JMB Spring Term Day 13

Date: May 02, 2009
Location: Wolfboro Falls, Newhampsire, USA


Sourdough pancakes. There was a brief incident involving high heat and large quantities of bacon grease, lesson learned. We spent most of the day working on crooked knives, filing the bevels, carving handles, hardening and tempering. All that is left is a bit of handle shaping, lashing, and sharpening. We also loaded canoes onto the canoes onto the trailing. We go back to Masardis tomorrow.

Accomplishments and Observations:
1) Made sourdough pancakes
2) Finished crooked knife shaping
3) (Mostly) finished crooked knife handle

Initial Reflections:
After some more practice I discovered I could file more efficiently in a different position. I cut myself twice today, both in moments of frustration.  Staying calm and concentrating are vital.

Current Reflections:
Its funny how true all the tool safety information about "not working tired/angry/drunk" actually is. I didn't get seriously cut ever but the only times I got cut at all were strange unsafe positions when I was frustrated. The time I remember was trying to cut a branch for the knife handle. I was perched half way up a small tree and definitely not in a proper knife use position. I guess it was one of those lessons I needed to learn for myself. Ah well, better a Mora knife than a table saw!

JMB Spring Term Day 11 and 12

Summary:
Day 11 was spent in transit.

Date: May 01, 2009
Location: Wolfboro Falls, Newhampsire, USA

Day 12:
We began with a lesson in sourdough baking, pancakes in specific. The lesson was expanded to include baking sourdough biscuits and bannock. The rest of the day was spent converting mill bastard files into crooked knives.

Accomplishments and Observations:

1) Learned the basics of sourdough baking
2) Baked sourdough biscuits
3) Baked bannock
4) Annealed file
5) (mostly) finished shaping crooked knife
6) Humanure bucket emptying demo

Initial Reflections:
Sourdough baking is better than I expected it to be. Using sourdough seems both practical and delicious. Shaping this file is taking a very long time, I must remember to look into other low-tech solutions.

Current Reflections:
Sourdough biscuits really are delicious. I find myself craving them on a fairly regular basis.
This day was my first introduction to blacksmithing of any sort. I would definitely like to do more in the future. There is only one place teaching any blacksmithing locally (that I have found). I should probably get my act together and take a class!

http://www.burnabyvillagemuseum.ca/EN/main/programs/by-series/public-programs/at-the-forge.html