Amaya Blackstone (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
special_rabbit) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2022-05-26 03:46 am
special_rabbit) wrote in fandomhigh2022-05-26 03:46 am
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Blacksmith Basics; Thursday, Second Period [05/26].
"Morning, everyone." Amaya nodded her greeting once everyone had gathered in the shop. "I've been pleasantly surprised to see that you all, especially you, Irene, assuming she was there, have been showing up with the intent to learn and get to work." Which wasn't at all what she'd intended to say, especially with the personal call-out, but, well, that was what had come out of her mouth, so, apparently, she was just going to be rolling with it. "So let's keep that up today as we get started on the project to take us through the remainder of the workshop.
"Now, last week," she continued, "you had the chance to learn about some of the basic blacksmithing techniques when shaping your metal. We'll actually be switching to steel now, as well, not only to get a feel for how different types of metal react to forging, but because we'll be making daggers, and if you're going to be making a dagger, might as well try making it the best you can. Why daggers? Daggers are smaller, so they won't take as much time to heat and forge, but they're also small, so there's more attention to detail and more attention paid to what you're doing because there's not a whole lot it's being done to. Within the restrictions of the class, a dagger's perfect, though, of course, if there's anything else you really had your heart set on building in this class, come see me, maybe we can work something out.
"But first? A recap, especially on tapering because that's what we'll be working on most today. Amaya pulled a piece of steel she'd been heating in the forge and went over some of the finer points of tapering and rounding that would be useful coming up, being sure to go over the various angles and pressure point, surface contact ratio, so on and so forth, stopping occasionally so that she could really show the students the results of what she was explaining.
"And now the fun part," she said, gesturing to the steel and hammers, gloves and goggles and tongs on each of the makeshift workstations. "Actually making the knife. Now this should be a lesson in using the tongs to hold your piece while you're forging it, because the pieces we'll be using are too small to really hold with our hands. These pieces are still too big, though, so go ahead and get them in the forge to heat them up, and then you'll take turns trying to shape them. Be sure to watch the others while waiting, too; you might learn something just from watching. Case in point, while you're waiting, I'll hammer out the sort of shape we're looking for, and the way to forge the tang--that's the term we use for the handle, basically--so you can have an idea as you try to work it out yourself. Today is entirely just hitting and shaping, really, so let me know if you're having trouble and we can see what needs to be fixed, or if you think you've got it, just keep working, go in for a few more heats in the forge if you've got the time. And remember, the nice thing about steel and heat is that once you get it hot enough, it's malleable, meaning if you mess it up, just heat it up and try again, though if you do mess up, try and see if you can figure out how to just pound it back to where you want it to be, first. You might be pleasantly surprised.
"There's also plenty more where that came from, so if you keep messing up to the point where the integrity of your steel is compromised, we can just start fresh with a new rod. Anything you'd like me to go over again before getting to the anvil? Or shall we just quit the yammering and start hammering?"
...yes, she was still stupidly proud of that one, and would use it as often as possible, shut up.
"Now, last week," she continued, "you had the chance to learn about some of the basic blacksmithing techniques when shaping your metal. We'll actually be switching to steel now, as well, not only to get a feel for how different types of metal react to forging, but because we'll be making daggers, and if you're going to be making a dagger, might as well try making it the best you can. Why daggers? Daggers are smaller, so they won't take as much time to heat and forge, but they're also small, so there's more attention to detail and more attention paid to what you're doing because there's not a whole lot it's being done to. Within the restrictions of the class, a dagger's perfect, though, of course, if there's anything else you really had your heart set on building in this class, come see me, maybe we can work something out.
"But first? A recap, especially on tapering because that's what we'll be working on most today. Amaya pulled a piece of steel she'd been heating in the forge and went over some of the finer points of tapering and rounding that would be useful coming up, being sure to go over the various angles and pressure point, surface contact ratio, so on and so forth, stopping occasionally so that she could really show the students the results of what she was explaining.
"And now the fun part," she said, gesturing to the steel and hammers, gloves and goggles and tongs on each of the makeshift workstations. "Actually making the knife. Now this should be a lesson in using the tongs to hold your piece while you're forging it, because the pieces we'll be using are too small to really hold with our hands. These pieces are still too big, though, so go ahead and get them in the forge to heat them up, and then you'll take turns trying to shape them. Be sure to watch the others while waiting, too; you might learn something just from watching. Case in point, while you're waiting, I'll hammer out the sort of shape we're looking for, and the way to forge the tang--that's the term we use for the handle, basically--so you can have an idea as you try to work it out yourself. Today is entirely just hitting and shaping, really, so let me know if you're having trouble and we can see what needs to be fixed, or if you think you've got it, just keep working, go in for a few more heats in the forge if you've got the time. And remember, the nice thing about steel and heat is that once you get it hot enough, it's malleable, meaning if you mess it up, just heat it up and try again, though if you do mess up, try and see if you can figure out how to just pound it back to where you want it to be, first. You might be pleasantly surprised.
"There's also plenty more where that came from, so if you keep messing up to the point where the integrity of your steel is compromised, we can just start fresh with a new rod. Anything you'd like me to go over again before getting to the anvil? Or shall we just quit the yammering and start hammering?"
...yes, she was still stupidly proud of that one, and would use it as often as possible, shut up.