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Post by Admin on Mar 5, 2017 0:46:07 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on Mar 5, 2017 0:54:52 GMT -5
†«« Faber Ferrarius »»†
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==within the Great Hall==
says to Jøna§ the RedHigh Jarl o: I flip to a new page in the sketchbook, writing all the pertinent information, that it should be 18 to 20 inches when complete, a scabbard for it to hang against your back. I still had a few scabbards that were made for me by a leather worker long ago and I thought that one of them should fit this weapon nicely. "I will present it to you when it is completed."
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Post by Admin on Mar 5, 2017 21:59:59 GMT -5
Smiðr minn frændi inn fróðr eða vaskr yfimaðr kýr inn Eybarmr kýr Scagnar.
Forged for my friend, the wise and brave leader of the Isle of Scagnar.
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Post by Admin on Mar 5, 2017 23:26:21 GMT -5
(21:12:33 )
[PIC]
†«« Faber Ferrarius »»†
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: In fact, Old Ironsides was still here in Scagnar. He had to be a hundred years old if he was a day. He did not do much work in his forge these days but he did rent it out. I felt that I was quite lucky to have been able to find him again. He said that I could rent out his forge for as long as I wanted and he even had a little office in the back. He would come around now and then, to watch the work that he was now too old to do himself. I walk into the small room with its bellows and furnace, anvils and punches. There was also several molds that I could use and some stock steel, though for Jonas's blade I would probably start from scratch. There was no particular hurry to finish it and I really wanted to make it perfect. I did carry a few tools of my own, and several other items that I would need from my storage on my flagship. I set my tool bag down next to the workbench and unpack my heavy leather apron and my thick insulating leather gloves. I set them down upon the work bench as well. I then go about taking off my heavy kurii hide cloak and hanging that back in the small office, it would not do to have a spark jump onto it, I had owned it for many, many years. I also strip off the leather vest that I was wearing, baring my huge and heavily scared frame to the waist. I could already feel the heat from the furnace. Old Thrak'gar had even fired it up for me this morning so it would be ready.
(21:18:07 )
[PIC]
†«« Faber Ferrarius »»†
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: Not yet putting on the heavy apron and gloves, I open the front door to the furnace and look inside at the coals. They are nice and red hot, some coke having burnt down into a fine powder. I use the rake to pull a bit of that to the side to let it cool off for use later. The heat baking across my exposed skin as I open the furnace door. I then walk to the bellows, testing them a few times, heating up the coals even more for what I would need to do next. I then walk back to the workbench, pulling my long black tangled hair to the nape of my neck and tying it off with a leather strap. My beard could not really be helped, if I somehow managed to light it on fire with a spark off the steel then I would just have to shave it off. That only happened once in a while. There was evidence of sparks flying off of the steel covering my entire torso though. Burns that mixed in with all the scarring from past battles. I then reach down and take up the apron, pulling the loop over my head and then tying it off in the back. It had several pockets along the front and looked as though it had been heavily used. The gloves, well they fit like a... glove, yeah, that is not particularly descriptive. I pull them up to my elbows and start to pull the few tools that I brought out of my satchel. I had my two hammers that I always used, perfectly weighted, the handles indented from where my fingers held them as I had owned them for so long. I also had my set of tongs that I always used. They were about 24 inches long, enough distance for me to pull the steel from the fire but not so far away that it hindered my control of the steel while I was hitting it with a hammer. I also had brought the mold that I used for scramasax blades from my ship. Any of the weapons in my sketch book, which Jonas had selected this blade from, I had some sort of a mold to use to at least get the process started with the blade. It would still need much refinement after the steel was mixed and poured.
(21:22:34 )
[PIC]
†«« Faber Ferrarius »»†
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: I move over to the billows again, pumping them harder this time. Forcing more air from outside of the forge in through the billows and over the top of the coals. Heating them to a level that would not be possible otherwise. I start to look through Gar's tools and the other things that he has here in his shop. I find a good obsidian trough with which to mix the steel in and then I clamp the mold down to the workbench. I go back to the finely burnt carbon that was left over from the fire that I had set aside earlier, this was called coke and was would serve as the carbon base to mix the iron ore with to create steel for the blade. I wanted this steel to be extremely sturdy as it was a short weapon and it would not do to have it shatter in battle. This meant that I used a relatively small amount of the coke.
(21:28:02 )
[PIC]
†«« Faber Ferrarius »»†
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: I go back to my pack and retrieve the satchel of iron ingots that I brought with me from my ship. Also there was a small scale next to them and some other powders that were required to add to the mix to strengthen the steel. Setting this all out on the table, I weight out the exact amounts of the coke, the other mixture of ingredients which included magnesium and other trace elements, and then the iron ore. Dumping each of them into the obsidian trough as I go along. Once I am satisfied with that, I take the long steel rod that is attached to the end of the trough and lift it from the workbench, walking over to the forge itself which was only a couple of steps away. I settle the trough on top of the coals in the fire. I then release the handle and take up a long steel rod that was used to move the coals around. I gather the coals along the outside of the obsidian trough so that it will heat evenly and mix all the materials together. I then take another rod, this one much more thin that could be used to stir the mixture as it heats up. I then go back to the bellows, working them for several minutes as I heat the coals. By now, sweat is dripping down my brow and through my beard, it felt good to be back at work again.
(21:35:40 )
[PIC]
†«« Faber Ferrarius »»†
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: I then go back to the open door of the furnace, the coals are white hot and the mixture has begun to truly become a liquid. The iron ingots melting down into the carbon and magnesium along with a few other elements. I continue to use the rod in my hand to stir the mixture in the ladle made of obsidian. The rock conducted heat very well and would not melt no matter how hot the furnace became. Finally satisfied with the end result, I grab the steel handle of the obsidian ladle again and pull it from the coals. I then turn slowly, making my way back to the work bench. In the top of the mold there was a small hole that I could pour the steel into. Having done this countless times before, my hands were steady and sure as I start to dump the molten hot newly made steel into the mold. I do not spill even a drop and I had made just enough. Once that is complete I dunk the obsidian trough in a 50 gallon barrel of brine, which is merely salt and water mixed together. One could get it from the Thassa as well but the exact content of salt was important and the sea water was not always as consistent. There is a hissing and bubbling in the water as the obsidian cools down. This allows the remaining steel to harden quickly and flake off to fall into the bottom of the barrel. If there was a need for steel at some point, these barrels could be drained giving one a bottom of the barrel steel. I then take out the ladle and set it on the work bench, taking a few moments to clean it up and return it to my satchel. It took a few moments for the steel to cool enough to harden in the mold. Once the proper amount of time has gone by I crack open the mold and look inside. The blade was of course no where near complete, but the general shape was visible. Now the real melding of steel to my will would begin.
(21:52:01 )
[PIC]
†«« Faber Ferrarius »»†
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: I tip the mold over and dump the piece of brand new steel out onto the workbench, I reach out with my gloved hands and turn it over a few times. It looked pretty good, no significant burrs on it that could not be worked out in the forging and grinding process. It was still very hot but my gloves provided sufficient protection for me to be able to hold it this way. I then reach over to the workbench and take up the set of tongs in my right hand and the heavier of the two hammers in my left. This was a hammer with a head that weighed in at nearly 10 pounds. Sufficient to kill a man with one blow to pretty much any part of his upper body. The hammer felt at home in my hands, it had previously belonged to my brother Caspian, it was part of his effects when I collected them from Scagnar all those years ago. The coals were now hot enough to get the steel to the temperature that I would need it at. I pick up the piece of steel with the tongs and thrust the squared off end of it into the fire. This end is where the handle would be attached, at this point the blade was about 18 inches long, the handle would be approximately 4 inches long but the blade would set into the handle about two inches, bringing the final length of the weapon when complete to 20 inches which was within the parameters that Jonas selected. The scramasax was a somewhat unique weapon, the longer end of the blade which went to the point was sharpened while the back side of the blade was not. It could be used as both a stabbing weapon and a slashing weapon. It was for when the wielder wanted to do wet work, up close and personal. After settling the end of the steel down into the coals, I go back to the bellows and work them for a while. The air temperature in the forge continued to climb as the furnace became hotter and hotter. The last workshop I'd had was much larger than this but I enjoyed the closeness of Old Ironside's small forge here in the village.
(22:00:26 )
[PIC]
†«« Faber Ferrarius »»†
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: I retrieve the steel piece from the fire, having heated the end of the blade first that would go into the handle. I expertly pull the steel from the furnace and turn towards the anvil. I first use the sharp edge of the anvil to notch indentations on both sides where they will be inserted into the hilt of the blade, rounding it off so that it will slide home perfectly and then I can lock the blade to the handle with a couple of rivets. Next I turn the blade on its side, settling it against a hole in the back side of the anvil. I then grab a steel punch, driving the hammer down against it to make the holes that the rivets will set in, perfectly placed as I have done this so many times before. All of my movements were sure, not a single one of them wasted as I worked on the blade. One that knew me though might see the slight grin on my face and the crinkles in the corners of my eyes. I was really enjoying myself at the moment. I put the steel punch aside and take up the tongs again, pulling the blade out of the indentation on the back side of the anvil and thrusting the pointy end into the fire, heating up the first third of the blade. My entire upper body was streaked in sweat and soot from the furnace at the moment, little runnels in the soot from where beads of sweat traveled over ridged and scarred flesh.
(22:12:39 )
[PIC]
†«« Faber Ferrarius »»†
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: Pulling the length of steel from the fires after it has heated to a dull orange. This part of the process did not require that the steel be as hot and I was not going to quench and temper it yet. That would come the next time that I work on it. At this point I just want to start shaping the blade itself. I wanted it to taper off on the cutting side and then work its way to a point. I begin to swing the ten pound hammer over my head and back down upon the piece of steel that was starting to look like the blade of a weapon. Sparks would fly with each swing, a steady rhythm was formed. The muscles in my back and shoulders were bulging out from the effort but I did not even notice it. I was concentrating intensely on the task at hand. Turning the blade this way and that so that each time that the hammer connected with the steel and pressed it down against the anvil I was smoothing out the edge of the blade. After several ehns of this, my body coated in a sheen of sweat, I can feel that the steel is cooling too much for me to work with it anyway so I thrust it back into the fire. This time the middle third of the blade, drawing that back out again as well and turning to the anvil. I repeated the process with the large hammer, just starting to taper the edge but understanding that I cannot sharpen it at all or even draw it down to a thin edge at this point. I was also flattening off the back of the blade as I went as that would not need to be sharpened. Satisfied with the center part of the blade, I thrust the back third of the blade into the fire yet again. I would not want to do anything more with the part that was going into the hilt of the blade but I did want to reshape the remainder before I cut the notches in it. The furnace was roaring now, flames licking up from the wood that was inside of it and all the way to the top of the furnace itself. The way that the furnace was made, there would not be any flames shooting out of the front of it or anything, another benefit of having the billows and air that was brought in from outside and then expelled out the smokestack. The back third of the blade is now heated completely and I turn to the anvil with it, shaping that as well. Finalizing the rough outline of the blade itself. It now looked like a scramasax but it was dull, both its edge and even the look of the steel. It would not have the look that I wanted until I was completely done with it, including the etching that I planned to place upon it when I was finished. I had also selected the hilt from the stores of them that I have on my ship. A special one that I bought from a merchant named McKayla a long time ago.
(22:25:55 )
[PIC]
†«« Faber Ferrarius »»†
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: I close the door to the furnace, though it did not seem to cool the room at all. I use a heavy damp cloth to wipe off the blade so that I can take a look at it. It was coming along nicely and I thought one more session with it would see it finished, hilt, sheath, etching and all. I begin to put my tools away, not in the bag I brought them in but around the bench. It would be my area to work as long as I wanted, I gave Thrak'Gar enough coin for the rental of the place that he nearly fell over himself offering to let me use it as long as I wanted. I had grown incredibly rich since I last saw him and I thought why not share some of the wealth with an old friend. He was probably off drinking himself into oblivion with an entire cadre of bondmaids at his disposal. I remove the heavy gloves and apron, hanging them up at the edge of the workbench. Standing there in just a pair of leather pants and my boots and looking around the little forge for a few moments, I thought that this would suit my purposes perfectly. There was only room for one man to work in here at a time, but it did not seem as I would have a lot of competition for forge space here, I imagined the other metalsmiths on Scagnar had their own shops set up elsewhere.
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Post by Admin on Mar 10, 2017 23:33:03 GMT -5
(21:53:18 )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: I step back into the forge again. It had been kept heated the last couple of days I was gone. I had actually gone and hired a young lad that was making decent coin keeping the fires going for me. Old Ironsides was ready to retire and he had told me that I could use his small forge for as long as I wanted. It suited me fine, I doubted that I would ever end up owning a large forge again anyway. This was more than sufficient for my purposes. The young boy, named Leaman Russ, was a large Torvaldslander boy. I'd given him a place to stay on my flagship, the room was not much but apparently it was more than he had before we met. I had spent several ahns teaching him the ins and outs of keeping the forge hot. I was pleased with his work, "Russ! Well done!" I call out to him as he looks at me for approval on how the coals are burning. I set my pack down on the workbench and pull out the blade that I had been working on. I also set out the hilt that I'd bought long ago, temwood with brass bands on it.
(21:59:07 )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: Once I'd finished the blade, I would be able to set it into the temwood hilt and then use rivets to hold it fast. The blade was already roughly done, in the right shape but there was no edge on it yet. It was relatively small, made to be a 20 inch scramasax for Jonas when it was completed. I take out some whetstone oil and rub it over the blade, making sure that there are not any significant burrs in the steel itself from the first day of forging. It looks good so I go ahead and slide off my cloak, and then my leather vest. I pull on my heavy leather apron and gloves and pull my hair back behind my head before taking the blade up in my tongs and setting the back third of it into the hottest part of the fire. For this step, I would need the blade to be as hot as possible. This would allow me to smooth the edges enough that it would take on a razor sharp edge when it was sharpened. The steel had been made by my own hand, a mixture that I knew would be light but yet incredibly strong. While I am taking a few moments to allow the steel to heat I speak with Leaman, "well done lad, I am happy with how you are keeping the fires. I have decided to keep you on. The pay will be one silver per month" With this, his eyes got wide, that was more than he would make in a year doing the other odd jobs he had been able to pick up. That was actually only slightly less than I was paying Thrak'Gar per month for the use of his forge. But then, Old Ironsides did not have much use for the place any more, he had gotten so old that his hands were gnarled, it was difficult for him to even pick up a hammer. I move the steel around in the coals a little bit longer, wanting it to be white hot before I pull it from the fires. Finally satisfied, I reach in with the tongs and take out the steel blade. I then turn towards the anvil and take up my hammer in my left hand. I begin rhythmic swings with the hammer. One side of the blade would not have an edge so I allowed that to be thicker, not thick enough to add to the weight of the blade itself but much thicker than the side that would hold the edge. The hammer raining down blow after blow, the sounds reverberating from the walls of the tiny forge.
(22:07:59 )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: The remainder of the final third of the blade was formed relatively quickly. I was using a five pound hammer at this point and was able to really refine the edge so that it would take on a true sharpness when I moved on to the next step which was the whet stone wheel. I had a 50 gallon barrel of brine near the edge of the anvil and once the color had turned from a white hot to a more mellow yellow color and I was satisfied with the work that I had done I turn the blade and then quench it in the brine. This would temper the blade, and would be done three times total, one time after each section of the blade was completed. I feel the hot steam hit me in the face and create drops of perspiration along with a rime of salt from the boiling water. Once the steel has been quenched and tempered, I set it back into the furnace once again. This time the middle third of the blade was over the top of the hottest coals. Leaman was working the bellows now, I had instructed him on how to handle them while I was in the midst of my work. I look over at him approvingly, the cold air dragged in from outside and then forced across the coals made them burn much hotter than they would otherwise. I was watching the blade, it turned from steel grey, to a light orange, then to yellow and again to white. I was turning the blade over constantly so that it would heat evenly. I then pluck the blade from the fire again and turn to my anvil. I repeat the process once again. Keeping one side a bit thicker and then tapering the other side down to an edge, well at least as much of an edge as I could manage with the hammer. I had done this so many times that it had become second nature at this point. I was paying attention to the work closely and there was a wry grin on my face, I was obviously enjoying myself. Sparks were flying with each swing of the hammer. The muscles in my back bunching with each blow.
(22:16:09 )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: The middle third of the blade completed I thrust the still hot steel into the brine mixture again, another plume of steam and a few moments to allow it to cool. The interior of the forge was incredibly hot at that point, perhaps 80 or 90 degrees. The sweat was dripping down my entire body. The blade is shoved into the coals again, this time for the most important part of the blade, the pointy end and all. With a scramasax, there was a need to taper the tip more than with other blades that were even on both sides. I had shown Jonas the sketch that I was working off but it was more by memory and feel than anything else. Once the steel was heated again, I turned to the anvil. At this point I needed to shift and turn the blade in small increments, swinging the hammer to hit in exactly the same place every time and using the tongs holding the steel to move it to where I needed it to be. Each movement was only a fraction of an inch, keeping the steel smooth and continuing to taper the point. The most difficultly one could run into at this point was lengthening the steel too much and making it thin and brittle. I did not do that of course and after a few more ihns I had the rough blade completed and the forging itself was done. As I quench the blade once again in the brine mixture, completing the tempering process, I tell Russ that he can go ahead and call it a night. He heads off wearily, after stoking the fires in the forge again. The forge would always be burning as it took several days to get the fires just right. He would have to be back here as the sun was coming up in the morning to stoke the fire again and move the coals around. Once the blade was cooled I set it atop the workbench. Wiping it down with oil once again and inspecting the edge for any imperfections. Finding none, I move on to the next step. I sit down a the whetstone wheel. This was a huge grinding wheel made of stone that had peddles on it so that you could turn it with your feet, it also had a huge trough at the bottom that was full of oil. The oil would keep the stone wet enough that it would not do damage to the blade as I was sharpening it.
(22:28:22 )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: The grinding needed to be done slowly and carefully, making sure to hone the edge to razor sharpness. I kept my gloves on for this part as catching one's knuckles on the stone of the wheel could be a painful process. My legs turning the peddles, keeping the wheel turning at a fast rate. A bit of the oil sloughing off of the wheel as it turns. There were a few sparks but not many, most of the sparks and therefore resulting burns happened during the forging process itself. Since this was a relatively small blade it did not take me that long to sharpen it. Once the sharpening is completed I wipe the blade down. It was sharp now but it still looked dull and unappealing. It certainly looked like the blade of a scramasax now though. The next step was a wheel similar to the whet stone wheel but instead of just stone, it was covered with thousands of strips of rep cloth. This would buff the steel and make it shine. I begin to work the peddles of that wheel, taking a few moments to get it up to the right number of revolutions per ihn and then I press the blade against it. Working against the grain of the steel so that I would not cut the rep cloths and I would not nick the edge of the blade. This really did not take very long and when I was done the blade shone with an inner light. I now take the blade back to my workbench. Clamping the hilt into a vice on the bench I slot the blade end that I had prepared earlier into the hilt itself. Having done this so many times, I knew that the fit would be perfect before I even tried it. There was two rivets holes in the handle and the same number in the end of the blade, the holes lining up perfectly. I then select two brass rivets from a bucket of them near the workbench that would match the brass banding on the hilt itself. I slide one of the rivets home. I then push a piece of steel up underneath the hilt so that I would have something to drive down against. Picking up my five pound hammer again and swinging it down expertly I hit the rivet, expanding it into the hole. I then do the same with the second rivet which locked the hilt and blade together permanently. I pick up the blade, the steel was completely smooth at this point other than the bevel in the middle that would allow blood to wick away from the blade itself but yet not get onto the hands of the wielder. There was really only one thing left to do, I wanted to engrave runes into the blade itself. I had done this before and I knew all of the runes, hence why I had so many of them engraved into the helm that I wore all the time. Even so, I took off my gloves and went into my pack, taking out an old book that I got from a rune thrower a long time ago. It had all the runes and their translations. The language of runes could be somewhat hard to decipher because many of the words meant many different things. There were no where near as many words to choose from as there was in the regular Gorean language. I had made the decision on what I wanted to write upon the blade though so I merely needed to get the steel rod hot enough to do the engraving. I pull my gloves on, not the heavy ones that I normally use for forging but some lighter ones that would allow me to grip the steel rod better.
(22:32:40 )
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==at a shop in the village==
says to ALL: Engraving was a relatively easy process, it was a matter of using steel that could be heated to the point where it was hot enough to melt other steel. This was accomplished by using a steel rod that had a different mixture of ingredients. It would heat to a much hotter temperature than the steel of the blade but the steel rod would be completely impractical for use in a fight as it was brittle and would break easily. I set the tip of the steel into the fires of the forge, allowing it to heat up. Though Russ was no longer here the coals were incredibly hot and I did work the bellows a few times myself to get the steel to the right temperature. I then move back to the workbench and begin the much more delicate work of engraving runes into the blade above the bevel mark. This took me quite some time and I had to refer to my book a few times and heat the steel rod up a few times. When I was done the runes said:
Smiðr minn frændi inn fróðr eða vaskr yfimaðr kýr inn Eybarmr kýr Scagnar.
Which loosely translates as:
Forged for my friend, the wise and brave leader of the Isle of Scagnar.
The engraving completed, I wipe the blade down once more and give it one more look before taking the over the shoulder harness that I had available from a leather worker I had met in the fair several years ago. I slot the blade into the sheath and then test to be sure it hangs properly against the back. Satisfied I slide the sheathed blade into my pack and set it aside, the project complete.
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