Vindonissa Pompei Blade

[Conal]

Tony

what do you use to "remove the stock" ?

Cheers

Conal

[brennivs - tony drake]

Conal I use various types of grinders, with various discs. You need a good grinder with a smooth gear box, the one I use at the moment is a Nutool 1000 watt with 4 1/2 " disc its a cheapy so I will see how long it lasts how ever I also have a Bosch industrial 4 1/2" 110v plus 240v.The 110v is my old trusty shipyard one and has been hammered but still going strong D D
Regards Brennivs

[Robert]

Greetings Tony!

Do you ever use the large commercial beltgrinders found in machineshops? I have worked with one, though not on blades and they chew metal at an alarming rate. I have been thinking of using a handheld belt sander and have a Powerfile by B&D, very thin beltsander projecting out. As is, I want to hammer out the blade first and then finish it using a stone and a sander, much like the Romans did. The hours quoted in Iron for the Eagles is 2 hours smithing and 20 hours finishing! The thing about modern stones is they are often too small in radius and will leave a hollow grind if one is not carefull, unlike the large stones used in Solingen to grind their blades. I am presuming Romans used larger diameter stones as well, but have no data to support that assumption. Idea's?

[Robert]

Oh, and I would really appreciate tips on how best to fix the pommel to the tang the proper way. So far, this eludes me

[brennivs - tony drake]

A ha Robert no problem yes you can use a hand belt sander to flattern off the metal when you have finnished grinding but you need to leave a bit of spare metal along the edge so you can work down to, I feel another helpin hand thread coming here with pics :lol:
Ill Pm you on the handle
Regards Brennivs

[sulla felix]

I feel another helpin hand thread coming here with pics

Yes please Brennivs

[Robert]

Salve Brennius!

Thanks for the info, looking forward to PM. For me it will be bashing as apposed to grinding, but I get the point. As someone once told me, forge thick, grind thin. That's for beginners, I'm sure, as when working with the spearheads I have found it is quite possible to leave a reasonable flat diamond shape with an almost sharp edge. I use a somewhat lighter, flat headed hammer to do the finishing of the edge, heating it to a dull orange to maintain more control as the metal doesn't move as fast when hit. It is a good way of correcting dents from a less then solid whack.

[brennivs - tony drake]

Robert thats it, even if you forge a blade the finishing is down to the grind smith. The skill in forging is to hammer down to a tollerence that cuts down the time taking to grind. I just wished I had photo of a wrought iron knife I did as I still have a rough forged blade to show the difference
I have a short film on Pattern Welding done by my late friend which he did for the BBC we also have the full I think 120 hours on 8mm film it is excellent, he did it at Reading University Museum, I think David Sim was there also. We hope one day to put the film on disc.
Regards Brennivs