I love watching craftsmanship like this...

http://www.wimp.com/skilledforging/

 

Thanks, that kept my attention all the way thru - unusual for me.

I saw a lot of the metal work in Japan on a Katana. They had a video of the complete process in English, but they couldn't believe anyone wanted to buy a copy.
It was like I was speaking a foreign language
That process was the most interesting thing I saw over there
Can you tell I am an engineer?

 

Thanks for sharing that,
Held my interest,
Didn't expect the twist,
The leatherwork was awesome too
Jeff

 

Nice bit of work going on. I have a Gränsfors Bruk splitting axe (Swedish) which is a joy to use compared to any others I've used. Whilst a larger company, still uses hand forging and each axe has the craftsmans initials on it.

I note the similarity to Japanese steel folding for chisel and plane blades. My understanding is some of the Samurai swords were around 2,000 folds!
It is one of the oddities of life that the art of making Damascus steel was lost for many years and had to be rediscovered in effect.

 

Some Ulfberht blades were forgeries. Richard Furrer's is an authentic recreation.

The Discipline of Steel (as quoted in Conan the Barbarian).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXbLyVpWsVM

http://www.doorcountyforgeworks.com/About_Me.html

 

There is much symmetry here... the knife is made then used in many instances to create the sheath that will be it's home. There is a wholeness to this process that appeals to me. It's like making a bow that provides you the sinew that makes a new, better bow, a quiver for the arrows and sinew to bind the heads to the arrrows. I'm still smarting over the fact that I lost out on several hundred lbs of Osage Orange while sipping coffee and BSing at this year's Sail Oklahoma. They were cutting it down, bucking it up and hauling it off for burning only 200 yards or less from where I was wool gathering.

 

This:

 

From This:




Watch the transformation here:

http://www.wimp.com/pilemoney/

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFEY--Gp1D8#t=184

 

Hebo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qGHWZm0C-o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOQ3pC2KIYk

 

Very well known and very expensive machines...We are talking of craftmanship, not machines, nor copies.

That is pure craftsmanship and knowledge of the materials;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRFCxxAKafc

Making a traditional birch canoe. The indian canoe is one of the most clever designs using very limited resources and tooling. That seems primitive but it is not, I have made one and it was far from easy, even for a naval carpenter. You need good strong hands, clear mind and sharp eye. 57 minutes worth to spend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enMSwz5BWGo
How Indians Build Canoes ( 1946 in Color ) in English.
A shorter 10 mn movie made in 1946.

 

Now THIS is a joint!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1pvUlQgYtk

anyone know why I can't seem to get a youtube video to embed here? I used the tags and the url so what am I doing wrong?

 

Just include the actual video ID within the youtube tags, the identification string after v=
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1pvUlQgYtk
(or if using the http://youtu.be/W1pvUlQgYtk link, the identification string after the youtu.be/ )

 

I lived in Japan for 4 years, never could find anyone doing such wood work.
Didn't help that my Japanese was non-existant except for McDonalds.

That is really incredible, but a scarf and epoxy would be a lot stronger.

 

Surely that a laminated beam with multiple scarfs out of the max strain zones will be largely stronger, but it remains this joint is the best when you have not glue...A good "trait de jupiter" of traditional European carpentry is practically as good, simpler and can be done on hardwoods.
I've always been surprised that the traditional Japanese roof carpentry does not use diagonals, so the their roofs are finally weaker than the occidental ones which are based on triangles. Surprising also are the heavy roofs mounted on small 4*4 inches posts for the houses. The posts simply lay on big stones to stay out of the soil and water.
But the house carpentry is splendid as they go into great complication to hide all the connections and assemblies.
The Japanese old naval carpentry was not outstanding (curiously that comes from a political decision during the XVIIth century).
The Japanese have the great advantage of the excellent soft woods of their forests. Straight, good cross grain, easy to cut and plane, good ratio weight/strength. I remember that the best spruces for masts were from Japan, and were very expensive.
Add very good tools, and the natural search for perfection of the Japanese society...