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<\/b><\/p>\nMost people cannot tell the real thing.<\/b><\/h1>\n
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Subscribe here and find out with me. It is a good plan.<\/p>\n
And if you change your mind, you can always unsubscribe.
Both options are free of charge.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Additionally, if you subscribe, you will receive:<\/u><\/p>\n
– A 4-minute video where I show you the full process to handcraft a 19th Century \u201cColtello d\u00b4Amore\u201d (Love Knife), a handcrafted replica which gained me the First Prize in the Castilla La Mancha Handcrafted Knife Contest in 2023.<\/p>\n
– Full access to the Premium Blog: \u201cMaterials Science applied to Bladesmithing\u201d.<\/p>\n
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[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_image src=”https:\/\/laboratoriodeforja.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20012024-_DSC7056-Mejorado-NR-2_RECORTADO-BN-scaled.jpg” title_text=”Templando en aceite” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” alt=”Templando en aceite” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_fullwidth_image][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”28px||||false|false” custom_padding=”5px||11px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”24px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”83px||127px|||” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_signup provider=”mailerlite” mailerlite_list=”laboratoriodeforjacom|108726188019549433″ layout=”top_bottom” first_name_field=”off” last_name_field=”off” use_custom_fields=”on” success_message=”IMPORTANT! You will receive the following message in your inbox: %22Confirmation -Laboratoriodeforja-.%22 It is necessary to confirm your subscription in that message to stay subscribed. It might be in your %22Spam%22 or %22Junk Mail%22 folder.” button_text=”CLICK HERE” use_spam_service=”on” recaptcha_list=”laboratoriodeforjacom|laboratoriodeforjacom-0″ admin_label=”Correo Electr\u00f3nico Optin” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” form_field_background_color=”#FFFFFF” form_field_text_color=”#000000″ form_field_focus_text_color=”#000000″ header_level=”h3″ header_font=”||||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#000000″ header_font_size=”32px” body_font_size=”22px” result_message_font=”|700|||||||” result_message_text_color=”#E02B20″ background_color=”#FFFFFF” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#000000″ button_bg_color=”rgba(167,0,175,0.53)” button_border_width=”2px” button_border_radius=”7px” text_orientation=”center” background_layout=”light” min_height=”240.8px” custom_margin=”54px|||||” custom_css_free_form=”.et_pb_contact_field_options_title {|| display: none;||}||.et_pb_contact_field_options_wrapper {|| font-size: 0.7em;|| text-align: left;||}” border_width_all=”1px” border_color_all=”#000000″ border_width_all_fields=”1px” border_color_all_fields=”#000000″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_signup_custom_field field_id=”acepto_la_politica_de_privacidad” field_title=”Acepto la pol\u00edtica de privacidad” field_type=”checkbox” checkbox_options=”%91{%22value%22:%22 I have read and accept the %22,%22checked%22:0,%22dragID%22:-1,%22link_url%22:%22\/en\/privacy-policy\/%22,%22link_text%22:%22privacy policy%22}%93″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” predefined_field=”acepto_la_politica_de_privacidad”][\/et_pb_signup_custom_field][\/et_pb_signup][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Fila” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px||150px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”23px” custom_margin=”||77px|||” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
<\/blockquote>\nWHY DID YOU DECIDE TO OFFER THIS TYPE OF SERVICE?<\/i><\/strong><\/h1>\n
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First of all, I would like you to know that before becoming interested in traditional blacksmithing, all I wanted to do was to become a good Engineer, have a car and buy a house… the usual. It took me many years and a great effort to get there, but I did. Everything was going well.<\/p>\n
Later on, after 19 years dedicating my life to scientific and technological research (I was an Industrial Engineer at the Spanish National Research Council\u00a0(CSIC),<\/i> I realised that what we call \u201ctechnological development\u201d<\/b> is only part of what people need to move forward.<\/b><\/p>\n
There is another part\u2014one rooted in our past, in our traditions: the connection between beauty and the slow pace of handcraft.<\/p>\n
And I began to devote my life to it.<\/p>\n
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In the most appropriate words of Tom\u00e1s Al\u00eda, a crafts master and a Gold Medal for his Merits in the Fine Arts in 2022:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new luxury is everything that is handcrafted. Slow, beautiful and forever shall be the motto that designers and craftsmen will be using in future\u201d.<\/p>\n
My name is V\u00edctor Aparicio,<\/b> and I am the grandson of F\u00e9lix Aparicio Velarde, a great blacksmith. My father was also a craftsman, he helped shape the marble at the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid. I joined this trade because my roots called me.<\/p>\n
For more than 10 years, I taught at the Escuela de Herreros de Toledo.<\/p>\n
Today, I forge and teach in my own forge-lab\u2014a pre-industrial forge in the woods.<\/p>\n
\u00a0I work by order.<\/p>\n
Life is highly<\/b> unpredictable.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSlow, beautiful and forever<\/b><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_image src=”https:\/\/laboratoriodeforja.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/felix-aparicio-velarde-destreza-en-el-oficio-1957-copia2.jpg” alt=”Felix Aparicio Velarde Herrero” title_text=”felix-aparicio-velarde-destreza-en-el-oficio-1957-copia2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_fullwidth_image][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”3px||11px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”1px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”21px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
My grandfather, F\u00e9lix Aparicio Velarde, with his assistant, Emiliano Gonz\u00e1lez, at the National Championship of Trade Skills. Modality “Handcraft Forging “. Madrid 1957. <\/i><\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-64px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||11px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”23px” min_height=”314.9px” custom_margin=”||77px|||” custom_padding=”145px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
WHAT ARE YOUR PIECES LIKE?<\/i><\/strong><\/h1>\n
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They are unique.<\/p>\n
My aim is to materialise the piece you have in mind, whether it is based on an original piece or not; following your own design or letting me design it based on your wishes or needs.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”23px” custom_margin=”||77px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
ARE THERE MANY BLACKSMITHS AND BLADESMITHS IN SPAIN?<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n
WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT?<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
When I say this, many people feel offended.<\/p>\n
Even amongst the most prominent bladesmiths,\u00a0there is confusion between a \u201chandcrafted\u201d and \u201chand-made\u201d piece.<\/p>\n
Could you say that handcrafting is to use your hands to open and close an electric oven, use a belt sander and laser-engrave a piece?<\/b><\/p>\n
I do not think this is handcrafting<\/u>.\u00a0 I am very respectful of the skills required to do this, but this is not the type of craftsmanship I am talking about.<\/p>\n
A piece that has been formed and hardened on the forge, worked using sandstone and a foot pedal grinder, engraved with punch, chisel or acid is not comparable to the \u201csame\u201d mass-made piece where industrial machinery and all kinds of technological and electrical tools have been employed to make it.<\/p>\n
They are NOT the same piece and can never be.<\/b><\/p>\n
You may like this or not. It is your decision.<\/p>\n
In both cases, the two pieces cannot be considered the same.<\/p>\n
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<\/blockquote>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_image src=”https:\/\/laboratoriodeforja.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/O-Mazo-scaled.jpg” alt=”Carbon steel Spanish punal dagger, 17th-18th Century. ” title_text=”O Mazo” admin_label=”Imagen de anchura completa” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_fullwidth_image][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-64px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||11px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”23px” custom_margin=”||77px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
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Here at \u201cLaboratorio de forja\u201d (edge weapon forging lab) I make craftmanship following the traditional procedures from our ancestors<\/b>, what I call metallurgical craftmanship.<\/p>\n
The above is something different.<\/p>\n
The pieces leaving my forge are a fragment of Mediterranean metalworking history. Today<\/b> these are replicas or original pieces. Tomorrow<\/b> they will be ancient pieces.<\/p>\n
This is what I offer<\/u>: I would like you to hold in your hands a product that evokes history, and is made using ancestral traditional techniques.<\/p>\n
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<\/blockquote>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_image src=”https:\/\/laboratoriodeforja.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_20200812_131431-scaled.jpg” alt=”Carbon steel Spanish punal dagger, 17th-18th Century. ” title_text=”Cuchillo Faja o Flamenco s. XVII – XVIII” admin_label=”Imagen de anchura completa” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_fullwidth_image][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-5px||||false|false” custom_padding=”5px||11px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”85px||0px||false|” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.22.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”23px” min_height=”743.7px” custom_margin=”||-23px|||” custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
<\/i><\/strong><\/h1>\n
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SO, YOUR WORK IS NOT FOR ALL KINDS OF COLLECTORS?<\/i><\/strong><\/h1>\n
<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n
An edged weapon made using traditional procedures is not for everyone.<\/p>\n
I say this with deep respect and with no means to offend.
Truly, I do not want to sound arrogant, but neither my replicas nor any reproductions are for everyone.<\/u><\/p>\nThey are a luxury item for only a privileged few. Those who can afford the privilege to seek quality, history, authenticity and beauty in every detail of a piece.<\/p>\n
It is not just about price. It is about value.<\/b><\/p>\n
This is comparable to buying a shirt from a high street store or visiting a tailoress. The experience is different.<\/p>\n
You can have a couple of shirts for casual daily wear and that is fine, the neck looks perfect, perhaps the sleeves not so much, and that is fine.<\/p>\n
However, have you experienced having a shirt made by a tailoress? And a hat? A pair of shoes? A tailored suit? This is certainly not for everyone.<\/p>\n
I forge unique tailor-made pieces.<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
Subscribe and you will find out much more about the pieces I can make for you and the making processes which I can also show you.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/blockquote>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”24px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”83px||127px|||” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_signup provider=”mailerlite” mailerlite_list=”laboratoriodeforjacom|108726188019549433″ layout=”top_bottom” first_name_field=”off” last_name_field=”off” use_custom_fields=”on” success_message=”IMPORTANT! You will receive the following message in your inbox: %22Confirmation -Laboratoriodeforja-.%22 It is necessary to confirm your subscription in that message to stay subscribed. It might be in your %22Spam%22 or %22Junk Mail%22 folder.” button_text=”CLICK HERE” use_spam_service=”on” recaptcha_list=”laboratoriodeforjacom|laboratoriodeforjacom-0″ admin_label=”Correo Electr\u00f3nico Optin” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” form_field_background_color=”#FFFFFF” form_field_text_color=”#000000″ form_field_focus_text_color=”#000000″ header_level=”h3″ header_font=”||||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#000000″ header_font_size=”32px” body_font_size=”22px” result_message_font=”|700|||||||” result_message_text_color=”#E02B20″ background_color=”#FFFFFF” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#000000″ button_bg_color=”rgba(167,0,175,0.53)” button_border_width=”2px” button_border_radius=”7px” text_orientation=”center” background_layout=”light” min_height=”240.8px” custom_margin=”54px|||||” custom_css_free_form=”.et_pb_contact_field_options_title {|| display: none;||}||.et_pb_contact_field_options_wrapper {|| font-size: 0.7em;|| text-align: left;||}” border_width_all=”1px” border_color_all=”#000000″ border_width_all_fields=”1px” border_color_all_fields=”#000000″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_signup_custom_field field_id=”acepto_la_politica_de_privacidad” field_title=”Acepto la pol\u00edtica de privacidad” field_type=”checkbox” checkbox_options=”%91{%22value%22:%22 I have read and accept the%22,%22checked%22:0,%22dragID%22:-1,%22link_url%22:%22\/politica-privacidad\/%22,%22link_text%22:%22pol\u00edtica de privacidad%22}%93″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” predefined_field=”acepto_la_politica_de_privacidad”][\/et_pb_signup_custom_field][\/et_pb_signup][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-5px||||false|false” custom_padding=”5px||11px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”54px||104px||false|” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.22.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”23px” custom_margin=”||77px|||” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
WHAT GUARANTEES DO I GET WITH YOUR WORK?<\/i><\/strong><\/h1>\n
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\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n
I am an Industrial Engineer, a bladesmith, an armourer and a teacher at a prestigious Blacksmithing School. I have been devoted to the study, research and work with metals for 35 years. These are my guarantees. I vouch for my work.<\/b><\/p>\n