[TheForge] Hell YAK

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> Just checking to see if I got un subscribed or if everyone was being real
> quiet and hiding
> LB
>

Well, I was busy all weekend, down in New Jersey, helping a friend cook East
Kingdom Coronation. If anyone wants to see some pictures, they're here:

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=xjc01an.1ubajmnr&x=0&y=o0p56r

The first lady is Berelinde, one of the two head cooks, the second is
Jadwiga, who came over from PA to help. She and I stayed at Brighid's, the
other Head Cook's, place and worked on the feast Friday night. I wish
Brighid had taken a picture of the cute little white mice she made out of
radishes, and served with the pickled red cabbage ;-)

I helped a bit on several different projects, but my main job of the day was
The Great Spinach Hustle. We needed to saute 40 lbs of spinach in olive oil,
and rather than do that ahead and let it sit in a warm oven (which would
have ruined it, IMO), I got my Omigosh wok out of the truck, and HAMMERED
out some spinach- was exhausting- seemed like the cart I had the spinach
stored on kept sprouting more spinach. Was great fun, but I was moving.
Actually had to physically throw Berelinde out of my way at one point- I had
just seconds for each stage of the cooking.

The Ohmigosh wok is kinda neat- one of my smithing students gave it to me at
an event, as a donation to the Charcoal fund, and now I use it usually to
feed my students at events, so we don't hafta break for lunch. It's 32
inches across, and properly seasoned steel- a grand cooking tool. I have
found an even bigger one I intend to buy-, 36 inches in diameter, and I'll
call it my Omigawd wok ;-)

Also, one of the merchants at the event, knowing my passion for historical
smithing, gave me copies of several flyers the Met has put out over the
years on armor and weapons exhibits- well described, with excellent
pictures. I'm going to HAVE to get over there, and I think I'll try to get
in communication with one of the curators, so I can see the real stuff.
Anybody else interested? I'm already looking for white gloves in my size, so
I can handle pieces properly.

And, is there a particular name for forge welded steel, where the base metal
is inset as for an inlay, but rather than using something else for the
"glue" the actual inlays are welded in place? Not soldered, not brazed, but
welded?



Saint Phlip,
CoDoLDS

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....