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Hammer and Anvil 6: the mysterious allure of sharp knives

Posted by TuckGiles, 09 March 2011 · 19 views

http://www.tuckreade...6-sharp-knives/

BALSAM –– It has been some weeks since I updated the blacksmith’s blog, in part because I have gotten wrapped up in the actual craft and have not been as interested in writing about it as doing it. By doing it I mean making a knife from Damascus steel, a process that entails forge-welding...



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Hammer and Anvil 5: the youngest blacksmith

Posted by TuckGiles, in learning blacksmithing 15 February 2011 · 4 views
damascus steel and 1 more...
http://www.tuckreade...est-blacksmith/

Editor’s Note: Brock Martin is a 23-year-old Conover, NC native who wants to be a blacksmith. Brock currently apprentices to Jackson County master blacksmith David Burress, who teaches from Calerin Forge in Balsam. The following interview explores how Brock got interested in being a blacksmith, his...



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Hammer and Anvil 4: farrier turned knife maker

Posted by TuckGiles, 09 February 2011 · 11 views

http://www.tuckreade...ed-knife-maker/

BALSAM –– It’s been a few weeks since I updated the blacksmith’s blog, but not because I haven’t been working on my knife. In fact, I’ve finally finished work in the forge and the rest of the process will employ the vice and file. I have my steel roughly in the shape of a blade and I’ve...



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Hammer and Anvil 3: humbled by fire

Posted by TuckGiles, in learning blacksmithing 27 January 2011 · 8 views
damascus blade
http://www.tuckreade...acksmiths-blog/

BALSAM –– A friend of mine wrote this week to say that while he appreciated the Hammer and Anvil blog as an effort to bring attention to the teaching blacksmiths in our region, as the husband of a smith, he didn’t like the “Ben Hur-style” image that introduced the series.

The...



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Hammer and Anvil 2: a landfill methane gas powered forge

Posted by TuckGiles, 21 January 2011 · 10 views

http://www.tuckreade...acksmiths-blog/

DILLSBORO –– Blacksmith’s class got scuttled by the weather these past two weeks. David Burress, our teacher, lives high up on Balsam, and his driveway has been through three stages of slippery this month: snow, ice, mud.

Without a firsthand experience to feed the Hammer and Anvil blog, I went in search of...



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Hammer and Anvil 1: the first hammer blow

Posted by TuckGiles, 21 January 2011 · 7 views

http://www.tuckreade...acksmiths-blog/

BALSAM –– I wish I could remember the first hammer strike, the first time my own hand came down on yellow-hot metal. I remember the feeling –– indescribable –– but somewhere between hitting a tennis ball or baseball perfectly, squashing a bug with your thumb, and being electrocuted.

The memory of...



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