Raymond Sauvage Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Thought it was tim to introduce myself. I live in Trondheim, Norway, and I´ve been doing balcksmithing for the past ten years or so, some periods more than others. Now i have finaly have a smal shop in my garage, where i can work on my projects. I do mainly knives, and reproduction arowheads, axes and other tools from viking and medieval time. In daytime i am an archaeologist, and i wrote my MA thesis about blacksmithing tools and techniques in the viking period in Norway. So you could say this is my speciality in blacksmithing also, using smithing as a way to gain knowledge about the craftmanship of the long time gone smiths of the viking and medieval times. Later this year i wil start a series of test forgings to replicate the techniques used for creating axes in the transition from the migration period to the viking period. The shaftholes in the migrational period seems to be made by punching and drifting, while in the viking period they seems to be made by folding around a mandril shaped like the shafthole. I wil start by studying some of the original axes at the museum here, propably doing x-ray and taking exact measurements. Later i wil try to replicate the observations in the forge. I have hung around iforgeiron for a while, and have found lots of great information. The acumulated knowledge here is huge! I hope I also my contribute to this huge pond of blacksmithing knowledge. I have attached a picture of my shop, and a picture of a viking age rattle i just made for my youngest son. Sincerly Raymond Sauvage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Raymond,thanks for checking in here.Personally,i couldn't possibly put it in strong enough terms just how INTERESTING all that you mention is.FASCINATING.CAPTIVATING.All that.More even... For many decades archeologists have roughly ascribed round,compression-hafted axes to military purposes,is there anything new on that front?I always found it very confusing,as some of these axes were so obviously shaped as woodworking tools,BUT,with a round haft,working would be so inconvenient(i don't know much about warring,mostly stick to woodwork ). Do you have any sexy photos of weld-seams,failed,or just visible?Were any non-round eyes also welded over mandrel,that you've seen?Especially ones with more weight in the poll? Have you come across welding technique that was used in a photo below,where a separate poll(like in many Nordhordland axes)is welded in,and the left-over "cheeks" are wrapped around it?(Photo is from the archeological research at the Kizhi monasteri in Karelia)? These,and a million more questions are what me and many other people are dying to find out!!!Can you answer them all,and in great detail? ( And,can you use a research assistant?I speak fluent russian,can pump bellows,sweep the floor,come on,every archeologist needs a Golem, ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Raymond, Welcome to joing IFI. Your input here will be greatly appreciated and there are many here , myself included, that will benefit from your input. As you said, there are a great many knowledgable people here that are more than willling to share. Jake, don't drip any drool on your keyboard. jk Mark <>< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Welcome; there are a number of us with an interest in the history of the craft who are very happy to see you here! I'm very interested in the progression of construction techniques over time. Do you happen to have a copy of your thesis on computer that you would be willing to share? And perhaps you might be able to help me" I once ran across a copy of a work in germany about the contents of iron age smiths graves "durch die Alpen". I lost the cite due to a disk crash and have not been able to track it down again. In your studies did you ever run across anything somewhat like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Welcome to the forum. Hopefully you will consider sharing your information/thesis either online or in paperback book form. I once ran across a copy of a work in germany about the contents of iron age smiths ….. This is not exactly what you are looking for but hopefully it is of some interest. http://www.novelguid...u_02_00165.htmlhttp://www.scribd.co...5903/0415351774http://uwm.academia....thwest_Germany#http://sussexchurche...ve-markers.html http://books.google.com/books?id=gjq6rvoIRpAC&pg=PA101&lpg=PA101&dq=contents+of+iron+age+smiths+graves&source=bl&ots=dpn8ru_LEk&sig=3sH4w4AZpYrZnc9QW5C6Lwc69xw&hl=en&ei=SUkzTr7oE8TXgQepwMmfDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymond Sauvage Posted July 31, 2011 Author Share Posted July 31, 2011 For many decades archeologists have roughly ascribed round,compression-hafted axes to military purposes,is there anything new on that front?I always found it very confusing,as some of these axes were so obviously shaped as woodworking tools,BUT,with a round haft,working would be so inconvenient(i don't know much about warring,mostly stick to woodwork ). Do you have any sexy photos of weld-seams,failed,or just visible?Were any non-round eyes also welded over mandrel,that you've seen?Especially ones with more weight in the poll? Have you come across welding technique that was used in a photo below,where a separate poll(like in many Nordhordland axes)is welded in,and the left-over "cheeks" are wrapped around it?(Photo is from the archeological research at the Kizhi monasteri in Karelia)? These,and a million more questions are what me and many other people are dying to find out!!!Can you answer them all,and in great detail? ( And,can you use a research assistant?I speak fluent russian,can pump bellows,sweep the floor,come on,every archeologist needs a Golem, ) I have been puzzeled about axes with round shaft holes also. Many of the axes from the Migratonal period seems to have a round shaft hole. Round shaft holes should not be very stable without any form of eternal stropping or somthing. Anyway, archaeologists tend to interprete everything they don´t quite understand as symbolic, military or ritual ... Most of the axes with a wraped and welded shaft hole seems to have a more squareish shape, a much more practical shape for shafting. I have seen several axes using the same welding technique as in your picture. I have also seen examples where the poll is welded in seperatly after the shafthole has been made. What I could realy use is an Igor (if you are familiar with the Discworld series). In reality the employment situation for archaeologists here is not great. In the past seven yerars i have had over 50 employments with the same employer, working almoust continiusly. So i think employing a research assistant at the moment is sort of unimaginable ... I promise to post pictures of exiting welding seems as i come acros them ... Raymond, Welcome to joing IFI. Your input here will be greatly appreciated and there are many here , myself included, that will benefit from your input. As you said, there are a great many knowledgable people here that are more than willling to share. Jake, don't drip any drool on your keyboard. jk Mark <>< Thanks! Welcome; there are a number of us with an interest in the history of the craft who are very happy to see you here! I'm very interested in the progression of construction techniques over time. Do you happen to have a copy of your thesis on computer that you would be willing to share? And perhaps you might be able to help me" I once ran across a copy of a work in germany about the contents of iron age smiths graves "durch die Alpen". I lost the cite due to a disk crash and have not been able to track it down again. In your studies did you ever run across anything somewhat like this? Glad we are severeal lonies out there trying to figure out the history and bringing back lost knowledge of the craft. I have a copy of my thesis as pdf. I will upload it on my profile as soon as possible. (It´s in norwegian - but it got som pictures ... ) Welcome to the forum. Hopefully you will consider sharing your information/thesis either online or in paperback book form. Thanks! Yes, I wil try to share as much as possible, hopefully this wil give me great input in my research! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymond Sauvage Posted July 31, 2011 Author Share Posted July 31, 2011 OK, I did not find a way to upload the file on to the downloads cathegory, so here is my MA thesis as an atachment. RaymondMA_thesis_Rsauvage.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Welcome Raymond. Here is a thread from another forum that I think you will really like, if you have not already seen it. http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showtopic=17953&view=&hl=axe&fromsearch=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Wonderful,Raymond,thanks.And yes,please post any photos of any axes, that you'll have the time for,welded or otherwise,but especially the ones that you yourself find interesting for any reason. I'm sorry,but i'm not familiar with the book series you mention,but,i can track it down,and learn what it would take to be Igor! And,when i do anything,it's strictly for the love of it,"work",and "money",are only some vague concepts to me,and that i seem to be allergic to,as well(very unfortunate condition). If you can really use help in some aspect of physical labor and/or forging practice,i'll try to find out if i could get someone else to pay for it(i've some very close friends in the Cultural Anthropology dept.at the local university,let me find out what they think,if some funding can be procured for something as cool as that!). Thank you for letting us read your thesis,as well,i'll look at it forthwith!(And thank you,Thomas,for thinking of a such a civilised request,where are my manners,i wonder,at times?) Best regards,Jake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Thanks; (I'm offline on weekends and out in the shop.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Raymond,I'm sorry,but that PDF link comes in "broken/unable to repair"...(to me,Thomas,does it work for you?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Jake the link works for me but is in Norwegan. So, I can't read it. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I was able to download and save it on my system. Now to see if my Finnish office made knows any Norwegian... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony millham Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Hello: Since you are an archaeologist perhaps you have some knowledge of the hardware and locks on stave churches? I am particularly interested in the door locks (image attached of a reproduction lock from North Dakota church) of the Borgund stave church in Laerdal. If you have ant suggestions or contacts in Norway like Leif Anker I would appreciate any help you might be able to provide. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Welcome aboard, while everyone is drooling over the axe issues, I'd love to hear about the rattle!. Can you comment on dimensions, history and your process? as a woodworker I've made a LOT of toys as gifts for family, friends and co workers and as I got into smithing and metal work, I could never find a way to make a small childs toy in steel or iron that wasn't an injury or broken window waiting to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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