THE KING OF CRAFTS MAKES HIS/HER OWN TOOLS

A big thank you to Mark Aspery for letting me use this passage from his excellent book THE SKILLS OF A BLACKSMITH VOLUME 1 - MASTERING THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BLACKSMITHING.

THE KING OF CRAFTS MAKES HIS/HER OWN TOOLS

Camelot had been finished for a month or so, the concrete curing to perfection,King Arthur decided to throw a feast to honour all the craftsmen that had helped construct the palace.

As the craftsmen entered the great hall, they were instructed to seat themselves in a manner where those that had most to do with the construction sit nearest the King and those that had least to do with it sit furthest away. In that way honour could be given in an equitable fashion.

Arthur was renown for his wisdom and council throughout the Kingdom. Part way through the main course Arthur looked about the room. He stood after the main meal and walked about the tables.

He approached the craftsman nearest to him and asked what was his occupation? The man replied,"Why sire, I am your tailor!"

          Arthur asked what he had constructed. The tailor replied "Those fine robes that you're wearing sire, the tapestry that hangs on the wall. I made those!" Arthur congratulated him on his fine workmanship and moved to the next person.

He asked the same question. The man replied "I am, a goldsmith sire, That platter that you eat from, the goblet that you drink from, I made both of those. I even made the fine gold thread in the tapestry."

Arthur again offered his congratulations and moved on.

The next in line was the silversmith. His reply to Arthur's question was to point out the cutlery at the King's table and the fine candle sticks adorning the Kings table.

And so Arthur made his way down the table. Stone mason, Carpenter and so on until he reached the blacksmith sitting at the far end of the room.

He asked the Blacksmith what he had contributed to the palace. The Blacksmith replied that he had made the hinges for the door, but not a lot else. Seeming satisfied with his meetings, Arthur returned to his seat.

After the fine dessert, Arthur again stood and walked around the table.

He approached the Tailor.

Arthur asked "Tell me, your scissors,your needles, where do you get those from?" The tailor replied "Sire I go to the blacksmith!"

Arthur asked the question of the goldsmith "your hammer and stakes, where do you get those from?"  The goldsmith replied "sire I have the blacksmith make them"

Arthur got the same response all the way along the table until he reached the blacksmith. Arthur asked the question of the blacksmith and the smith replied "Sire, I make my own tools, and those of others. That is my trade."

          Arthur exclaimed

"SMITH!  BY YOUR  HAMMER AND HAND ALL CRAFTS DO STAND! YOU SHOULD BE SEATED AT THE TOP OF THE TABLE"

 Arthur bade the blacksmith to move to the top of the table. He asked the tailor to swap seats as he thought the smith had been done an injustice. The smith was very embarrassed as he had just come from the forge and was still wearing his apron.The tailor was livid.

So intent was the tailor to exact some sort of revenge That he snuck beneath the table with his scissors and when he reached the Blacksmith, he cut a fringe on the blacksmith's apron.

After the meal the smith noticed his apron and understood what had happened. He continued to wear the apron for work at the forge and always exclaimed delight when someone would ask him the story behind the fringe.

"Why" he would say " The tailor gave me this recognition of my services to the crafts" That is why, to this day, a blacksmith should have a fringe cut on the bottom of his/her apron. 

And make his/her own tools.

 

GREAT VIDEO OF A HAND FORGED VIKING AXE HEAD

Very taken by this video when i came across it two weeks ago, Something to aspire too !

SHOW US YOUR TONGS

My first set of tongs, lovingly made by my hands. No big deal right, well it was for me! Only now 10 months down the line, the significance of crafting your own tools has eventually sank in. Most beginners probably find the task of tong making tedious, take a step back, think for one moment? Who else makes there own tools as well as tools for everyone.

A couple of pages into the book THE SKILLS OF THE BLACKSMITH- VOLUME 1 BY MARK ASPERY  you will come across a wonderful passage called The king of crafts makes his/her own tools. the passage relates to the finishing of Camelot. Towards the end of the passage King Arthur exclaimed "SMITH! BY YOUR HAMMER AND HAND ALL CRAFTS DO STAND"!

The above passage is a wonderful example of the skills of the trained Blacksmith, so back to me the untrained, trainee Blacksmith with wild ideas and some skills in the making. Out of our class no one seemed so interested in the making of tongs and opted for other projects on the next session, i decided to stick with them, and have found uses for them at the fire! As this blog progresses i will find the diagram for tong making and post a step by step sequence, as for now i will explain the title of this blog post.

          Towards the end of the session, with the tongs assembled,riveted and working as they should, they   were placed back into the fire for a last heat to cherry red, a good brush off with the wire brush and a healthy spray of wd-40 for the final finish. After the initial wd-40 inferno had burnt out, the tongs were to take on a grey/black pa lour that to the unaware makes them look just the same as nice and cold hand forged steel. All it took was a handful of seconds a slow response from me whilst looking for piece of chalk to draw the warning of HOT METAL around the tongs. Steve the workshop technician walked past "SHOW US YOUR TONGS" picked them up to the sound of a sizzle,a very similar sound to a Saturday morning frying pan loaded with bacon and eggs. For me this all happened in slow motion, if we could add the theme from chariots of fire you would be on the same page. Mouth open with my best dying fish impression, hand held out with a piece of chalk it was to late, the hand was burnt! What could i do? Well apologise that was about it really!!