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Viking archaeological trowels in progress...


Alan Longmire

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I love those, Alan. The spirit in which they are given, as well as the techniques to make them. Very cool, indeed.

please visit my website http://www.professorsforge.com/

 

“Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” E. V. Debs

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Awesome projects, Alan. I still remember the other one you made.

James Helm - Helm Enterprises, Forging Division

 

Come see me at the Blade Show! Table 26R.

 

Proud to be a Neo-Tribal Metalsmith scavenging the wreckage of civilization.

 

My blog dedicated to the metalwork I make and sell: http://helmforge.blogspot.com/

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Just goes to show, everything is better patternwelded....:)

I've never lusted after a trowel, until now.

If you can do a patternweld fillet knife I can do a trowel, then we're even! That is how I saw it, anyway...

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You cracked me up with the comment about "no welding rods were harmed." These are super nice trowels and reflect your expertise in metal working. I'm extremely envious. Thanks for sharing the procedures you used.

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Those are freakin' cool as hell Alan! All you need now are some some custom geologist's hammers!

Guy Thomas

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As you said: Everything is cooler pattern welded!

 

Very awesome work, Alan! I love to see PW objects in every day use. I love our craft, but I often lament that the beautiful, functional products of it live on shelves and not in daily use.

 

Could be because I'm reading Morris lately.

 

Cheers!


Dave

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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly." -- Theodore Roosevelt

http://stephensforge.com

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Those are beautiful and super cool! Looks like a really fun project

“Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.”

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amazing , I'll never look at a trowel the same way again...

To become old and wise... You first have to survive being young and foolish! ;) Ikisu.blogsot.com. Email; milesikisu@gmail.com mobile: +27784653651

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Thanks again!

 

And some progress: #1, my personal one with the little weld flaw in the tip, is now finished. Curly ash handle with sterling silver ferrule.

 

trowel 1.jpg

 

trowel 2.jpg

 

trowel 4.jpg

 

trowel 3.jpg

 

Thanks to Owen's helpful suggestion, I am now designing a Gotland-style holster for it. Gonna be interesting adapting it for a double-edged blade with vertical carry, but I think I have it sorted. Give me a week or two to get it together. ;)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Awww, they are cute , especially all together like that.

Are you going to make seax like holsters with brass work for them?

I like them a lot.

 

Ask and ye shall receive!

 

My brasswork isn't up to the standards of the rest, but it gets the idea across. So: One Gotland-style trowel sheath designed for a flat double-edged blade and vertical point-down carry with integral belt clip.

 

AL trowel holster 2.jpg

 

AL trowel holster 1.jpg

 

and the back showing the way the clip is built.

 

AL trowel holster back.jpg

 

I also finished the one for my boss a week or so ago. No sheath for this one, but rather a display stand. Handle and stand are both rosewood, but I suspect the handle is Honduran rosewood and I know the stand is Bolivian rosewood. The handle also got an inlaid silver escutcheon and initials, which I left off mine since in use we often use the butt end to pound stakes and such, which would play hell on a polished sterling inlay.

 

GWK trowel 1.jpg

 

GWK trowel 2.jpg

 

GWK trowel 3.jpg

 

The last one isn't done yet, I'm waiting for the right piece of elk antler per the customer's request.

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