His anvil is a sledgehammer head sunk in a log. That tractor weight (?) is just for cutting and flattening. The man is talented. I worked with a Thai farmer/blacksmith back in 1977/78 when I was a Peace Corps volunteer. The 70+ year old guy made some very nice blades. He had no electricity and didn't even have a hand-cranked grinder. Knives were forged to near-perfect shape, descaled/refined with a draw knife and a file was sparingly used to do a final edge cleanup. My blacksmith used a setup virtually the same as these old photos from 1964. I used to work the air pumps for him. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/17586
I also worked in a refugee camp for a year or so in 1979/80. The Laotian Hmong hilltribe blacksmiths made excellent knives.
I have dozens of knives/machetes I've accumulated over the past 40+ years. I have two that I helped forge. Not fun work in the heat of the tropics. The first two pics are some favorites. Two were gifts and the other two cost me a total of about $7.
Traditional Thai Machete
in Historical Blades
Posted
His anvil is a sledgehammer head sunk in a log. That tractor weight (?) is just for cutting and flattening. The man is talented. I worked with a Thai farmer/blacksmith back in 1977/78 when I was a Peace Corps volunteer. The 70+ year old guy made some very nice blades. He had no electricity and didn't even have a hand-cranked grinder. Knives were forged to near-perfect shape, descaled/refined with a draw knife and a file was sparingly used to do a final edge cleanup. My blacksmith used a setup virtually the same as these old photos from 1964. I used to work the air pumps for him. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/17586
I also worked in a refugee camp for a year or so in 1979/80. The Laotian Hmong hilltribe blacksmiths made excellent knives.
I have dozens of knives/machetes I've accumulated over the past 40+ years. I have two that I helped forge. Not fun work in the heat of the tropics. The first two pics are some favorites. Two were gifts and the other two cost me a total of about $7.