I really love these videos... especially since you are keeping as close to authentic as possible... Really is amazing how blacksmiths back in the day could do this kind of intricate work. I've been smithing for about 18 months now and it still just mystifies me that this art is so old! I love it! Great work, man!
During the American revolutionary war a chain of aproximately 1 1/2" simple links was made to close off the north Hudson river to ships coming in. These were simple straight links about 18" long. What a job that must have been.
This has become a very interesting series. I really found this section of chain instructional. One question, when you were trying to find where to hold the link with your tongs would scrolling tongs have been easier?
Any idea how much time total you will have in this project? I can't see a project like this being measured in anything but weeks. Perhaps a master blacksmith, with two or three journeymen, and all of his apprentices could accomplish this in a week, working full time. Perhaps not. Do you have any other projects from this excavation in mind for future projects? Not that I am getting tired of this project, but I am curious as to how many works were found in this burial site?
Nice work. So much time to made these chains. Why was this cooking rig so ornate? Given the era this would have been used, would it not have been used primarily by servants in the kitchen? Seems an expensive design for a simple task.