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3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2019 12:39 am
by Greg
Greetings!

Awhile back, Elleth shared her beautiful custom iron cookpot HERE. We were all impressed with how well it turned out, but I hadn't really given much thought to the function behind the Culturally compelling look and feel of iron vs. the tin lined copper that most of us, myself included, use.

She mentioned that she wouldn't need to worry about boiling it dry and compromising the foodsafe tin lining, and this stood out as a huge plus to me (see: my addiction to hot oats in the morning...), but there was more hiding beneath that lovely exterior. Though I ultimately decided that her exact design didn't meet my needs, it was darned close. In the spirit that she, Ursus and I (in particular...there are others) have gotten into of loosely copying each other's kit items, largely or in the minutia, I've followed suit and commissioned my own version of the Trekker's Cauldron to continue our theme of cultural continuity across each other's kits.

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The first and most noticeable change would be the lack of the decorative band around the throat...just didn't seem appropriate with how minimalist my kit is. Beyond that, however, it really is a close mockery of my copper corn boiler (and the dimensional differences are subtle!) Rather than the hinged tong-like bail, we have an integral, attached bail which can stand upright with a minor bit of manipulating.

Next, you'll see that the original's thin and low bail on the lid has been compressed and raised. I didn't expect to desire using the lid as a frying pan (I can fry RIGHT IN THE POT!) so I skipped the lid lifter/pan handle and had the lid bail fitted to the measurements of the end of my cherry eating spoon, which I've been using for years to lift the lid on my copper boiler.

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Just a day before the cauldron arrived I got out my chisels and scrapers and modified the handle end of my spoon, custom carved for me by our own Udwin some years ago, from the filed notch needed for my old boiler's bail to a slope and a step adequate for this pot's lid shape. Works like a charm!

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Lastly, I asked him to see about doing something to ensure the lid would stay securely on the pot over a rolling boil, and he happily consented with a pair of wedge rivets, to be placed 90 degrees offset from the ears, which also partially serve to hold the lid in place:

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All in all, I'm VERY pleased with what he, Jeffrey Hildebrandt of Royal Oak Armoury, was able to produce in a very short time from when he began work on the piece (though his waitlist is understandably long.) It's very well made, sturdy, and beautiful...but more importantly, I feel that placing it next to my open tool roll and a few kit items, it fit right in immediately.

Thanks, Elleth, for inspiring a great collaborative project and encouraging my kit up one more notch. Can't wait to boil some bacon!

Re: 3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2019 6:45 am
by Iodo
That looks amazing :P

Re: 3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2019 10:03 am
by Peter Remling
Nice! The only suggestion I can make would be to put a riveted pivot at the center of the handle. This would allow it to be used as the handle and also as a set of tongs.

Re: 3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2019 12:05 pm
by Greg
The way Elleth's hinges was pretty cool, but I asked that my bail wouldn't detach...I have a smaller set of coal tongs I forged years ago already in my tool roll (first photo, in fact...all the way to the right, blurred in the background.)

Re: 3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2019 1:28 pm
by Taurinor
That’s lovely!

I really enjoy that the form is very similar to Elleth’s, but that the details are a little different - it suggests access to common materials and construction methods (cultural cohesion, as you said), but that gear would be made one piece at a time. Sometimes kits that are individually very nice don’t work as well in a group if folks have a lot of the same “off the shelf” gear; it starts to look mass produced really quickly.

Re: 3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:35 am
by Taylor Steiner
Wow that is really nice Greg! Is it loud along the trail?

Re: 3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 11:16 am
by Elleth
...

...


WOWWOWOWOWOW!

That looks *awesome*

I love your changes - especially those little tabs keeping the lid on. I'm kicking myself not having thought of that now. :)

I'm curious to hear how the integral bail works out - does it rotate all the way around the pot to take up less space? Or do you carry it in that position as well?

I so love how *real* all this stuff is getting. :mrgreen:

Re: 3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2019 1:44 am
by Greg
Yes, the bail can hang all the way down on the side of the pot like you'd expect a copper boiler's to. In the past, my bail has been friction-fit just tight enough that it could stand upright when on coals in the fire. This one can as well with a little phenagling, but I'm actually thinking I'll try hanging it over flames with a stick next time out and see how that goes.

Taylor, pots can always rattle, but there are a few things you can do to minimize this. For starters, I never carry it empty. Mine has in the past and will continue to carry a linen drawstring bag that has a few tins in it...one for my seasonings and another for my pipe-weed. The fabric of the bag dampens the 'ring' that could otherwise occur. The other thing you can do (besides putting the whole thing in its own bag, of course) is to simply fill your pack. I separate the hard/metal things in my snapsack from my cookpot with a pair of wool fingerless gloves that go on every trip. Bam, it's that easy. Now, lids can and will bang against the pot itself, though it's not as bad as one might expect. I could easily put the lid between the two gloves (or inside one!) and never hear the pot again. Still, no matter how much thought can go into silencing different parts of your pack, it can come at a cost: Packing your bag is something that should be fluid and second nature, rather than time-consuming and complicated. Do what works best for you, and do it often! A mark of experience on the trail is not making a mess of your kit all over camp that's hard to keep track of.
Elleth wrote:I so love how *real* all this stuff is getting. :mrgreen:
Looking back at how far I've come, personally, it's kind-of frightening how legit the result is in contrast. We’ve ALL come a long way!

Re: 3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2019 6:45 pm
by Ursus
Very well designed and executed! Ever since seeing Elleth’s I’ve been making sketches and eyeing my forge and making more sketches and eying my forge. In keeping with our tradition it may not be long before we see a V3 version...

Re: 3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 3:33 am
by Manveruon
Not gonna lie - it's killing me that all the pics are gone! :(

Re: 3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 12:24 pm
by Greg
I'll dig them up. Tinypic and Imageshack went under and virtually everything I've posted is missing. I'll get something up. Welcome back!

Re: 3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 6:57 pm
by Manveruon
Sounds good - I'd love to see them!
That has always been one of the big downsides to forums like this - the necessity of hosting pictures elsewhere. Always seems like forums become dead-pic-graveyards eventually.

Re: 3A Dunedain Trekker's Iron Cauldron [V2]

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 9:59 pm
by Greg
I've started hosting everything through the onboard attachment function when making a post. I just have to shrink them down a bit so the file size isn't too big. Much more permanent that way.