, so the rain wasn’t a problem.


It was starting to be good.


The sheep were very impressed.


This is it at the end of day one.


At dinner I told my "shot by pirates into the north Atlantic" story. Dave brought out his blunderbuss, but I did NOT recreate the experience.


We had a nice spaghetti dinner. Whisky was produced. Although offered I did not drink any.


A bonfire was started and tales were told around it. The moon came out for it as well.


While that was all well and good. I took the opportunity to go take a shower when everyone else was out drinking. I’m just that kind of person.

That’s the end of day 1. I’ll talk about day 2 later.

Comments

[endlessblush.livejournal.com]

It's so cool that you got to go through the whole process like that - very cool

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

HOORAY! That is so awesome

sorry you had the handle bend and saw broke but glad it got fixed quick.

The sword looks gorgeous so far. I am so eager to see it in person!

So thrilled it looks nearly identical to one in the Higgins collection :D

[charliemc.livejournal.com]

JUST AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, Frank!

I love these photos so much!

(hugs)

[peterb.livejournal.com]

will it stay that shiny?

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

No, it will oxidize. But, metal polish will bring it back pretty fast. So, I could get it that shiny again in 10 to 15 minutes with polish.

[tatjna.livejournal.com]

Wow. What a cool experience. And my totally untrained eye thinks your blade is beautiful.

Can just anyone do these classes, or is it a "who you know" kind of thing?

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Anyone can take it.
Well, anyone who has 235 pounds and can get to central Wales. The getting to Wales part was the tricky thing for us.
He said we may hold the record for coming the farthest. But, I'm sure you'd break that by far if you went.
There is another class this September: http://bronzeagefoundry.com/workshops/4571400593

[chris-warrior.livejournal.com]

SO MUCH COOL in one set of photos. that's an amazing experience. and sheep! and a bonfire!

[postingwhore.livejournal.com]

The idea of England being very really doesn't apply to Leeds! It was actually fairly rare for it to rain there.

"shot by pirates into the north Atlantic" story
???

[hotclaws.livejournal.com]

It's beautiful.Has it got a name?

[evrgreen.livejournal.com]

Very cool pictures and story!

I know that thee can be pits and voids in any cast/molded metal item, but I am wondering if they could be minimized further somehow? Maybe different temperature level, different rate of pouring the metal, and/or making some more small outlet passages in the stone moulds for allowing gases to escape as the metal cools?

I guess the guy running the place has tried to reduce the amount of filing necessary to make these, but I wonder if the ancient people hadn't found some labor saving tricks since they didn't have the industrial strength files to work with that are available now?

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

He did discuss the pits issue quite a bit and does take precautions not clear in the still photos. One is to put a layer of charcoal over the molten bronze before he pulls out the crucible. That oxidizes instead of the bronze, but floats on top, so what goes in the mold is good quality.
He said this is why he does the actual pour. There is a way to get it good, and it is often by experience. A one weekend class isn't enough to give 12 people the experience.

[cissa.livejournal.com]

Porosity is always an issue with casting. When metals are hot and liquid, they have a larger volume than when they are cool and solid, so there will always be some porosity. Alas.

[meathiel]

That is really very cool - lots of work as well, though.
No whisky???

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

None for me. I gave up alcohol in 1986...

[hindustar.livejournal.com]

So very neat! =D