a new knife.

Yesterday I tempered the spoon carving knives that we'd forged at ESSA last week, putting them in the oven at 425 degrees for an hour and letting them cool gradually to room temp. With the blades ready I was able to sharpen and add a handle to one, designing it to feel good in the palm of my hand. My high school students will work on their's today.

Without tempering hardened steel can be brittle. Tempering restores some of its flexibility while maintaining the steel's ability to hold a sharp edge. This thing is sharp.

The handle is made of ash.

Have you had the experience of making a tool for your own use? If so, you'll know that it feels good to feel what you've made, touching it and exploring its use in your own hands.

Just think about spoons for a moment or two and and how they are symbolically connected at the core of human life. We stir food with spoons as its being cooked. We measure ingredients with spoons. We feed babies with spoons and they offer a means through which we feed ourselves. 

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning likewise.