I am terrible sorry that most of you do not understand Portuguese. I found this video from an interview to a traditional blacksmith in Portugal about sheep shear making. He explains a lot about the process and it is very educative, aspects like steels, hammering, forging, sharpening and hinge. I suppose he forged his own tools as well!

Enjoy

http://videos.sapo.p...1HDkpb8HIWPlF2W

There are many countries that visit IForgeIron. A hammer and an anvil, or sequence of still photos transcends the language. That is one reason IForgeIron is such a great resource.

It is amazing what he can do with just a square chunk of metal as an anvil. If you watch the sequence, he moved from on square chunk of metal to a second that had a sway in the surface, and finally on to a third that looked like a stake anvil to use the horn.

Also note you can see his breath in the air. I suspect that shop was a bit cool that day LOL

The finished shears looked "factory made" only I suspect they would work better and last longer.

As I've posted time and time again people have been using square block anvils for about 2000 years compared to 200 for the London Pattern. Take a look at a japanese katana being made in the traditional way on a square block anvil---National Geographic's "Living Treasures of Japan" includes a swordsmithing section.