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Hello, my name is Maciej Tomaszczyk I am from Poland.This is my first post here but I registered in 2011. I am not a professional blacksmith. Blacksmithing is my passion. The most I like to forge ancient and early medieval replicas of spears and axes. Sometimes I use for it bloomery iron I smelting my own. In my works I try to use the same technics as ancient blacksmiths. Bellow same of my Viking age spears. If you have any questions about the technology I used, feel free to ask. pattern-welded spearheads based on the archeological finds (early medieval) from northern Poland. Replica of earlymedieval spearhead from Lutomiersk (Poland). Entirely forged from scrap metal, in the core i used T-55 tank cannon, old steel rail and wrought iron wagon axle. Pattern welded spearhead, based on the find of the spear from Ostrów Lednicki (Poland). The total length of the replica is 50 cm. max. width 4.5.

Hi all, I've been a regular lurker here for years, but have only now gotten to the point where I'm happy enough with my knives to post some photos of my recent work on here. I'm a full-time bladesmith/knifemaker based in Staffordshire, England. I focus primarily on UK legal folding knives, although I also make a few historical Viking age hidden tang knives and wood-carving knives. A lot of my work is inspired by Anglo-Saxon and Viking age archaeological finds from around the British Isles & Northern Europe, and I use a lot of reclaimed old wrought iron & steel and locally sourced wood wherever I can. All of my knives are hand-forged and handmade by myself. Here is one of my latest folding knives - a dual-detente folder, forged from O1 Tool Steel with steel liners & backspacer, hand-peined stainless steel pins and brushed English white oak scales. I started off making only friction folders, then I made a few slipjoints and now I'm playing around with using detente bearings as they combine the best aspects of both styles for a functional non-locking pocket knife. You have the mechanical resistance to closing & opening, but you can still flip the blade open & closed with one hand. Second, we've got a Viking style friction folder with a laminated wrought iron & 1095 steel blade (heavily etched) and a one-piece handle hand-carved from English Boxwood. Next up, a slipjoint with a laminated wrought iron & 1095 blade with wrought iron bolsters and two-tone yew scales. Another dual-detente folder with an O1 blade - this time with a full-flat grind and slim Marblewood scales. Another UK legal slipjoint, this time with a laminated wrought iron blade, wrought iron bolsters and bog oak scales. One of my largest fixed blades that I made for a commission earlier this year; a reproduction of the Fulham seax. Laminated wrought iron & steel blade with Irish bog oak and Scottish Stag antler handle. The tang goes through the handle and is bent over at the butt to secure the brass ring. One more fixed blade; a Viking style sheath knife with a laminated bloom steel blade and a handle made from Scottish Stag antler, brass, leather and stacked birch bark. Lastly we have a different style; this is my take on the Viking age iron folding knives that have been found in Birka, Repton and Novgorod. Low-layer laminated 15N20 and 1095 blade with a hollow grind & a scrolled thumb-tab. The handle is forged from one bar of wrought iron. Both handle and blade have been heavily etched. From what I can tell, most of the surviving examples don't use a stop pin - the top of the handle is crimped slightly to stop the blade, but I decided a pin would make for a stronger mechanism. Any constructive criticism is most welcome! All my work can be found at www.willslockforge.com and I post regular updates and photos on Instagram under @willslockforge Feel free to get in touch via willslockforge@gmail.com Thanks for looking! Chris

It took me several months to finish the project, as it wasn't one of my priorities and I had to attend to some commissions in the meantime, but at least it came out really good to me. For the first time I decided to twist a wrought iron bar to see the effects after etching. Some viking age blades were done without the need of mixing two different kinds of steel when twisting the bars and I wanted to take a look on this visual. I must say that I loved the results and I'm really planning to make it on larger blades soon, maybe even a sword. So, this blade was forged on three parts: the spine and the core bars are wrought iron from the Victorian Age England, the edge is layered 5160 and 15N20 steels. The inlays on the spine are 18k gold. The handle, as simple as it could, is a piece of maple burl treated with linseed oil. The tang was glued to the handle using a home made cutler's resin recipe. The sheath is veg-tanned leather, with iron rivets and brass washers, rings and loops for suspension. The motifs are based on finds from the 10th century York and Dublin. Overall: 21,7cm B. length: 11,4cm B. width: 2,2cm at the widest part Thickness: 0,5cm

This sword was the most challenging piece I made so far and it really let me with a wish to achieve some more on my next swords. The blade was mainly made by stock removal, except for the tip and about 10cm of the cutting edge, as the owner wanted it to have some forging on it. It is 1070. Guards and pommel are made from a piece of British wrought iron from the Victorian Age and the inlays are brass. They are heavily inspired on the designs from a type S sword from Gjermundbu, Norway, but it is not made to look like the original. As some of you may notice it also resembles some interpretations of the Gjermundbu sword made by Patrick Barta, although I'm really far from his skills with inlays. At least I have the chance to practice more of this amazing technique on an actual piece, rather than on scraps and left overs. The handle is karelian birch burl from Russia, with one of the most outstanding patterns I've ever seen. The wood was ground to shape and then spent a whole week submersed in linseed oil for stabilization and it got this darker orange-ish color. On the scabbard I used pinewood and it is lined inside with natural wool. Outside I covered it with linen and then painted with very dark brown. The chape is mild steel and the belt bridge is maple wood and although it is glued with modern methods to the linen cloth for safety, the leather strips would do the job alone fairly well. I loved the final result and it really made me feel like a talented crafter, even with all the flaws it have. This excitement is the best part of being a blacksmith/bladesmith. As i usually like to do with swords, the is also a short tale I wrote about it that can be seen in my blog. Here is the link for this sword: http://vferreiraarruda.blogspot.com.br/2017/04/type-s-viking-sword.html Overall length: 94,5cm Blade length: 78,5cm Blade width: 5,3cm Blade thickness at the guard: 0,5cm PoB: 18,0cm Length of the grip: 10,0cm Weight: 1,240kg