Hi all,

This has been crossposted on forum and webring to get the widest audience. For replies, it might be easiest to reply on the AAF forum. Or whatever.

I have lately been in contact with one Karim Haddad, of Tharwa Valley Forge (www.tharwavalleyforge.com), who is an altogether great guy, with an amazing setup. Karim teaches knifemaking classes, and has a great set of workshops for doing so.

We have hatched an idea that I would like to propose, which would take place sometime next late summer, like late February/March.

Spear heads. The proposal is that we get a class of 5-8 people together for a full day event where we make a whole bunch of spear heads. We make more than we need, sell the excess, and be thoroughly pleased with ourselves.

Why spear heads? Well,
-they're fairly easy to do from a blacksmith's point of view, which is very good for those who may never have smithied before in their lives;
-they can be made out of mild steel as the forces they encounter are not the same as springy swords, which means we don't need to heat treat them;
-we can make quite a lot in a day;
-they can be readily resold;
-they're simple, simple enough that a basic spear head design could pass for a wide time period of usage (I know spear head development was actually quite distinct, but the masses don't often know that, or care)

The simpleness factor is the main reason I thought of spear heads. Karim asked what other simple object we might like to make a lot of that might use slightly different processes. Havig a couple of different project streams means more different equipment can be used, which means more people can make things, which means the day becomes cheaper (more on that later) and more stuff gets made.

I suggested bucklers as another simple project. You may think they take a while, but with the gear he's got, the longest, most involved process will be rolling the edge then grinding/polishing.

Is there anything else people can think of that's simple, has a good resell value that lots of people (especially in AAF) might want?

Cost: Karim does this for a job. He charges about $500 for a day long class. This may sound like a lot, but if we can get 8 people, that's only $62.50 a head. If each person can make three spearheads (Karims thinks this is feasible) and sell two for $whatever, the cost is further subsidised.

So what do you all think? Is anyone interested in such a project? It's a fair way off, so there's plenty of time to think about it and have many awesome ideas.

Dave