More memories; fewer eyes

I did a festivle where I set up a portable blacksmith shop, and was swarmed by kids,talking to the old time smiths, kids in shops, was the norm, given hammers as soon as they could get a good swing, it's something that never needs to be encouraged, like puppys, bicycles, and all the rest, now with video games and I got my start when I was 8....letting myself in anywhere the big doors were open. It is a known fact that making nails and small chain was a task that fell to women and children in historical times. And I must say that I am quite angry and disapointed by the archiologists who decided to send 5 tons of good ancient nails to be melted down as scrap,last paragraph in the article, as it demonstrates a very strong indication that the entire proffesion needs to be better educated and regulated.....the old times would say * " theys spoilt you, used to sucking from the front tit!"* * agricultural reference to the hiarcical order of piglets maintaining there positions when nursing over time.

We just got the cheapest single burner propane forge eBay/Amazon. Working great so far. Looks like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/176573538859

Note that a forge produces big noisy flame and burns a lot of gas. If all you want to do is heat a nail a plumbing torch will suffice. But if you want to make a knife you will need some sort of forge.

3 minutes seems like an awful long time for an experienced smith to forge a nail.

They did sell some as souvenirs for 5 shillings a piece (about 5 GBP today?) according to Wikipedia, but there's a limited quantity of people with an interest in buying ancient Roman nails at that price. They're not the most dazzling display piece.

Note also that they would have recycled most of them in the old days as well, and that's where much of the value would come from.