tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87084663519848264452024-03-13T14:30:26.810-04:00J.Arthur Loose: Metalsmith MusingMaker of blades & jewelry inspired by Antiquity, as well as handmade stainless damascus rings with precious metals & fine gems.J.Arthur Loosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04650060920326147471noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708466351984826445.post-17106354750686959752020-03-03T09:55:00.002-05:002020-03-03T10:05:06.768-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I will be embarking on a whole new journey. A multi-media project. I am
weaving a tale, song, crafts and essays on modern beekeeping into one
epic project; there will be a sword, and jewelry, and perhaps a book and
CD.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rather than a kickstarter, or philanthropy, I have created a
Patreon, to allow for a basic, predictable income while I work on a
concept so vast. I like making swords, but rarely profit, and paying the
bills can be a struggle. For as little as $3 a month I will<span class="text_exposed_show">
offer my Patrons stories, songs, rewards such as handcrafted badges,
honey, raffled smithcrafted artifacts & a secret look into a project
I mean to pursue for many years to come. There will be blades and
jewels available only to my Patrons! And you can help me sing the song of our endangered friends, the bees.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show">Please like, share or join me on <a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="async" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Fjarthurloose%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0uQ0EeD3qqMbRhTTs6cH1jUAowpSp9g5mM5xv9mPG1JsYs804PX8XmG2g&h=AT1gLaD31RyfgNiXnr8Je5tK2j4_dV6wqoO2bUgckgwyn_0pGGX453nF3lYihh-rmErSRygGurUHscQ3bASdaTbmqQG-yp2CupekcPPcewQZSoZ1hENvnYq1emQmvvrjC2OKyDCsVgjdwwOAJZFi8FgegKpE8Ja69tCBkhLsPraqK4q5bSnHyzuk-xah8GeCDoE31i9STudRntbRJ2fKtCi8UCbl4inB9TDw-JzwmU7a9IBPxtVpL2LV-dZFX6Mc5lpIFk8Do1c2j4JCoTID_ZiBsYUc7YfpVlNbPuExIxqYynQtDbs5LQGqSB5R0jiVGJBQE_dY48wfmFR07EMtdcsxZRIsvmVLR9ZOx8Ymd2vBDYANl2q4GmKpN3x-uzEyKSbFQIW8h42BG9AwoajSCFunIcqKetWyKOdm87ubUbt29KQIy6wfMslm-ZC2k4vvOJp6_huX1K0gd2STQxApUK11jAC4foVw2vb1ej7uucb-Khu1-DOSIsKIVJd0pMojlXf3ffO2pkzbEop1-WvJ7OExx5NcPYKCv5-265Fz86GRS9qe_1_W1zuZcqPclrGSgh5W1GqI38g5XpPXGrIRzX5QvRE-5BSCmpf-VhCLz27J1yUUlToa2jM3LCUxXR8EKkM7IDbud3_MDtDRAPJP" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">www.patreon.com/jarthurloose</a></span></span></span>J.Arthur Loosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04650060920326147471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708466351984826445.post-4592771599476413842018-08-21T16:19:00.001-04:002018-08-21T18:40:59.869-04:00<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a1HkAiTVpIM" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes I get to play Mad Scientist. I prefer to do this late at night, for aesthetic reasons, of course. The heat treating of my blades is done in molten salt tanks that are digitally controlled with programmable temperature controllers (on the back wall) and thermocouples and solenoid valves and propane and a molten salt one small step from self-oxidizing gunpowder and even an oil furnace ignition that makes really fun lightning arcs, just like in a real, live Mad Scientist Laboratory! They were fun to invent & build and have been running solid for over ten years. MU ha ha haaaa!</span>J.Arthur Loosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04650060920326147471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708466351984826445.post-41082776377769369432017-02-09T11:01:00.001-05:002017-02-09T11:23:54.044-05:00Making Stainless Damascus Rings<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nnH_tXZGh8w" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I get a lot of requests for photos of rings as I am making them, and I always get caught up in working and forget. So I made a video of the process from start to finish. As always, I am one of very few damascus ring artisans who makes his own stainless damascus. I even cast & rolled out the silver lining! They are not machined, milled or pumped out in a factory. They are made one at a time, by hand.</span>J.Arthur Loosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04650060920326147471noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708466351984826445.post-31801841371302514892017-01-14T15:16:00.003-05:002019-05-14T10:06:23.361-04:00Arctic Fire & the Lyre of Lejre<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYrilVWFOqsTfQGeCooNUHKCo5oqtcdYLGYX3HGcq82VjuBdtM-VGirdFizb3S8D5jFeC_QEV6l2O7RPh43I88hDcdPGg6dF4onx75mSp2w1406lT1lX8XT3Ec_ebUFsem3Bd_fJVQigv/s1600/lyre_mont.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The Lyre of Lejre drawing showing dentition damage." border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYrilVWFOqsTfQGeCooNUHKCo5oqtcdYLGYX3HGcq82VjuBdtM-VGirdFizb3S8D5jFeC_QEV6l2O7RPh43I88hDcdPGg6dF4onx75mSp2w1406lT1lX8XT3Ec_ebUFsem3Bd_fJVQigv/s400/lyre_mont.jpg" title="Lyre of Lejre Original Drawing" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Lyre of Lejre, original drawing by Petr Florianek & Peter Johnsson.</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> Last Summer I had the fine opportunity to participate in the semi-annual <a href="http://www.arcticfire.org/" target="_blank">Arctic Fire</a> of 2016. It's a gathering of international artists & smiths orchestrated by Dave Stephens & Shane Harvey in Alaska, including additional luminaries such as Jake Powning, Petr Florianek, Peter Johnsson, Owen Bush and previously, Michael Pikula and David DelaGardelle.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> In
the past it has been primarily focused on bladesmithing and related
ornamental techniques. The first one was simply live-streamed lectures, demos and interviews. In the following endeavor we filmed and live-streamed a blade
being made from iron ore to gem-setting, and offered it up as a mythic
mystery puzzle. For 2016 we created an elegant back-story, or should I
say, Peter mostly created an elegant back-story, and we all made objects
that could have been. That is, could have been found in the archeological
excavations of Lejre, Denmark, home of Heorot, where Beowulf dove down and defeated the monster
Grendel, more than a thousand years ago.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3FG1vQkQOejU0Qqm4WeLUqSXbp8tYXYNpoofgSoHFCxo2It_xOV3LpN6btrTfZKHYg7tHl9O8fJqI_ObI040b5x3_QNmIbvhhCzXe9sedYsuNvaIGBrMI1DjCcy4vH8lrGjfjJE5bl9O_/s1600/lyre.bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Lyre of Lejre Gilded Bronze Bridge" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3FG1vQkQOejU0Qqm4WeLUqSXbp8tYXYNpoofgSoHFCxo2It_xOV3LpN6btrTfZKHYg7tHl9O8fJqI_ObI040b5x3_QNmIbvhhCzXe9sedYsuNvaIGBrMI1DjCcy4vH8lrGjfjJE5bl9O_/s400/lyre.bridge.jpg" title="Lyre of Lejre Gilded Bronze Bridge." width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lyre bridge.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> I
decided to make a lyre, because the poem Beowulf specifically mentions
that the ever complex Grendel absolutely hated the sound of joy in the hall, and of the harp being
struck; it was torture to his ears. I wanted to imagine that when he
came to Heorot and slew many men, that he took this object of jealousy
and hatred back into his underwater cave. There he longingly
contemplated it, filled with the denied desire to share in its joy, perhaps
even to awkwardly strum it before smashing it in a rage of
alienation.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> As
an object it's a wonderful symbol of the best of the world of men in
the Beowulfian Age. It also offered opportunities for some metalwork-
lost wax casting in bronze and gold plating. The objects themselves
presented fantastic narrative potential for our back-story of Victorian
archeology, long lost collections and misattributed discoveries: a set
of lyre escutcheons discovered to match a sea apart, and an obscure
drawing with a matching bridge and some very suspicious, and uncomfortably large
dentition marks in evidence.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJovefy6wo0MK799Umhy6EgNTjJZfy0nNVbyXWWpqOZmkmZjFOJc5T1tk4OQNl-fEZ0dHLDK5h6ahcKYgNPVfQIYYW1gKzB9OLwB4YO8Hbx4frDec_rMyppTEUEEXUS7Zir0g9N1Ds9A6I/s1600/lyre.escutcheon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJovefy6wo0MK799Umhy6EgNTjJZfy0nNVbyXWWpqOZmkmZjFOJc5T1tk4OQNl-fEZ0dHLDK5h6ahcKYgNPVfQIYYW1gKzB9OLwB4YO8Hbx4frDec_rMyppTEUEEXUS7Zir0g9N1Ds9A6I/s400/lyre.escutcheon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: large;">There
are a number of lyres and lyre parts in existence, as well as some
images- in wood and in stone. I took inspiration from all of them, and
tried to create something that possibly could have been, but most
definitively <i>should</i> have been.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> The shape is taken from the
Cologne Lyre, found in a churchyard burial, as well as from some
Gotlandic depictions. The escutcheons on the arms and the bridge
inspired by pieces in the British Museum, and the soundboard holes by
the Trossingen Lyre.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> I<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'m not finished with the story. And neither are my compatriots in troll-telling. There are some other drawings we have uncovered, and one of them shows a drinking horn with dentition marks that match those depicted in Gotthard's original rendering. And that is to say nothing of the catalogued box <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and the</span> human humerus... <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">which</span> appears to have the very same marks. And the Lyre of Lejre has yet some songs to sing.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmfVaLtyGRiTUvSJXt77s_qY5LKzw_Jqth8gw9-XRmeWdQ_DdthwGXCtzHgpampS-pGpDFYDlxatzAzp8XdXxOveIg9gEkohUjmwUJh-f86B5kLxnmit9-RDygccYRhkepMEoD6W4biDf/s1600/lyre.finished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmfVaLtyGRiTUvSJXt77s_qY5LKzw_Jqth8gw9-XRmeWdQ_DdthwGXCtzHgpampS-pGpDFYDlxatzAzp8XdXxOveIg9gEkohUjmwUJh-f86B5kLxnmit9-RDygccYRhkepMEoD6W4biDf/s640/lyre.finished.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The full Lyre of Lejre, reconstructed, based on multiple recently related finds.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> It has a fine sound, one that would undoubtedly fill Grendel with covetous malice. If you missed our livestreamed presentations th<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is</span> Summer, you will be able to hear it when Arctic Fire finishes editing and compiling our presentations for a soon to be released download / DVD. Follow us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Arctic-Fire-398768046838011/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or see some teasers on the <a href="http://www.arcticfire.org/" target="_blank">Arctic Fire</a> website, and come along with us, down the rabbit hole<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, and to</span> Grendel's Hoard.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> -<a href="http://www.jloose.com/" target="_blank">J.Arthur Loose</a> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span>J.Arthur Loosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04650060920326147471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708466351984826445.post-15300330492788405992017-01-13T17:14:00.002-05:002017-01-14T02:34:20.416-05:00On the Importance of Craftsmanship & Damascus Rings<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">When I first started making damascus rings, close to twenty years ago, aside from a bladesmith's novelty, there was only one other artisan doing it to the point of adding gold or silver. I'd known about, and admired his work for a few years, and one day I went to a local gallery to see some firsthand. I wanted to see what I could glean, and brought along some questions. I'd been making damascus rings for a few years, out of typical bladesmith's steels, and had noticed some issues like darkening color, smoothing out of the pattern, and under neglected circumstances, rusting. I wanted to know how rings made with damascus and gold, sold in high end art-jewelry galleries held up by comparison.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">My first question was what the steels were made of, because the carbon steel rings I'd made hadn't been as stable as you'd like if you were to really push and market them. I was hoping there was going to be a simple combination that avoided these issues. As it turned out, and to my surprise, these rings were being made with the exact same carbon steel combination I was using. And sure enough, the salesman, already a friend of mine, confided that they got a lot of returns or at least, in house refurbishings due to rust or color changes.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I wanted to avoid these issues, so I put a lot of time and research into making stainless steel damascus. Plain carbon steel, such as used for blades, fuses together quite politely in the forge. Stainless steels, owing to the alloying elements that prevent rust, do not play along so nicely. At the time, very few smiths were making stainless steel damascus, and the fine points were a bit jealously guarded. They still are, to a lesser degree, though for the most part, the cat's out of the bag. After a few months of trial and error and some sage advice, I finally solved the puzzle myself, and resolved to push ahead in a relatively unchallenged niche.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, in the past five or six years, damascus jewelry has really become more popular. Unfortunately, it's mostly been due to factory ring makers, buying pre-fabricated billets of stainless damascus, now that it's available. Typically they use a lot of other "alternative" materials such as tungsten, cobalt, titanium and the like, because they're all easy to machine. And that's all they do.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The problem is that they aren't jewelers. And not being actual metalsmiths capable of making the stuff, they don't know the intricacies of the material. I have a lot of respect for machinists, don't get me wrong, but they don't usually know the first thing about making good jewelry. I've actually fixed some of these rings that have been sent to me by dissatisfied customers, including one that was a not inexpensive set of gold lined rings from a factory in China that were cut-your-fingers sharp on the edge.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So here's a list of things I always do to make sure my rings are well-crafted. If you're considering buying from someone else, please, by all means ask them if they do too.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. My rings are made of 304L & 316L stainless steels. The stainless steels I use are rated under the European Nickel Directive for Jewelry as safe. Even something as close in designation as 303 stainless steel, for example, leaches nickel and isn't considered safe for jewelry. High carbon steel can actually galvanically corrode, and literally dissolve over time under the right circumstances, and it will discolor, turn grey, and perhaps mark your skin. I've even seen some other makers in nice galleries making damascus rings with literal mystery steel! That's just asking for all kinds of trouble down the road. (See my <a href="http://www.jloose.com/damascusringfaq.html" target="_blank">Damascus Ring FAQ</a>. )</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">2. I line my rings with precious metals, or highly polish the interior if it is damascus. Lining the rings with precious metals gives them a sense of preciousness, but it is also warmer to the touch. It makes the rings much easier to resize, as the thinner amount of damascus can stretch on a typical jeweler's resizing stretcher, or the lining can simply be filed away by any competent jeweler if stretching would damage details such as stone settings. When I line my rings, I <u>always</u> solder the lining in with matching high temperature silver or gold solder. This prevents moisture from seeping into the cracks and weeping out later, or even worse if it is salt or swimming pool water, potentially create some very odd galvanic reactions. Many makers simply press-fit the linings to their rings, because soldering stainless steel is not an easy task. Lastly, rings with exposed pattern on the inside have a microscopically rough surface, and if your hands are wet for long periods of time, the combination of maintained moisture and maintained contact with the skin on the interior of the ring can be irritating.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">3. I always check the edges for roughness! During the course of my market research as the world of damascus jewelry has exploded, I have seen etched ring edges that look like sawblades. Not only could some of these sharp, serrated edges catch hair & fabric, but they can actually cut your skin. I've seen it. The same goes for simple 45 degree sharp corners on gold rails, which as I mentioned, I've seen from some factory damascus rings. This is basic, jewelry making 101! All my rings are rounded and smooth for comfort.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. "Acid wash". I can't even believe that companies are doing this, and it's creating some real marketing problems for damascus rings. If you see a damascus that has a nice, dark, matte finish, enjoy looking at the picture, because it won't look like that once you start wearing it. "Acid Wash", or "Acid Finish" is either leaving the remaining chemical finish from etching, or using a patina to make the ring look dark. Unfortunately, it doesn't last. Stainless damascus steel is going to be primarily shiny. It's called "stainless" for a reason! I have had customers buy rings from me after buying rings from "Acid Wash" producing factories because their rings started rubbing off on their fingers from day one, and they weren't etched deeply enough, leaving them with barely discernable patterns. I always etch my rings deeply enough, and only apply patinas for effect in the protected recesses.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">5. Ring size to bandwidth ratios. Again, Jewelry 101. I've seen a new site recently pop up offering damascus rings in all common sizes but only 8mm wide! 8mm is the top end of my recommended band width, suitable only for size 11 on up, and even then I'll try to talk you down to 7mm. Unless you've worn wide rings comfortably in the past, or have very large fingers, you're going to be a lot more comfortable with a 5mm band or a 6mm band. Trust me. I'm a jeweler. With a degree and everything. Many of my customers are men getting married who have never worn any jewelry before but love damascus, and really want to show it off. I often have to talk them down, and I've gotten more than a few thank you calls once the rings arrived.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Stainless damascus jewelry that is well made will last a lifetime. I have seen rings of mine that are ten years old that look brand new. Most of the new factories are obviously still working out the design problems, or their manufacture is so cheap that they will just send you a new ring for free. But I want to make family heirlooms, not replaceable junk. I hope that's what you want too.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">-J.Arthur Loose</span></span></span>J.Arthur Loosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04650060920326147471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708466351984826445.post-49504809466794598762014-05-28T09:49:00.000-04:002017-01-14T02:35:54.679-05:00On the Mystery of the Mead<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mead holds a special significance in the ancient North. Its mention is absolutely ubiquitous in the Eddas, whether it be the Mead of Inspiration itself or the simple welcome of the warrior to the hall. Of great mystery to myself at least, I can think of almost no mythic mention of the origin of the mead, that is to say- the bees making the honey. While the other great pagan religions have in fact, deified the bee in many cases, from Greco-Roman mythology to the Kalevala, Norse material notably omits mention. One would think that with mead being of such great social and religious importance, the bee and the beekeeper would figure prominently. They do not.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">While pondering this question I came across a charming article in a reprint of an 1899 Saga book of the Viking Society from the Harvard Library entitled "On a Passage of 'Sonar Torek' in the Egil's Saga." If you don't know Egil's Saga, it is a great read, and Egil is the penultimate Odin's man; warrior, poet, brewer and smith. He makes a curious allusion in the epic poem composed on the death of his son, Bodvar, using the word Byskip, or "bee-ship (skep)" to describe Bodvar's destined dwelling in death.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=AnQQAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA388&ots=_3PBf7Yx7y&dq=egil%20beehive&pg=PA386#v=onepage&q=egil%20beehive&f=true" target="_blank">On a Passage of "Sonar Torek" in the Egil's Saga</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is a nice image to consider. </span></span>J.Arthur Loosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04650060920326147471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708466351984826445.post-19881040068361910712014-05-26T18:41:00.000-04:002017-03-06T14:22:42.889-05:00Sitte ge, Sigewif!<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I haven't known exactly what to do with Blogger since I started it, but I think I now know. Other social media is very disjointed in a way, as for example, Facebook. One cannot write a great deal, nor easily maintain a single thread of thought. I will use Blogger to do this, and link to it from other social media. Voila!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So what I will present here is the progress of a new major piece. Some artisans can make many sword length pieces in a very short time. I am not one of them. This thread will doubtless come close to a year in length, perhaps even more, but it is a piece that has been on my mind for many years yet.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">We shall start with a name: Sigewif. Most translations of this word, coming from the Old English, point to "sige" (siggeh) as meaning victorious, and "wif" (weef) as meaning "women". I'm not entirely sure that the second word here should be assumed to be plural. But I am by no means a great scholar of Old English. Perhaps it is by context that we are given the plural, for these Victory-Women comprise a collective, in the Old English charm For a Swarm of Bees.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The impetus for the sword came during a conversation held at Arctic Fire 2012 with Don Fogg, Dave Stephens, Shane Harvey, David DelaGardelle, Jake Powning, Peter Johnsson, Petr Florianek and Michael Pikula. We were brainstorming artistic collective projects and came up with the idea that we could all interpret one theme and each produce an interpretive sword. The subject of the feminine and the sword resounded greatly, and with this theme I should like to continue. Being a beekeeper, I have always been amused and enthralled by the fact that the hive is really a vicious kind of Valkyric matriarchy, and the Anglo Saxon charm for catching a swarm of bees immediately came to mind. It is the note I should like to leave you with today... </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Take earth with your right hand and throw it under your right foot, saying:</i></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i> </i> </span></span></span><br />
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I hold it underfoot; I have found it:<br />
Lo, earth can prevail against every wight,<br />
and against malice, and against mindlessness,<br />
and against the mighty tongue of man.</span></span></span><br />
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<i>Throw light soil over them [the bees] as they swarm, saying:</i></span></span></span><br />
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Sit, victorious women, settle on earth!</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Never fly wild to the wood. <br />
Be as mindful of my good<br />
as each man is of food and home.</span></span></span><br />
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J.Arthur Loosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04650060920326147471noreply@blogger.com2