Monday 8 September 2014

ABC Wednesday, I for Iron

The Meeting Place


Strike the iron while it's hot ...

 In the week between Ascension  Day and Whitsunday, we had all kind of activities . Our church was open every day for visitors from other churches. We could visit them in return. There was always someone present , who made coffee or tea for the visitors and showed them around in the building.

During that week we had an exhibition of  steel sculptures  created by our local sculptor Leo Jongenotter. Every body was enthousiastic. The Saturday afternoon before Whitsunday he taught us how to forge iron/steel. I wanted to have a quick look at all the material he had got and the very hot oven, which was needed to "strike the iron while it was hot". Leo said: "Put on a leather apron".
I protested: "Oh, no I can't!" He:"if my six-year-old daughter could do it, and a seventy-years-old lady, then you can do it as well"! Convinced that I could at least have a try, I put on an apron and gloves. 

In the end I had made half of a hook to hang a basket with plants on , or a lamp....or another hanging thing. Leo made the most difficult part of it. I learned a lot that afternoon. First and foremost I admire all people who work at a smithy or in a factory. And I am terribly impressed by all the work Leo had done by creating his beautiful sculptures. It must have taken him hours and hours to get the inspiration and find the right material, and finally to work on it.
 
"Mijn" means "Mine". The left part was made by Leo, the hook I did( with help!!)


Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe (from Latin: ferrum). Iron is the most common metal there is on earth. Iron metal has been used since ancient times, though copper alloys, which have lower melting temperatures, were used even earlier in human history. Pure iron is soft and therefore not fit for weapons like swords. It needed to be harder and by using coal, the British warriors succeeded to make steel. Their weapons were strong, but the Vikings, who had no coal in their countries , used wood, which became charcoal. This steel formed from iron and charcoal was a lot stronger than the British steel.

This gentleman  found his old tools from the time
when he still worked at the engine factory,
where Leo has his work-shop now.
s


Two members from our church.

Tools

Leo explaining to one of the  members of our church.
Keep the iron rod in the extremely hot oven

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt,  who created ABC, and Roger, who took over from her. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar. This week we are looking for words beginning with I.

25 comments:

Cloudia said...

Nice to see the tools used. Art in themselves. I though of your iron constitution, my friend Wil



ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= . <3

Roger Owen Green said...

a very steely post!

Sylvia K said...

Wonderful post for the day as always, Wil!! Hope you have a great new week!! Enjoy!!

carol l mckenna said...

Fascinating post for I ~ and wonderful informative photography ~ !

artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)

Carver said...

Great shots of the iron work and tools.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I remember when I was young, my school was next to Blacksmith road, and I often stood in front of the shop front, and watch the blacksmith hammering the metal. Thanks for memories.

Anonymous said...

Lovely to see the old tools in action.

Fun60 said...

I am fascinated by the size of the oven. I have only seen those huge furnace type of ovens before. this one looks so much safer to use.

Unknown said...

Art is art....eventhough it's not everybody's up of tea - you gave it a try.....Now you are the proud owner of your very own work of art.
Thanks for all other illustrated information. a unique take on the prompt.

Unknown said...

Allereerst vind ik het heel erg leuk een Nederlandse deelnemer te ontdekken hier!!

Je bijdrage vind ik minstens zo leuk, jammer wel dat je steeds minder van die oude ambachten tegenkomt he?

Fijne dag verder, groeten ♫ Mel☺dy♫
(http://melodymusic.nl)

Anita Sabat said...

The moment I saw "Iron" as your topic, I remembered the proverb- "Strike when the Iron is hot" & then I found you have used it too :)

Anita

Hildred said...

Great post, Wil, - I too thought of the proverb - 'Strike while the iron is hot' - one I have heeded all my life. A small inclination to procrastination hasn't always made me successful!!

Such an interesting activity for the church to take on and enjoyed the info in your post.

MERYL JAFFE, PhD - parent, psychologist, teacher, author... said...

What an interesting and informative post! Love the flow, the content, the images and the text.

Have a great week.

Nonnie said...

I really like iron works, but I could never tolerate the heat needed to do it. thanks for sharing this.

Leovi said...

I really like these beautiful bells! Wonderful photos!

Susan Moore said...

They did amazing things with limited tools in ancient times. When I studied silver-smithing a few years ago I learned about melting metals - fascinating stuff!
Cheers,
Susan

Lmkazmierczak said...

Wonderful I entry! I learned a lot♪ http://lauriekazmierczak.com/inspired-by-legos/

Rajesh said...

Wonderful post. I like the way they are working with those tools. Thanks for sharing.

Uppal said...

A GREAT POST ABOUT IRON,TOOLS,SCULPTURE AND COMBINED EFFORTS!

Ann said...

Working with your hands in such an artful way is so fulfilling. Beautiful sculptures.
Ann

Unknown said...

Heej hoi, heb nog ff gezocht.... nav jouw bericht van januari / Assen

de was die toen aan de lijnen boven de winkelstraten hing, hing daar ivm het Axisfestival...

kijk maar : http://www.axisfestival.nl/

Cristina Pop said...

That owev is so big! Very interesting post!

Vagabonde said...

Un billet très intéressant avec des jolies photos. Je suis contente que dans notre époque moderne il y a toujours des artisans qui travaillent comme cela et font des objets d’art.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Good for you for trying something new (though it doesn't surprise me that you would take the chance to do it).... that seems like the best way to learn about the art -- so now you really do know what the artist/craftsman must do to make the whole wonderful piece.

What a nice thing your Church does for the visitors.

Su-sieee! Mac said...

Neat! I would like to try my hand at forging iron one day. Sounds like a lot of fun and hard work. I had no idea that pure iron was soft. There's irony in that, methinks. :-)