Benton Frisse

Hey gang, 

I've been searching around and I've found a few resources on forging medieval style arrow tips. I've been thinking of doing some, maybe a dozen or so, and mounting them on some arrows for my English longbow and giving them a whirl (why not, right?). 

Have any of you forged any arrow tips? If so, do you have any tips or suggestions? I have two books that have nice, short sections about the subject. 

Thanks! Cheers! 

Benton 

On 7/16/2014 at 7:19 PM, monstermetal said:

Gerald You and Jim Austin have inspired me to try my hand at Viking style axes.  Here is the one I was working on today.   I got the 1095 bit welded in before it got too hot to play anymore.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get it shaped the rest of the way and heat treated.

And Thomas I know your a real guy and do real work.  You have been around here for a long time.   I dont mean to pitch a fit.

That's a nice looking ax. I like viking axes. A lot. I've seen where people drift and shape the whole thing, and some that fold. Which did you do for that little gem? 

I like the warclub on the back! 

I spent a week in Clearwater, MN in '06 and we spent a few evenings eating in Grand Marais! . Beautiful place! We were up at Clearwater lake just North of there. I fell in love with Northern Minnesota! 

I'd be very interested in taking a puukko smithing class. Will you be doing another class? 

Excellent explanation! I think this would be an interesting topic for Ryan Johnson to touch on, too. I've seen pictures of people throwing their hawks. 

I want to make a Frankish ax. 

Man, that looks cool! Awesome! 

Man, that is one of the funkiest, coolest axes I've ever seen! 

I spoke with a bladesmith at a Lewis and Clark Rendezvous a month or so ago, and he said he used to do an ax that the piece that wade up the eye and collar was mild steel, and the blade, bit, and cheeks were 1095 and he just riveted them together with two 22 ton heavy machined rivets (or something close to that) and he said they were some of best sellers for axes that had a cool medieval look. "I've know many, many mighty men in my day... but never a man so might as to break a 22 ton rivet". 

What kind of rivets did you use, out of curiosity? 

Sweet, will do. Thanks for the advice, Neg! 

Awesome knife, EB! The blade reminds me of a Schrade Sharpfinger! 

Love that deep green on those micarta scales. I've been looking into ordering some for a while, just have yet to pull the trigger. Beautiful work! 

That's gorgeous, sir! I love primitive look. The red color on the handle is beautiful! 

That hamon though, that's a real looker, too. What was your process to produce such a beautiful hamon? I've found that hamon-work is much like anything in blacksmithing, everyone has a different way of doing it with different materials. 

This is my 140# Hay-Budden I just purchased, before and after cleanup.

Clint, what did you use to clean that up so nicely? 

That's a good looking hammer, my friend! Looks like it would move quite a bit of metal purdy well. 

I like this, I'm going to have to try making one. I've got railroad spikes coming out of my ears. Did you do any hardening or anything to the face? 

That's a pretty hamon! 

I like the profile on farriers rasp knife! Did you forge it or do stock removal? 

The kitchen knife looks might fine, too! Looks like it'd slice through meat like a dream! 

That blade shape on the first one... wow! Super cool. How well did the olive tree wood work in terms of sanding and shaping? 

Stellar! 

Man that blade design is super cool! 

Thanks, guys. I don't really plan to sell any of these pieces, and realistically they'll never leave the sheath (I can see myself being a hoarder.)

From a fellow evansvillian I like it

Matt do you have a shop in town? What side of town?! Are you an IBA member? We must have a rendezvous! 

I've become a big fan of the rounding hammers.  Originally I was exclusively using Frenchies.  I have them from 600 to 1500g  - about 1  to 3.3 lbs.

Some guys like swedes, some german, some Czech.

For the price, the MOB ones are excellent as are the peddinghaus.

 

Lately however, I am leaning more towards these large diameter rounding hammers. I was initially introduced to the merits of them through several old favorites- Champions, Hellers and a Cliff Carrol that is about awesome. Most are in the 2lb range and several are probably at least 100 years old. The Nordic could easily fit in this category.

 It's from those designs I learned about Jay Sharp and Erin Simmons- two guys who seem to command some of the highest prices for their hammers.

 

I really didn't know about Brians work until later and while you can say there are similarities I believe the farrier models I've tried to mimic have tighter fullering. I like the mass nearer the center body. It makes spreading the cheeks trickier but, I believe, makes for a snappier blow.  They are 1045, water quenched to approx. 55 Rockwell.

Steve, do you sell these hammers? If so, what price? 

I just order the X-1 Rounding hammer from Big Blu Hammer, and I'm awaiting it to come in. The anticipation is killing me. 

I had assume they were tool steel, figured they had to be pretty hard to put up against all that concrete! I'm glad I now know what they most likely may be. After they're annealed even, they feel like you're hammering a brick. 

Are there any materials you prefer to recycle, Mr. Powers, that have a decent carbon rating? I've of course heard all about leaf springs, which I acquired about 14 feel of this weekend. But they usually have stress fractures in them, correct? People use saw blades, plow discs and tines right? 

Thanks! 

Frosty, you never fail to impress me with your knowledge... nor your imagination! 

I try my hardest to stick to traditional methods, but sometimes I jump over them. I can only do so much with a file before I start to lose my marbles (or whats left). Some projects I use no power tools at all, some I use quite a few. 

This just shows that I need to practice my forgewelding still. Even months later! Always room for improvement. 

Also, I will take your guys' advice and either fix it or make it a permanent wall hanger. No need for anyone to become a pirate in my lineage ;) 

Ah, my apologies, Glenn! 

Luckily we have no shortage of company from the miller family! 

Yessir, I totally agree with that. I have since then learned from a few bladesmiths that "when you think it's forge welded, do it three more times to make sure". Since then, it's proved to be a nice little technique. Nonetheless, I was pretty bummed when this happened. :/