[TheForge] Moroccan Blacksmithing

[gblacksmith]

Tom:  I saw the special!  What a challenge.  Raising he ridge beam looked a 
little hair-raising.  What would you estimate the amount of charcoal used to 
have been?  Grant
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Thomas A. Troszak" <tom at tomtroszak.com>
To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2004 10:18 AM
Subject: [TheForge] Moroccan Blacksmithing


>> Message: 3
>> Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2004 22:21:25 -0700
>> From: Michael Horgan <lughaid at earthlink.net>
>> Nice show.. Looks like you had fun.  Did you learn much from the Moroccan
>> smiths besides mudding your forge? <GRIN>
>>
> Dear Michael,
>
> Learned a bunch. I learned that a talented craftsman is easy to spot
> regardless of circumstances, which allowed me to gather a GREAT team of 
> guys
> to work with. I learned that differences in language are only a minimal
> inconvenience, since most smiths speak with chalk and hand gestures 
> anyway.
> I learned that charcoal is even more expensive there than in the US, so 
> most
> of those smiths do everything cold unless they absolutely have to heat
> something up. I learned that the typical Moroccan smith has even fewer 
> tools
> than I do, which is pretty few. I learned that in difficult circumstances,
> the good and true just pull that much harder, and do the best they can 
> with
> what they have, just like me.
>
> It was a very big challenge to move that much metal under those
> circumstances, and the most difficult bends took the full power of six
> talented men, four with hammers, and two more just to keep the bar on the
> anvil. Unfortunately, you never got to see that. Fortunately, I have a
> series of still photos, which may find their way onto a web site someday.
>
> When it started raining on us, one of my local helpers appeared magically
> with a genuine hand woven wool Berber tent and erected it over us 
> (seemingly
> in seconds) while we worked. Unfortunately, you never got to see that.
>
> This same guy also would magically appear from time to time with a big 
> plate
> of freshly baked soft flat bread swimming in oil pressed from those very
> trees surrounding the Kasbah, (and a pot of tea, of course) and we would 
> all
> take a well deserved break under that same tent, which worked as well in 
> the
> sun as it did in the rain. Unfortunately, you never got to see that.
>
> It took the dedicated effort of ALL of us to make it happen, and most of 
> the
> designing was done on the spot, since we never knew what we were going to
> have to work with until we found it. The computer graphics (very accurate 
> by
> the way) and fast editing actually conspire to make the whole project look
> "easy" which is misleading. We planned a for weeks ahead of time, then
> adapted EVERYTHING to suit the available materials. All the final 
> decisions
> were made on the ground, at the site, in the moment.
>
> I also learned that the producers of television shows will pick only the
> most absurd and insulting moments of the project for their final edit.
>
> I also learned never to let my guard down. I only said THREE bad words 
> (out
> loud) the whole time that I was there, and TWO of them made onto the 
> "little
> screen". Arrgh. I had no earthly, (BLEEP)ing idea that there was a
> (BLEEP)ing camera rolling in the "lunch" room, those sneaking (BLEEP)ers.
>
> The whole experience was just fantastic, and the show can't possibly do it
> justice, but it is in fact very entertaining to watch, which is the WHOLE
> POINT in the first place. Good Telly, as they say.
>
> Thanks for watching!
>
> (P.S. I never did figure out where they found that mud, but it did help
> some. I actually modified the forge six or seven times, but there is in 
> fact
> another whole story right there...)
>
> Tom
>
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