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

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

"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."

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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!

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.)

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?"

"Debating the merits of protecting my lovely little skull or my equally-precious torso," Irene commented, turning her parchment so Amaya could see her rough (if elegant, and probably-unsurprisingly resembling fashion sketches) drawings of a breastplate, a barbute-style helmet, and a rather impractical masquerade-style mask.

Her head or her heart. As usual. Irene refused to dwell, but the thought occurred all the same.

How anyone could ever have a problem choosing between those two things would be well beyond Amaya, but, for now, she was mostly just looking over Irene's sketches thoughtfully....and trying to keep those thoughts strictly on her professional opinion and the task at hand.

"Could help," she offered, "to keep in mind what going to be the most likely to be done within the constraints of the class. Don't want to go with anything to big or intricate, unless you'd--"

Be willing to put in the extra time, was how tje rest of that was going to go, but Amaya knew that wasn't likely to be an issue with this one.

So she just skipped that part and offered up, "Or just see where the metal seems to want to go once you get started."

Oh noooo, she might have to come work on extra days, outside of class? Tragedy, thy name is Adler.

"I suppose I could start simple in terms of what can be done in seven weeks," Irene offered, tilting her head at her drawings in consideration. "And then add detail later."

Because it was Irene, and this end product would be at least a little pretty, if she had anything to say about it.

"I assume chain mail is quite advanced?" Because again -- that was intriguing for a future project, for about a dozen reasons (half of which appealed exclusively to Irene's sense of drama and knowledge of how things tended to drape appealingly. But it also seemed protective! And easy to move in!)

Amaya certainly wouldn't be able to deny that she did appreciate a well-executed use of chainmail...

"More time consuming than anything else, really," she reasoned. "And if there's one thing there's not enough of in an intensive like this, it's time."

And then she was just going to hold back a whole slew of other words that could have followed those ones, because she'd be damned if she was going to make any of this easier for Irene than it already clearly was!

"Then perhaps that's something to consider later, once I've got the hang of all this a little better," Irene suggested, looking to Amaya with a bright smile. "I do like having something to keep my hands busy, and I never quite took to knitting or the like."

Strangely!

"But for now, it is a bit up to the metal, isn't it?" she reasoned, considering her sketches again. "I might well fall in love with the idea of making myself a charming little breastplate here and the metal'll be contrary and say it wants to be a helmet, instead. Or a bracer, or something I've not even thought of."

The idea of just one bracer was sort of fashionable, now that she was thinking about it.

"Just lean into whatever winds up feeling natural," Amaya said with a nod, firmly avoiding anything that might veer toward the potential extra-cirriculars that might feel the need to spawn from this endeavour. "And go from there. I'm sure whatever you end up with will be a fine piece of work, regardless."

"You're sure, are you?" Irene asked, shining another sunny smile over at Amaya and clearly taking pleasure in the praise. "It's only that I have such a good instructor, you know. You've taken the intimidation out of the whole process."

And look at that, an admission that she might have found this all a bit more difficult and intimidating, once upon a time (nine or so weeks ago.)

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

special_rabbit - 2022-07-07 14:36 (UTC) - Expand

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

begmetwice - 2022-07-07 16:54 (UTC) - Expand

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

special_rabbit - 2022-07-07 17:03 (UTC) - Expand

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

begmetwice - 2022-07-07 17:13 (UTC) - Expand

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.

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

"No," Stark admitted. "Maybe I should have brought the spare one with me to look at. I'd rather not take this one off right now. But maybe I ought to do something different instead? Or at least not entirely the same. But I do like the idea of trying to make my own..."

His voice trailed off as he shrugged. "The knife was simpler."

"It was definitely a more pointed exercise," Amaya allowed, because she really couldn't have let that one go, then hitched her thumb over her shoulder toward the counter. "I've still got that mold I used when I made your spares. Think pulling that out might help?"

Stark's lips twitched at the wordplay before he nodded hesitantly.

"It might. It won't hurt. Or it shouldn't. I just don't want to do it wrong."

Making a mask, even if he already had a spare, just felt like it had to be done correctly.

"Well, then, there's your first mistake," said Amaya, a bit wryly. "Can't be afraid to do things wrong every once in a while. Some of the best lessons come from mistakes, especially with a new skill! And the nice thing about this is, even if you muck it all up, you can always just try again. Sometimes even with the same metal!"

That was more than fair and Stark dropped his head in acknowledgement.

"You're right." Of course she was. Amaya was unquestionably the expert here. "Maybe I ought to just start and not think so much."

Stark did have a tendency to get stuck in his own head. And if he had to hammer more, well, then he would just have better arms by the end of the summer and who would complain about that?

"Yeah," Amaya's dryness now came with a snort, "nothing good ever came from thinking too much.

"Truth be told, though," she added, a bit more helpfully, "that's about how half the things I work on start. Long as you get the basic techniques down, part of the fun is just seeing where you wind up sometimes."

"I don't do well when I think too much," Stark said, frowning a little and then giving his head a little shake.

"I'll try just starting then, I think. At least I have a good idea how thick the metal ought to be?"

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.

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.

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?"

Yes. Yes, they were.

"Damn right it is," Rosa confirmed smugly, and promptly put out her nom-writing hand.

Amaya did not leave her hanging, of course, smacking her hand against Rosa's. "Nice."

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.

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