08-30-2009, 01:31 PM
Hahaha! Yep, same here. Scraps of iron all over the place!
What I like about forging Roman stuff is to have a really good look at the originals, looking for signs of how the iron was worked to get the shape found. For instance, in the socketed biblades with the large barbs, one can see the smith started off with a sharp triangle, detached the two barbs with a chisel or a pair of pliers/sharp tongs first, so shaping the point, and then folded the lower part of the triangle into the socket. When making a lot of these, it is probable to have a narrow bar with V shaped notch cut into it (sort of a mini anvil) to start the fold. The part near the bards is the most tricky bit. Then just tap it closed and finish off on a sharp iron stake. No metal is lost in this process.
The trilobates do loose some metal in the filing of the bards, but very little, as the flanges have already been thinned in the smithing process.
What I like about forging Roman stuff is to have a really good look at the originals, looking for signs of how the iron was worked to get the shape found. For instance, in the socketed biblades with the large barbs, one can see the smith started off with a sharp triangle, detached the two barbs with a chisel or a pair of pliers/sharp tongs first, so shaping the point, and then folded the lower part of the triangle into the socket. When making a lot of these, it is probable to have a narrow bar with V shaped notch cut into it (sort of a mini anvil) to start the fold. The part near the bards is the most tricky bit. Then just tap it closed and finish off on a sharp iron stake. No metal is lost in this process.
The trilobates do loose some metal in the filing of the bards, but very little, as the flanges have already been thinned in the smithing process.
