Blacksmithing at the New Forest Show

A combination of events conspired against me last week, preventing me from writing last weeks blog post. Nothing much really happened that particular week anyway, as I had a full week at my part-time job and didn't do much at home afterwards :p

New Forest Show!

My friend's medieval tent

So last Monday I was prevented from doing my blog on account of packing the car and travelling to the New Forest Show, where upon, I was a medieval blacksmith for three days.

It was a lot of fun, chatting to people and showing them swords and other weaponry.

I did have a go forging a snail. Which is a good practise piece, as it covers a decent amount of smithing techniques. I didn't think of taking a picture of it, as I've made that many in the past.

We've been invited along to the show for a few years now to sit alongside the modern day blacksmiths section, where they were making their competition pieces.

My only issue with the show is the state of the traffic when trying to get off site on the last day, especially if the weather is going to turn nasty and we want to have dry tents when we pack up.

The forge, bellows and anvil

Each year the heat during the day can get quite unbearable, this show was no different. Although we did have a nice cool day on Thursday, with a bit of rain every now and then, I still caught the sun on my face :)

I must remember to take along a softer ground mat next year. All my current one does is provide some warmth while allowing me the ability to feel every detail the ground has to offer. :/

Items made over the years.

For most of each day I kept myself occupied by working on some projects I've had sitting around for a while. Most notably a new scabbard for one of my swords.

The pieces of which were cutout (quite possibly) over 4 years ago. But now I've stitched up most of it, with just the belt loop to add and then final stitching before it's ready for use.

The other one was the belt-cording for my new medieval underwear. Of which people (until I explained correctly) kept thinking was some sort of g-string affair.

All I need to do with that is finish stitching up the third cord piece before braiding them together. Last thing I want is for my underwear to fall down!

Me : Inverse duckface (can of lager out of shot)

Snail, made at the 2015 show. Not by me.

Mild robotics doings...

I did manage to have a play during the previous weeks weekend with the muscle fibre twist rig. And discovered that the tension just isn't right. I've started working on another tension carriage to replace the original two.

Coiled section not behaving

It's going to be another elastic band contraption. I really need to get this sorted as I want to start testing the properties of this coiled nylon when heated.

An important thing I do need to do, is to start designing rigs that will be used to hold the coiled nylon in place and for testing with, e.g. arm-like pivoting rigs and peg boards.

I'd also like to order some more ball-bearings at some point, as they're quite useful for moveable joints as well as for gears.

July 2016 Patreon reward released...

Yesterday I released the Lake Embogue region map on my Patreon page for the $1 reward tier. I've also made the map and coat-of-arms, for the town featured on the map, available on my deviantArt page.

If anyone wants to support me, I've made them both purchasable. :)