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)
fandomhigh2023-05-15 05:59 am
special_rabbit) wrote in fandomhigh2023-05-15 05:59 am
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Blacksmithing Basics; Monday, Second Period [05/15].
"Morning, everyone!" The fire extinguisher had been refilled, nothing too weird or out of the ordinary was going on, and so it was a good day for blacksmithing! Of course, Amaya sort of figured any day was a good day for blacksmithing, but she was, clearly, eager to get going on today's task and see where they might end up. "Last week, of course, we took some time to review some of the basic blacksmithing techniques used when shaping your metal, and usually, for this class, we'll take that into making some daggers, but, since you've all got a bit of experience, we're going to step it up a notch, and focus on swords this session. Now, I'm sure I know what you're thinking. You're thinking...but Amaya! Aren't swords just daggers, but bigger? And the easy answer is...well, yes, kind of. But of course the easy answer isn't always the full answer, and working with swords means bringing in a whole new host of considerations and tricks tot he anvil, as you'll find out as we go along.
"But first? A recap, especially on tapering because that's what we'll be working on most today," said Amaya as she pulled out 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 points, 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 sword. Now, nice thing with a long piece is that you can hammer it pretty easily without needing to rely on tongs, but you'll definitely want those gloves. And then we'll be working on mostly just the tip, to form what kind of blade you want on your sword. If you want a particular shape, don't hesitate to mention it and I'll how you how to work that shape, but, for the most part, what I'll be showing you is just going to be your standard tapered tip. 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. By the end of the day today, we should have managed to work out something roughly sword-shaped, and next week, we'll go over what we do after that.
"Anything else you'd like me to go over before we start? Or should I just let you all get to work?"
"But first? A recap, especially on tapering because that's what we'll be working on most today," said Amaya as she pulled out 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 points, 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 sword. Now, nice thing with a long piece is that you can hammer it pretty easily without needing to rely on tongs, but you'll definitely want those gloves. And then we'll be working on mostly just the tip, to form what kind of blade you want on your sword. If you want a particular shape, don't hesitate to mention it and I'll how you how to work that shape, but, for the most part, what I'll be showing you is just going to be your standard tapered tip. 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. By the end of the day today, we should have managed to work out something roughly sword-shaped, and next week, we'll go over what we do after that.
"Anything else you'd like me to go over before we start? Or should I just let you all get to work?"
Re: Class Activity: Shaping Your Sword! - Blacksmith Basics, 05/15.
At the moment he was happily hammering away at making something vaguely sword-shaped.