Blacksmith Basics: Armor Edition; Thursday, Second Period [07/07].

[special_rabbit]

"Morning, everyone," said Amaya, nodding to the class as they gathered in the shop and half-wondering if she was going to start having to move things over to the danger shop, just to have enough resources for everyone to work, but she was still a staunch believer that this was clearly preferable and, besides, she still didn't know how that would work out when the whole point was to have something solid and concrete to take with you at the end of class and if everything in the danger shop was just holographic...

...she was definitely trying not to think about it too much, because ow.



"And welcome to Blacksmith Basics: Armor Edition! Now, if you haven't taken any other editions of Blacksmith Basics before, don't worry, it's still a fundamentally beginners course, so you won't be left behind in the weeds. And for those of you who have taken one of my Basics courses before, welcome back, and use the opportunity to hone your skills more when we go over things you've already learned. If there's anything about blacksmithing to remember, it's that it's a skill, and, with very few exceptions, you'll only get better through practice and refining, anyway. So, let's get started.

"Now, clearly," she continued, "we're not going to be able to pull out a full suit of armor or anything like that in just seven days' worth of work. We'll be lucky to get even one solid piece out of that chunk of time, and so that's what we're going to focus on. Today's going to be part brainstorming and ideas, and part getting a feel for how to work with the metal and some basic techniques that'll be useful. Should work out pretty well, we've got two anvils, so while two of you are working on the actual smithing, the others can watch and learn or go over thoughts on what you'd like be working on: a piece of platemail, a grieve, helmet, shield, mask...any other thing that's meant to be made of metal and to protect.

"And speaking of protect," Amaya added, with a timely tug of her gloves, "personal protection is a requirement whenever you're working with the steel. I haven't had to take anyone to the clinic yet in any of my classes, and I'm not about to start now."

So with that said and her own protective gear in place, she got back to it. "No matter what you wind up making," she said, "you're going to be making it from this." She hefted up a block of steel. "Which, as you can tell, has a long to go before it's a piece of armor, and that's where the most basic aspects of blacksmithing...heating and hammering....will come into play." With that, she picked the block up with a set of tongs to shove into the forge, where several similar blocks were already heading up, and she pulled one of those out. "Heating is very important, because without heat, there's no smithing. The heat is what makes the metal maleable and able to form. And when you're flattening out oa piece like this, you want to work quick, because the more heat you lose, the less maleability. And I'm using a slightly flatter hammer than I would be using for a bladed piece, and basically? You're just going to be hammering down on it, in a technique known as spreading. Only instead of just spreading a certain part of a blade, we're doing a whole block."

With that, then, she demonstrated, her voice lifting up over the short and steady and precise hits on the block of steel to detail some of the finer points of what she was doing, why, and how it was effecting the metal, turning it carefully as she worked, too, so that, before too long, the block of steel had become the beginning of a much flatter, rounder piece, and she held it up to show them.

"Now this definitely takes practice," she informed them. "It takes some doing, and it might take some getting use to. It's also one of those things where I could talk about it all day, and you still wouldn't learn half as much about it as you would by just getting in there and feeling it for yourself. So today, we're just going to feel it out a bit. Get yourself familiar with the idea of hammering out some good, flat metal, while getting some ideas for what to do with that metal.



"Any questions? I'd like to go ahead and get the new people started on the anvil first, since those of you in the first session have a bit more of an idea of what we're working with here, and we'll go from there."

Comments

Sign In - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[special_rabbit]

A bit flattened.

Re: Sign In - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[flamesburned]

Liz Sherman

Re: Sign In - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[furrybluefreak]

Kurt Wagner

Re: Sign In - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[died8yearsago]

Rosa Diaz

Listen to the Lecture - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[special_rabbit]

Amaya's definitely getting straight to the point with this one, although that still includes a very detailed description of how metal and hammer and heat work together to take something bulky and square into something much flatter and thinner and wide as she demonstrates at the anvil.

Re: Listen to the Lecture - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon...had no idea how he had ended up in this class. And he was definitely leery of the forge. But he was not a quitter! ...for better or for worse.

Class Activity: Flattening Steel! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[special_rabbit]

There are plenty of bricks heating up in the forge, but only two anvils to work with, so take turns giving it a try and getting a feel for how to flatten and spread the metal into something much more generally armor-like.

Re: Class Activity: Flattening Steel! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[flamesburned]

Liz had never done any kind of blacksmith work before but she figured that this would help her with her project to work on a crib so when it was her turn to use the anvil she gave it her best attempt to try and flatten and spread the metal.

It wasn't quite completely flat but for her first try it hadn't turned out that bad.

Re: Class Activity: Flattening Steel! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[special_rabbit]

"Not bad for your first swing at it," yes, pun very intentional, unfortunately, "Liz! But now I've gotta ask...you think you were starting to really get a feel for how the metal was moving and responding to the hammer, or do you think it was more just luck and persistence?"

Re: Class Activity: Flattening Steel! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[died8yearsago]

It was maybe a bit hard to tell if Rosa was flattening her steel brick or just trying to pulverize it, but, hey. The job got done, either way!

Re: Class Activity: Flattening Steel! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[special_rabbit]

Amaya would have expected no less.

"....good job, Diaz."

Look, part of being a good teacher was also knowing what critiques would be taken to heart and which would be staunchly ignore and/or come with a threat of bodily harm.

Re: Class Activity: Flattening Steel! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[furrybluefreak]

Kurt gave it a go, trying to control the fall of the hammer and manage the hammer blows as they fell. The hammer was heavy but he had made sure to eat a good breakfast before class so his strength didn't give out in the middle of everything.

After working at it a bit he stopped and realized his mistake. One side of the now semi-flattened chuck was a lot thinner than the other one. So much for controlling those hammer blows as well as he thought he had.

"Opps!" he said as he rubbed the back of his head and stared down at the anvil.

Re: Class Activity: Flattening Steel! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[special_rabbit]

And Amaya couldn't help grinning, just a little, before shaking her head a little and waving away that opps with a gesture. "Common mistake, really," she allowed, "especially right out the gate. You get so into the hammering that you forget about the rotating, so you end up a bit lopsided on one end. Takes a bit of multitasking to get it right, but this early in the game, it's a pretty easy fix. Go ahead and pop that back in the forge, we'll let someone else have the anvil while it heats back up, and then try to flatten out that otherside once it's ready."

Re: Class Activity: Flattening Steel! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon had, there was no kinder way to put it, noodle arms.

He also came pre-burned, but had at least enough dexterity to close his hand around a hammer.

He would be doing his best.

It would be very slow, and involve a lot of wincing at the noise and sparks.

Class Activity: Brainstorming! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[special_rabbit]

And, while you're not at the anvil, there's a worktable with plenty of parchment, paper, pens and pencils, various pieces of armor and sundry, as well as whole heaps of books about armor to go through if you need a spark of inspiration. Bouncing ideas off your fellow classmates is also a great idea; some of the best things come from collaborations!

Or, if you've got an idea already, now's a good time to start scribbling down some ideas and letting Amaya know so that she can be sure to focus on the techniques that'll be needed to make it happen.

Also a good time to see how the others are doing at the anvils, because you can learn a lot from that, as well!

Re: Class Activity: Brainstorming! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[begmetwice]

Don't mind Irene being tickled at getting to use parchment.

But she was more than happy to cede the anvils to the new kiddies, and set to work with a book, parchment (fun!), two pencils -- one of which she immediately stuck into her untidy knot of hair at the back of her head -- and a careful study of some of the armor over here.

She'd have a few sketches to show for herself when she was done, though she was having a very difficult time choosing what she'd like to make -- a mask or helmet or even a breastplate certainly had appeal, but she was warring with herself over...well, admittedly, vanity.

(Chain mail looked complicated. But it would be flattering, so that was something to consider, perhaps.)

Re: Class Activity: Brainstorming! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[special_rabbit]

Once Amaya was certain that whoever was pounding away at the anvils at the moment weren't about to smash through their own fingers or send a hammer out through the window, and seeing to any particularly lost looking faces among those in the planning stages, she allowed herself a peek (allowed, as if it wasn't just literally her job to do so) at what Irene might be cooking up.

"Coming along alright there, Irene?"

Re: Class Activity: Brainstorming! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[stykera]

Stark had never considered his mask as armor. It was meant to keep him in and not keep anything else out, really, though it did do both. But the other day when Amaya had brought up the idea of trying to make his own he'd been intrigued.

If there weren't so many people and other distractions in here he might have removed his mask to get a good look at it for inspiration but that idea made him nervous.

He had a piece of parchment in front of him instead, along with an open book that looked like it might have something useful about masks in it. He wasn't turning the pages or writing anything down yet. He was, not quite consciously, running his fingers along the edge of his mask instead.

Re: Class Activity: Brainstorming! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[special_rabbit]

"Not quite sure where to start?" Amaya guessed, when she noticed Stark and his empty page so far after a good few moments.

Re: Class Activity: Brainstorming! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[furrybluefreak]

Kurt had several sketches down on the parchment. A few were X'd out and one had a star beside it as he tried to work out another idea or two. He tapped the pencil to his lips as the thought some more about what he wanted to turn that hopefully flat piece of steel into eventually.

Re: Class Activity: Brainstorming! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[died8yearsago]

Rosa already knew exactly what she wanted to make in this class, so she really didn't need to sketch it put and brainstorm, but she was, anyway.

For reasons.

Re: Class Activity: Brainstorming! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[special_rabbit]

Were those reasons so that Amaya would notice the design and pretty much clock it from a mile away?

"Is that....is that the helmet from AndroidPolice?"

Re: Class Activity: Brainstorming! - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Was Jon a bit lost here, too? Yes. He had no idea what to make. Except maybe a muzzle, but that probably wouldn't be comfortable for long-term wear. What did he need to protect? His eyes, maybe? His hand?

What was the simplest thing? Maybe just a helmet would be best. Nothing fancy.

Talk to the the Teacher - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[special_rabbit]

Amaya would never in a million years admit it, but she's a little nervous that her grand ideas for making this work might not, actually, but the last class surprised her quite a good deal, so this one might as well.

OOC - Blacksmith Basics, 07/07.

[special_rabbit]

Of course they give me an early shift on the Thursday when I have new blacksmith class material to write....