About
I am Hroðberht, an amateur Blacksmith, craftsman and Norse jewelry maker. I enjoy making things with a rustic old world feel. I like making items from the raw earthly materials and forging or carving them into a unique piece of art but I also love to hunt and collect charms and materials to craft and assemble in a new and creative way.
Landscape, atmosphere and the natural environment play a massive role in my work because I collect the majority of antler materials by hand from shed horns dropped in the wilderness. The majority of wooden products are from material I collect myself . I pick unique or particularly nice pieces to become handles and jewelry. My shop is a full circle type of shop that all elements connect to each other.
I am very inspired by my own cultural roots from Scandinavia, Germany and Great Britain. Each piece is based on the culture and mysterious creativity of the far North.
I am an avid history fan and lover of Nordic/Germanic languages but my love of etymology goes into Celtic and other languages as well. I am a musician and painter as well. All this culminates in an expression of Ancestral culture.
Hroðberht-
The Call Of Steel 
I have worked in the welding trade for 35+ years, but have only recently started to try blade making and forging as I near retirement age…Building a primitive forge and setting up a place to play with iron and steel…
Your blog/website, and especially your work speak to me like few others I have seen…I truly love the whole primitive, tribal look and the return to the ancient ways and knowledge of our ancestors…We’ll be needing their wisdom in the coming days…
Thanks for the great information about rebar and RR spike forging and quenching; I’ve been wanting to try some pieces using those materials myself…
Great information, beautiful website, and masterful work, Sir!
Regards…And many thanks…
July 17, 2011 at 2:27 am
Thank you for the kind words, I am very glad you have found this blog useful as there is great misinformation regarding steel and smithing on the net.
My whole motto has been to follow the flow and use in the moment ideas instead of trying to pre plan too much. This creates the primitive spirit.
Blacksmithing is a very transforming art and I hope you have great success with your projects.
July 17, 2011 at 8:18 am
ive always like the viking (actualy norseman is more corect) culture
and i an doing woodworking bushcraft and some other small things
and althoug ive thougt about doing blacksmithing i never did it
but with your tips i thing i am gonna make a viking seaks (yes its actualy with ks in ancient norse) for alday use so not the langseaks used for battle
so thank you
December 23, 2011 at 11:24 am
Glad I could help mate =) Just remember to be very patient and watch you steel color.
December 25, 2011 at 10:06 am
Very nice etsy shop. I added your shop as a favorite.
December 24, 2011 at 3:26 am
ive got a question
ive seen in your blog that you use raiload spikes
bat i was planning to use reinforcing steel
do you think this will work to ?
and i live in holland there are no deers or any other antler wearing creatures here
is there another option besides wood or leather?
December 25, 2011 at 8:01 pm
depending on how you will use it, you can use any steel you like. If you plan to use it as a modern knife I would not go below 1040 carbon steel. If it is for show like a collector knife or just to use like a Witches dagger (Metaphysics) that you can use any steel you find because even 1018 will harden to 42RC if it is thinner than 1″. As far as handles go you can make the handle as steel like the blade and wrap it or cast a rubber,plastic, or bronze if you have the set up for it. I know there is deer in Germany and Denmark so antler should be easily purchased and I do know that in Veluwe national park in Gelderland there is several species of deer listed, I do not think it would be too hard to find antlers there, we are aloud here in the USA to pick them up in our national parks.
If you are trying to use structural steel for a modern knife it is too low carbon most likely 1018. But 60 grade Rebar is from my testing a pretty good steel especially for beginners.
December 28, 2011 at 10:07 am
yes rebar and reinforcing steel are the same material
althoug my translater translated it wrong (i didnt know the corect word in english) in dutch we call it “beton ijzer” loosly translated concrete iron
i thing will just try it and see if its good enough for a seax
December 29, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Well I wish you good luck, I have had very good luck and even made a grade 40 dagger was very solidf results. The large the diamater the higher the grade here in the USA. Grade 60 is about 3/4″.
January 8, 2012 at 9:51 am
i saw you maade your axe eyes by chiseling it out
while viking age smiths did fold the eye
have you already tryed it that way
February 19, 2012 at 2:31 pm
I have tried folding a pure iron head and it was actually easier that chiseling the eye in alot of ways but getting pure iron is rather rare.
I have not finished the project however, I still need to weld in a HC bit which will be the hard part of the project.
Chiseling is the current popular way for RRS axes because it maintains the shape and is much less complicated that trying to flatten, bend and then weld it all together. The important thing is to do it the way you feel would work best after experimenting a bit. I find welding larger axes is easy but RRS is better for chiseling.
Cheers mate!
February 19, 2012 at 7:31 pm
Hi Do you sell your knives?
and what would the cost be for the antler handled knife displayed?
I’m looking for one for my son in law for his 40th birthday in a couple of weeks.
He follows a very back to nature life, and I know he’d love your hand made knives.
May 24, 2012 at 9:40 am
Hi, In how many weeks do you need it? I would have to order steel, and then fit production in and shipping time.
I am not sure my Normal job shedule would give enough time but please let me know the exact about of days I would before it had to arrive and we can work from there =)
May 24, 2012 at 7:06 pm
Sir,
I’ve recently started making knives and while I can usually get a nice, strong edge on it, I have trouble creating a definitive point, it often turns out looking like a rounded spearhead…do you have any advice?
Gratefully,
Anthony
November 29, 2012 at 7:24 pm
This is a very tough portion of crafting, I know even pro knife makers and sharpening services leave dull tips when edging a knife. My trick has always been if the edge you cut in has caused the tip to round off a bit, work from the top spine/tip down and then adjust the edge to match. I have always naturally made fine points but it can get to be a pain if it gets messed up. Another technique is when edging tilt the blade to correct the edge into a finer point but this is something I have had mixed results on.
If your talking about a double edge knife it is even more frustrating. It is simply micro managing every pass on the sander until it is even and sharp.
November 30, 2012 at 4:10 am
I’d like to see you still doing this in year 2018 after all these comments from year 2012. 🙂 I’d like an athame again.
-Chanda Mija of Facebook
December 18, 2018 at 5:55 am
I hope to be back to creating knives soon. Late reply I know.
November 28, 2019 at 8:14 pm