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Blacksmith Basics; Thursday, Second Period [06/16].
Thursday, June 16th, 2022 03:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
special_rabbitWas there a strange sort of mechanical legs apparatus wearing Amaya's socks from yesterday on a worktable in the corner of the shop that Thursday?
Yes. Yes there was.
Don't worry about it.
Amaya certainly wasn't, as she gave her gloves a tug and the class a nod to get them started on this week's lesson. "Morning, everyone. At this point, we should all have knives that actually resemble knives, and, with a little more sharpening, will probably work like knives, too, but we're not quite finished yet. Not unless you want a knife that's going to be less than pleasant to use by having a bare tang. Which is why today, we're going to be working on making some nice handles for our blades!
"Well," Amaya flashed them a faint grin, "we're going to get started on making some handles; it's a bit of a process, which is why the idea of squeezing a whole dagger project into just seven days, essentially, is a bit of a tall order.
"So! For the sake of the class and the beginner's nature of the whole thing, we're going to keep it very simple and work with wood. I've got a few types here for you to choose from, all of it either hardwood or what's called stabilized wood, which is wood that has been dried and hardened with a variety of chemicals. If you need help choosing, I can break down the benefits of the different types we have here, but they're all good choices, and, at this point, it'll mostly be about aesthetics more than anything else.
"Once you've picked out your wood, we'll get started! First thing you'll want to do, obviously, is measure out what you'll need against the tang--that's what we call the handle part, remember--of your knife..." So Amaya broke down all the dimensions and cutting they'd need to take at first...and then the measuring and cutting they'd need to do after that...and then the measuring and cutting they'd have to do after that, until they had a nice block of wood that had plenty of room still to work with that would match the tang nicely.
"Once you're at that point, you'll be boring some holes into your wood to create a nice little niche for the tang to fit into. Of course, with the drill," all hand, by the way, no power tools in this workshop!, "you're going to create a circular hole, but you've got a rectangular tang, so with the help of a nice serrated broach to carve out our space. And this is the part where you have to be careful, because it's a lot of work, but you've got to get it just right, and if you don't? Well! Back to the woodblocks, and it's a good thing we've got a lot of 'em, because it definitely does take some doing!
"Once you actually do have a good fit," Amaya said, reaching for one she prepared earlier so that they wouldn't all be waiting on her drilling and carving, "you'll have this," she held up the dagger blade stuck into the large block of wood, "ridiculous looking thing. Obviously, a lot of this is going to be cut away to make for a more reasonable handle. Which hopefully we'll get to before we leave today, depending on how well you all manage your holes." No, she didn't hear it. "I'll definitely check your fit before we continue with that part, though, and then we'll go over how to check exactly where we'll need to carve, and then we'll get to cutting! And that should bring us to the end of our day and we can get to fancying it up next week.
"Any questions or anything to go over before I let you all get started?"
Yes. Yes there was.
Don't worry about it.
Amaya certainly wasn't, as she gave her gloves a tug and the class a nod to get them started on this week's lesson. "Morning, everyone. At this point, we should all have knives that actually resemble knives, and, with a little more sharpening, will probably work like knives, too, but we're not quite finished yet. Not unless you want a knife that's going to be less than pleasant to use by having a bare tang. Which is why today, we're going to be working on making some nice handles for our blades!
"Well," Amaya flashed them a faint grin, "we're going to get started on making some handles; it's a bit of a process, which is why the idea of squeezing a whole dagger project into just seven days, essentially, is a bit of a tall order.
"So! For the sake of the class and the beginner's nature of the whole thing, we're going to keep it very simple and work with wood. I've got a few types here for you to choose from, all of it either hardwood or what's called stabilized wood, which is wood that has been dried and hardened with a variety of chemicals. If you need help choosing, I can break down the benefits of the different types we have here, but they're all good choices, and, at this point, it'll mostly be about aesthetics more than anything else.
"Once you've picked out your wood, we'll get started! First thing you'll want to do, obviously, is measure out what you'll need against the tang--that's what we call the handle part, remember--of your knife..." So Amaya broke down all the dimensions and cutting they'd need to take at first...and then the measuring and cutting they'd need to do after that...and then the measuring and cutting they'd have to do after that, until they had a nice block of wood that had plenty of room still to work with that would match the tang nicely.
"Once you're at that point, you'll be boring some holes into your wood to create a nice little niche for the tang to fit into. Of course, with the drill," all hand, by the way, no power tools in this workshop!, "you're going to create a circular hole, but you've got a rectangular tang, so with the help of a nice serrated broach to carve out our space. And this is the part where you have to be careful, because it's a lot of work, but you've got to get it just right, and if you don't? Well! Back to the woodblocks, and it's a good thing we've got a lot of 'em, because it definitely does take some doing!
"Once you actually do have a good fit," Amaya said, reaching for one she prepared earlier so that they wouldn't all be waiting on her drilling and carving, "you'll have this," she held up the dagger blade stuck into the large block of wood, "ridiculous looking thing. Obviously, a lot of this is going to be cut away to make for a more reasonable handle. Which hopefully we'll get to before we leave today, depending on how well you all manage your holes." No, she didn't hear it. "I'll definitely check your fit before we continue with that part, though, and then we'll go over how to check exactly where we'll need to carve, and then we'll get to cutting! And that should bring us to the end of our day and we can get to fancying it up next week.
"Any questions or anything to go over before I let you all get started?"