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)
fandomhigh2022-07-21 04:22 am
special_rabbit) wrote in fandomhigh2022-07-21 04:22 am
Entry tags:
Blacksmith Basics: Armor Edition; Thursday, Second Period [07/21].
Nothing quite like getting out of that summer heat by walking right into....more heat! Plenty of water available to everyone today, that was for sure, because they were probably going to need it. But Amaya, fairly unbotherewd by it and mostly just kind of in her element right now, was just going to get right into it today, because there was a lot to cover and a lot of work to be done.
"Welcome back," she said, with a nod and a pull of her gloves. "At this point, we should all at least have some flattened metal that could potentially be worked into something armor-esque, and so the next process is going to involve either shaping that metal through a variety of hammering techniques to bend and form it or the thing we'll be learning how to do today, which is cutting. And splitting, too, they're kind of two variations on the same thing, but for this project, cutting is going to be more useful.
"Now, cutting is exactly what it sounds like: we're going to be cutting the metal, which will allow us to better form what we need to to make our pieces. Especially crucial in things like grieves or joints when you're essentially getting down to very small pieces to be put together later, but also an overall useful skill to be applied across the board to many different projects. There are two different kinds of cutting: cold cutting and, you guessed it, hot cutting. The main difference, other than the obvious heat, is the type of chisel you use. For cold cutting, you need a much broader chisel," and of course, chisels were being held up for demonstration, "with less of an angle, because you need far more force with cold cutting, and the hot chisel is thinner, with a sharper angle.
"A few important things of note: cold cutting requires a lot more mass and power, but it's pretty easy when all you've got is your own two hands. Hot cutting, however, is a three handed job. And since none of us have three hands that I know of, you'll either want to enlist a partner to help hold your piece in place or lean on our good old friend the vice," she gave one of hers a very fond pat, "to help us out there. If you're hot cutting, you'll also want to make sure to put a piece of scrap metal between the piece and the anvil, otherwise, you're going to owe me a new anvil before too long. A hot chisel will mark and mar the surface of the anvil, and that's no good. You also want to make sure, when you use a hot chisel, that you leave a little time to remove the chisel between strikes; the hot metal piece will also heat up the chisel, and that will effect your cut. And, generally speaking, you want to avoid actually cutting all the way through the metal. One, pieces can fly off unexpectedly, and that's especially no good in a crowded shop like ours right now, and two, the idea is to get the cut down thin enough that you can actually just break it the rest of the way, and then you just smooth it down later with a file and other techniques.
"Let me show you what I mean," Amaya said, and, sure enough, going through all the stuff she just told them once again with a little more elaboration and pointing out the details as it came into play.
"Of course," said Amaya, after holding up the piece she'd split after the second demonstration with the cold cutting, "there are other methods, too, that don't involve the hammer. I'm also a big fan of hacksaws for a variety of reasons, but for cutting armor? It's pretty great. Of course, a power handsaw can be pretty great, too, but for the sake of really getting a handle on the basic techniques, we'll be sticking with mostly manual tools for this part today. You can also use smaller saws, too, but the hacksaw's got the frame that'll provide the strength you need for a better, smoother cut without putting too much stress on the sawblade itself.
"Now, obviously, when cutting your pieces, you'll want to be pretty precise in your measurements, and keep in mind what needs to be a straight cut and what's going to need a little bend to it, but, for today, I'd like us to just focus on getting the various different cutting techniques down. If you feel you've got it, and want to start getting your pieces cut, you can start in on that, or confer with me and I'll let you know what you'll need to do to get where you want to be.
"And that," she concluded, "is the basics for cutting, so I'll leave it to you guys to start getting a feel for it. As always, if there's questions, ask 'em now, but otherwise, let's get two of you on up there to get to work on the anvils and the rest of can either watch and learn or give the saws a try in the meantime."
"Welcome back," she said, with a nod and a pull of her gloves. "At this point, we should all at least have some flattened metal that could potentially be worked into something armor-esque, and so the next process is going to involve either shaping that metal through a variety of hammering techniques to bend and form it or the thing we'll be learning how to do today, which is cutting. And splitting, too, they're kind of two variations on the same thing, but for this project, cutting is going to be more useful.
"Now, cutting is exactly what it sounds like: we're going to be cutting the metal, which will allow us to better form what we need to to make our pieces. Especially crucial in things like grieves or joints when you're essentially getting down to very small pieces to be put together later, but also an overall useful skill to be applied across the board to many different projects. There are two different kinds of cutting: cold cutting and, you guessed it, hot cutting. The main difference, other than the obvious heat, is the type of chisel you use. For cold cutting, you need a much broader chisel," and of course, chisels were being held up for demonstration, "with less of an angle, because you need far more force with cold cutting, and the hot chisel is thinner, with a sharper angle.
"A few important things of note: cold cutting requires a lot more mass and power, but it's pretty easy when all you've got is your own two hands. Hot cutting, however, is a three handed job. And since none of us have three hands that I know of, you'll either want to enlist a partner to help hold your piece in place or lean on our good old friend the vice," she gave one of hers a very fond pat, "to help us out there. If you're hot cutting, you'll also want to make sure to put a piece of scrap metal between the piece and the anvil, otherwise, you're going to owe me a new anvil before too long. A hot chisel will mark and mar the surface of the anvil, and that's no good. You also want to make sure, when you use a hot chisel, that you leave a little time to remove the chisel between strikes; the hot metal piece will also heat up the chisel, and that will effect your cut. And, generally speaking, you want to avoid actually cutting all the way through the metal. One, pieces can fly off unexpectedly, and that's especially no good in a crowded shop like ours right now, and two, the idea is to get the cut down thin enough that you can actually just break it the rest of the way, and then you just smooth it down later with a file and other techniques.
"Let me show you what I mean," Amaya said, and, sure enough, going through all the stuff she just told them once again with a little more elaboration and pointing out the details as it came into play.
"Of course," said Amaya, after holding up the piece she'd split after the second demonstration with the cold cutting, "there are other methods, too, that don't involve the hammer. I'm also a big fan of hacksaws for a variety of reasons, but for cutting armor? It's pretty great. Of course, a power handsaw can be pretty great, too, but for the sake of really getting a handle on the basic techniques, we'll be sticking with mostly manual tools for this part today. You can also use smaller saws, too, but the hacksaw's got the frame that'll provide the strength you need for a better, smoother cut without putting too much stress on the sawblade itself.
"Now, obviously, when cutting your pieces, you'll want to be pretty precise in your measurements, and keep in mind what needs to be a straight cut and what's going to need a little bend to it, but, for today, I'd like us to just focus on getting the various different cutting techniques down. If you feel you've got it, and want to start getting your pieces cut, you can start in on that, or confer with me and I'll let you know what you'll need to do to get where you want to be.
"And that," she concluded, "is the basics for cutting, so I'll leave it to you guys to start getting a feel for it. As always, if there's questions, ask 'em now, but otherwise, let's get two of you on up there to get to work on the anvils and the rest of can either watch and learn or give the saws a try in the meantime."