Blacksmithing

For my history curriculum I had to choose a pre-flood era topic to study, and I chose Metallurgy of the Pre-Flood Era.

Turns that most of the metals that we see every day were not used at all in the pre-flood era, seeing as many of the metals that we commonly use today are alloys (mixtures of different ores and chemicals that create a new substance.) Most metallic objects that we see today and made of steel - a combo of different levels of carbon and iron. Aluminum is also a common metal to today, and is also a alloy.

Pre-flood man had one alloy: Bronze.

Bronze was made from the combination of tin and copper, both of which the the early men had in abundance. One other metal was used often which was silver. Silver became the currency and weight exchange table of this time.


I decided to try out some the methods used to blacksmith. I started by building a massive fire. I took some aluminum scrap we had laying around and began to heat the metal. My dad helped my out with this. He would take to metal out of the fire, and I would use a hammer to beat it into the wanted shape. He started by using a board as an anvil and bending the end of the metal into a V. This created the "tang" or the part of the blade that is fitted into the hilt. We then used the chisel again to to make a point on the opposite end.  I will be carved a hilt for the sword later.

The sword is modeled after the Roman short sword or Gladius.

I also made a short dagger for my brother.