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LastRonin

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Posts posted by LastRonin

    First Blacksmithing Class - Peter's Valley

    in Blacksmithing, General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by LastRonin
    I mean "design element".

     

    If one of the old hands here says they've never turned a hook finial, etc. the wrong way they're BSing you. It's just too easy to turn a nook or finial scroll the opposite direction, that's the way it LOOKS like they're supposed to go.

    It's all good work. Well done.

    Frosty The Lucky.

    I haven't... but then, I'm nowhere near being an old hand. I'm pretty sure I just haven't done enough of them to make that mistake yet.

    It's so hot...(how hot is it?)

    in Everything Else

    Posted

    The hottest I have personally been in... I probably shouldn't have. In the middle of the day in August here on the Alabama Gulf Coast (several years ago), I crawled into an attic to replace the 164 degree F heat detectors that had activated... just from the sun on the black shingle roof in 100+ F weather.

    Blademithing series on History channel

    in Knife Making

    Posted · Edited by LastRonin
    Clarification

    My biggest issue was all of the emphasis on killing.  Cutting fish in two, cutting a dummy so as to show what it would do to a person.  We have enough problems with the issue of knives as weapons rather than as tools.  We must have organizations like Knife Rights to do battle with the state and federal government getting bad laws and bad prosecutors (Cyrus Vance, etc.) to accept that knives are valuable tools just like hammers and screwdrivers.   

    but those tests were done on the swords. The kind of testing to differentiate between functional sword and wall-hanger. Swords are not tools unless your task is killing.

    The tests they performed with the knives were functional usage tests I have seen before. Puncturing metal and slicing rope... tool functions.

    The RPG connection, or "blacksmithing, the game"

    in Everything Else

    Posted

    I had to look GURPS up and am waiting for GURPS-lite to download.

    Just to toss another bit of mist in the fog I just started reading David Drake's, "Northworld Trilogy" for the first time in I think since before it was in paperback. So far it seems pretty wide open for a campaign/world/genre/?.

    Frosty The Lucky.

     

    ok... Another series to add to my findit list

    Blademithing series on History channel

    in Knife Making

    Posted

    I absolutely respect the opinions of everyone posting. I don't agree with all of them and don't expect them all to agree with me. Just ask that thoughtful consideration be given to any point I try to make based on fact or logic (as I try to do for others') instead of off-hand dismissal. 

    While the show does appear to be useless as an instructional course on how to make a quality blade, it could be used in parts as examples of what not to do, and as Steve posted... examples of what can be accomplished within a limited time.

    Blademithing series on History channel

    in Knife Making

    Posted

    Actors vs blacksmiths/bladesmiths.

    The actor gets paid for showing up and doing what he is told to do. When done correctly he is a craftsman in HIS craft.

    The blacksmith/bladesmith gets paid to produce a product worthy of his touchmark and his client. When done correctly he is a craftsman in HIS craft.

     

    Both have high standards in their respective crafts.

     

    In this show, the show producers ARE the client, and in effect are getting what they ask for. Like the old sign; you can have it fast, good or cheap... Pick two.

    Blademithing series on History channel

    in Knife Making

    Posted

    Back when I worked for others, ... one aspect of the "Corporate Climate" that I detested, was the endless, "artificial emergencies", ... spawned by "business school" types, ... to elicit a "sense of urgency", from employees.

    These phoney "competitions", that seem to infect every aspect of TV programing in the 21st Century, ... are equally off-putting.

    Everything's a sham "contest", ... to determine WHAT ?

     

    What I saw last night, was a meaningless display of sub-standard results, ... due, in main part, ... to the arbitrary time restriction.

    So we learned, ... that you can bang out a piece of crap, ... in a hurry.

     

    I already knew that, ... and think such a shallow representation of what  a Blacksmith can, ... or should do, ... is insulting.

     

    I would have applauded any of the Smiths, who had refused to turn in sub-standard work.

    .

    I understand where you are coming from, but is this THAT much different from the big blacksmith contest where the competitors have to make a specific style tong within a time limit?

    Blademithing series on History channel

    in Knife Making

    Posted · Edited by LastRonin

    Please note that the posts I am making here are only my opinion (humble or not -grin-), and I am not trying to step on anyone's right to express their own.

    Spanky:  That's the thing though... documentaries are usually either a one "episode" thing, or possibly miniseries. And even with educational networks, they weigh their timeslots based on audience size. This show is a series, so they have to draw a larger audience. 

    But hey, I do hope to see more in depth documentary instructional shows on the smithing crafts, black to white to blade.

    I just don't fault the show for being what itclaimed to be and not something it wasn't. 

    Blademithing series on History channel

    in Knife Making

    Posted

    I went into it with the understanding that it was an entertainment program hoping to garner as wide an audience as they could,  not an educational program that would only be paid attention to by a small portion of the possible viewing audience. How many of you would regularly take time out of your day to watch an educational program about a topic that you had no intention to learn how to do? Just because we are interested in learning more about blacksmithing/bladesmithing doesn't mean enough people are for the network to take up airspace with the idea. 

    The gist of this post being: Don't talk bad about the show for not meeting unrealistic expectations. I had HOPES it would be more informational than it was, but was actually (iintentionally) expecting it to be even less so than it was.

    I don't mind at all reading where people have put their opinion about whether they liked it or not, just think it's a little overboard to call it crap because it didn't meet your expectations. Hey, at least they are actually showing real forging of real blades and emphasizing funcionality.... not just cutting out and welding together pieces of metal to look like tv/movie/video game "swords", that aren't usable.

    Magnetite Smelt 2015

    in Smelting, Melting, Foundry, and Casting

    Posted

    Get real yourself, I wish I lived closer to the local coffee shop and it's 5 minutes from here. :rolleyes: Heck, you're probably better acclimatized to NC than I am, 100f @ 90%+ humidity? The only thing I can think of as being fun in that climate is staying air conditioned. Hey, I could attend a smelt with a drone! I could watch, shoot videos and if I put a speaker on it, kibitz! All from air conditioned spaces. Oh OH! If I did it right the drone could help keep guys cool with a breeze!

    Frosty The Lucky.

    just try not to give them buzz cuts. And don't stray too close to the furnace, they might get bummed if you contaminate their bloom with melted drone. 

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