Tonight I came in on an open forge night, with Ethan, Samwise, and Bea among others in attendance. It was crowded and energetic, with multiple anvils at once and Surprise heating everybody’s work. Sam is making his blades and some kind of file, and there were various hooks, pins, a heavy-duty bar, and a metal crown being worked on. I succeeded in finishing the bend on either side, but I was still overshooting. I decided to redo it so the bend would happen closer to the center, and in the meantime I noticed I was going through the motions quite naturally. Ethan still had to remind me frequently about forge ettequite, particularly about not having things in the way of the anvil. He hammered the handle while I held it on the grooved surface to round it, which was helpful. I tried a couple techniques Don suggested, such as quenching certain areas while I worked on others. It was a night of trial and error. I had to take frequent measurements with a tape measure and soap stone. The handle was just about perfect before I had to round it, at which point it bent in the middle. My next session will have to involve taking out the crookedness once and for all. The flush parts on either side will do well for riveting.
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