01-09-2011, 10:06 AM
Hi Jack,
It may be a bit off topic, but I had a look at your website and just want to point out that the finish on most original ancient articles was excellent. They were made by craftsmen taking pride in their work. So leaving a knife like your sax (wrong shape, by the way) with a lot of forge markes is not historicly correct. It is a misconception that craftsmen of two millenia ago just banged out any old knife as long as it would cut.
On the helmet too, I would suggest you have a real good hard look at finishing details (such as that unriveted strip of brass/copper sticking out near the back). If you want to turn this into a profession, it is very important to reach a high level of perfectionism and to do a lot of research. And I would advice you to specialise first, learning to forge and finish something really well. Well made solid necked spearheads starting with a billet require a lot of different skills, for instance, and are a great start to a hirstorical smithing carreer.
Good luck!
It may be a bit off topic, but I had a look at your website and just want to point out that the finish on most original ancient articles was excellent. They were made by craftsmen taking pride in their work. So leaving a knife like your sax (wrong shape, by the way) with a lot of forge markes is not historicly correct. It is a misconception that craftsmen of two millenia ago just banged out any old knife as long as it would cut.
On the helmet too, I would suggest you have a real good hard look at finishing details (such as that unriveted strip of brass/copper sticking out near the back). If you want to turn this into a profession, it is very important to reach a high level of perfectionism and to do a lot of research. And I would advice you to specialise first, learning to forge and finish something really well. Well made solid necked spearheads starting with a billet require a lot of different skills, for instance, and are a great start to a hirstorical smithing carreer.
Good luck!
