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Blacksmith Basics: Armor Edition; Thursday, Second Period [07/14].

Was there some sort of large giant hammer apparatus in the Crumbler's corner of the shop that morning when the class came in?

Yes. Yes there was.

And you could definitely worry about it.

"Morning, everyone!" Amaya greeted them all with a grin once they were all (mostly, probably) present and accounted for. "Welcome back! Now, today, we're going to be doing more work on flattening our materials so we have a good base to work with before we move onto the next step. The flattening is sort of the big one, and probably the trickiest for newer smiths because if you're not already well-practiced, it can take some doing to get the piece to the right even distribution, thickness, weight, and size that you'll be needing. Now, obviously, last week, we worked a little with the traditional hammering method, which is particularly good for those of you who are working on smaller pieces or are more experienced. But to get that kind of precision on larger pieces, or pieces that you need to get out more quickly because you haven't got the time to really refine a hunk of metal with your own two hand, you've got to go a bit....bigger. And that's where the trip hammer," she gestured toward the aforementioned giant hammer in the corner, "come in.

"Now," she started, "in a bigger blacksmithing operation, you'd find plenty of these guys hard at work, usually powered by water or mules, just like you would a grindstone in a mill. Thankfully, I've got the Crumbler for that. And even without the Crumbler, this one gets a bit loud, so I've got some ear protection for everyone this week, too. Basically, what you have here is your automatic hammer, to flatten the metal for you, essentially, which is handy for, as I said, bigger pieces, or for a more uniform distribution of blows. I'm going to explain first, then show you, because once it gets going, you won't be able to hear much. But, basically, get the Crumbler going, the Crumbler's going to power the hammer, which will rise and fall at a steady rate onto the steel. You, then, are mostly just in charge of moving the steel along so that it can flatten it out evenly all along the metal. Depending on how flat or thick you want it, you might want to run it through a few times."

She nodded to the box of ear protection for everyone to get prepared before she switched on the Crumbler, which started rumbling to life and, after a moment, got itself going enough to start pumping the hammer. Amaya was quick and ready with a piece of metal she had been heating in the forge, so that she could further demonstrate by holding it between the makeshift anvil and the hammer until it was good and flat, she killed the grinding of the Crumbler, and held the piece up to show it off while gesturing for them all to remove the headphones.

"I don't care how strong you are," she concluded, "odds are, that," hitching a thumb over her shoulder, "is still going to be more precise and more effective than any hand hammer. I'll admit, sometimes it feels a bit like cheating, so I don't personally use her very often, but I'm not one to ignore efficiency and productivity when I see it.

"So there we are with today," she concluded. "Take some time to consider which flattening method is going to work best for your specific piece and your own personal preferences, and then we'll get to work. And in the downtime in between your turn at an anvil or the trip hammer, you can work on refining your designs, asking questions, or just observe the others. Any questions before we get started? Because if you've got them after, I sure hope you've got some good volume on those lungs."

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Like a mighty hammer.

Rosa Diaz

Liz Sherman

Kurt Wagner

Irene Adler

Stark

Jonathan Sims

Well, listen for part of it. Even Amaya knows now to try to continue to talk while the trip hammer is going. Now's a good time to ask questions, too!

Work at an anvil again, give the trip hammer a try, or do some more refining and brainstorming on your projects in the spots in between. And Amaya has definitely prepared herself for plenty of shouting today if you have any pressing (ha!) questions or concerns in the meantime.

Edited 2022-07-14 09:31 (UTC)

Rosa was pretty sure she wasn't going to need the trip hammer for her project, but she definitely was thinking about asking Blackstone about coming back later after her Gladiators class for, uh....scientific experiments that definitely did not involve putting random things underneath the trip hammer to see how they...erm, reacted, really.

Amaya was pretty sure she recognized that look.

"Should I swing by the store to see what they got by way of melons, after this?"

Liz decided to try and have a go at the trip hammer when it was her turn, which she found slightly awkward and a bit intimidating to use at first and it took her quite a few tries before she was able to use it to flatten the metal.

She was finding that the trip hammer seemed to work better for her though.

"Gets a bit easier, once you get used to it, doesn't it?" Amaya asked after a bit, pleased to see Liz find her comfort with the machine before she had to step in. "A bit too easy, at times, if you ask me, but it's definitely a useful tool to have."

Liz nodded, “It did seem rather terrifying to use,” she admitted, “but I didn’t find it that bad after a while, I think it might be better for me to use it,”

"Thing like that can do a good wallop of damage if you're not careful," Amaya confirmed with a nod. "Being a bit terrified of it'll help keep your caution up, and there's nothing wrong with that. Can add a little excitement, too, so long as you keep on your toes."

A slight pause of consideration.

"Also not a bad idea for you to go the slightly less physically demanding route, either."

Kurt's eyes went a bit wide when saw the machine running. Cautiously yet curiously he approached when it was his turn to try. Even with his strength and stamina boost, Kurt did see a lot of potential in using something like this for bigger projects.

"Any thoughts on the equipment?" Amaya asked, once she felt Kurt had managed to get the hang of it, glad to see he'd given it a try even after that initial response.

"It's definitely big. And powerful" Kurt said glancing back at the machine. "Makes me wish I was bigger, like Hank or Logan. Kinda feels like I am going to lose control over it, ya know?" He paused for a moment as he looked back at Amaya. "But it does do an amazing job!"

Amaya snorted, faintly amused. "Yeah," she agreed. "It's definitely not something you'll want lose control of, so caution and care is key. Granted, things can go a bit pear-shaped at the anvil, too, but the level of damage is likely to be proportional to the size of the hammer."

Irene hadn't initially planned to use a trip hammer on her piece, of course, but now that she had access to it she was fascinated. Mostly because -- shamefully modern though this made her feel, she hadn't really thought about the origins of hydraulics before. People in the past had been so resourceful.

So don't mind her taking a little more time than was perhaps strictly needed to check out the hammer, studying the way the Crumbler was being used to assist it, and murmuring the odd, "Amazing."

"Meh," Amaya offered, in sharp contradiction to the very pleased, proud expression on her face. "It'll get the job done well enough, I suppose."

"Don't be modest," Irene chided, looking up and grinning at her. "This thing is a bloody work of technological art. Not that I would expect any less."

Given that Amaya was, you know, clearly a genius when it came to these things.

Amaya shrugged a little this time, but she'd gained a bit of a smirk. "The machine," she insisted, "is simple. That's just a fact. The application, however? That I'll accept as a marvel, sure."

"The simplicity of the machine is irrelevant," Irene decided. "I can't believe this thing doesn't need...electricity or magic or something to run."

The Crumbler was an entity unto herself, of course, but Irene did not realize she accessorized.

"You really are brilliant, you know," she commented, stating it as fact.

There seemed to be a very thin line, between what was just general professional admiration, and something that was maybe a bit more...targeted, and Amaya was feeling particularly uncertain about which side of that line they were currently on...

....and which side of it she wanted it to be.

"Well," she said, because at least this part was easy, "it does run on oil..."

For whatever that was worth in this conversation.

"And brilliant as it is," no point in denying it, really, "it's still not exactly going to flatten the metal entirely on its own, so I should probably let you get to it, Irene."

Stark had brought his spare mask with him today so he could look at it and turn it over in his hands without having to concentrate on keeping himself together without a mask on.

He was going to try out the trip hammer too just because it was interesting. And it looked like fun. It turned out to be both, as he suspected, but then he returned to an anvil because it was much more satisfying to hammer out the metal by himself than to use the machine.

"I'm glad you decided to return to the anvil on this one, Stark," Amaya noted with an approving nod, "especially after giving the trip hammer a try. Yours is definitely a project that'll benefit from a more personal touch."

You know, what with it being pitentially a bit more than a decorative novelty piece for him and all.

"The trip hammer didn't seem necessary for this," Stark agreed. "But it is fun." Think of all the things that could be flattened!

"I like the anvil. And the hammering." And someday other people might appreciate the arms involved.

There wasn't a whole lot that couldn't be flattened!

"It is fun," Amaya agreed. "And satisfying, but nothing compared to something a bit more hands-on, if you ask me."

The arms were just an added bonus!

Coming soon to a community center class near you: 'Can You Flatten This?'

"The anvil is more satisfying. It keeps my hands busier." Especially once he got a rhythm going.

"And once you get a good rhythm going," Amaya noted, in an unsuspecting echo of the narrative, "it can keep those hands busy for hours, too."

She gave another nod. "Well, Stark, I'll let you get back to it, then. If you manage to get it flattened out to a good point before we're finished, see if you can't try and figure out how to start getting a little bit of the curvature you'll need for the fit. Let me know if you want some help on that, too. I'll be happy to show you."

And, you know, it was kind of her job right now.

Rhythm was important.

"I do better when my hands are busy," Stark said. "And I'll see if I can figure out curves. Thank you."

Jon was relieved this week; the trip hammer didn't actually take any strength.

It did take trying not to get hit with it, but he wasn't terribly bad at that when he was paying attention.

Unless you just want to ask Amaya where exactly she kept a giant hammer apparatus like that when it wasn't in use, because, look, a woman needed her secrets sometimes, okay?

I want one.

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Blacksmith Basics: Armor Edition; Thursday, Second Period [07/14].

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Class Activity: Flattening Steel, Part Deux! - Blacksmithing Basics, 07/14.

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