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Post by Admin on Jun 6, 2021 22:00:57 GMT -5
(06/06/21-[19:30:38] ) - I Wear a Lot of Hats - [PIC] Ericius Probationary Citizen Isle of Scagnar ==within the Great Hall== says to |..Exavier Exeter..|: "Not a moment too soon... And I think you better watch out for Jonas... I think he may chain you to that forge to keep you here..." I couldn't help the laugh as the exchange seems so... contradictory... "But I will be seeking a new trident soon... and Jonas honestly told me to seek such in your handiwork..." (06/06/21-[19:33:36] ) [PIC] |..Exavier Exeter..| ==within the Great Hall== says to - I Wear a Lot of Hats -: "hmmmm, a trident you say." I say considering that, "I believe I made one for Durriken a long time ago but beyond that I have not made many of them. I think that it would be an interesting challenge. I finally sit down near you. Unlimbering the double bladed axe from my back that I wore everywhere. The thing was awfully uncomfortable when seated. The heavy axe head thumps at my left side. The haft leaning against my thigh, runes carved up and down handle. "Tell me, what were you thinking for size? How tall are you? Do you want something that is about your height fully completed? A little longer? I suppose it depends on your fighting style." (06/06/21-[19:43:45] ) - I Wear a Lot of Hats - [PIC] Ericius Probationary Citizen Isle of Scagnar ==within the Great Hall== says to |..Exavier Exeter..|: "Well... I'm 6' 2"... And I'm thinking the same height for the shaft... and the prongs about a foot long on either side and a foot and a half in the center... I'm actually a faitly proficient fisherman, so I often fight with a net as well..." Nodding a touch as I regarded the axe he set down... "Might need a good hand axe as well... Need to learn to fight with a good lot of the Isle's tools of the trade when things get too up close and personal..." (06/06/21-[19:49:21] ) [PIC] |..Exavier Exeter..| ==within the Great Hall== says to - I Wear a Lot of Hats -: I look you over and estimate what your weight would be and I take out a small book and a charcoal pencil. Writing down some notes in the book, indicating the length of the shaft and the fact that you would like the center prong to be longer. I sketch something out quick, very similar to what you described. "something like this?" I say as I show it to you. [PIC] vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/narutofanon/images/b/b3/Trident.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140530141603The final product would look much better than the sketch that I just took down (i.e. a pic I could find quick) but this would give me a starting point. "would you like an all metal shaft or temwood?" I make a little sketch of what the pommel will look like so it would not slip out of your hands. Much more detailed drawings would come before I started work in the forge. (06/06/21-[19:54:21] ) - I Wear a Lot of Hats - [PIC] Ericius Probationary Citizen Isle of Scagnar ==within the Great Hall== says to |..Exavier Exeter..|: I nodded as I looked over the sketch... Tracing each line into my mind's eye... the question posed elicited another..." I know you said you hadn't made many... But would you know how balanced a metal shaft might be for throwing...?" (06/06/21-[19:56:36] ) [PIC] |..Exavier Exeter..| ==within the Great Hall== says to - I Wear a Lot of Hats -: I look back towards you, "if you want to throw it you are going to need it evenly weighted which would require a metal shaft. Alright, that is settled. I will make sure that it is relatively light and that it is easy to grip." I say with a smile, "I should probably be able to work on it this hand end." |
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Post by Admin on Jun 11, 2021 23:36:20 GMT -5
(06/11/21-[20:53:33] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: I step into the forge and feel the heat from the furnace. This area was much smaller than the main forge complex and was much warmer. I walk over to the workbench and look at all my tools laid out. The trident was impossible to forge weld because the pieces would not be strong enough. That meant that the project was going to need a mold. I'd fished around in the ship's hold until I found the one I'd created years ago for the other trident that I have forged. The molding process was relatively simple. One made the piece in wood by carving it and then you would pour the mold around the finished wood carving. This mold would take on the shape of the carving and then liquid steel could be poured into the mold to take on the basic shape of the weapon. There was still quite a bit of work involved in honing and sharpening along with additional work with hammer and heat but the basic shape was there once the mold was completed. I strip off my tunic and hang it on a peg. It was a very bad idea to wear anything cotton in the forges as it would light on fire easily. I'd watched a man go up like a candle wick one day from an errant spark. I then select one of the heavy leather aprons that are hanging on another peg on the wall, sliding the loop around my neck and then tying it off at the small of my back. Bare chested and armed in the low light of the burning furnace showed all the pock marks and scars on my forearms and upper chest from bits of steel that come off when hammer meets blade.
(06/11/21-[20:58:34] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: I lay the mold out on the workbench after putting on the apron. It is in two pieces at the moment, each side open to show the trident shape within. I take some clamps that are on the workbench and after lining up the two halves of the mold I begin to clamp them around the outside of it. They needed to be as tight as possible so that the liquid steel would not flow into the cracks between the two halves of the mold. This motion was so automatic to me after all these years but sometimes routine was settling and relaxing. I thought to the stormy seas of the last few months and enjoyed the notion that I was in a place that I could be comfortable and have those that I care about around me. The men on my ships seemed to be settling in as well. They had not caused too many drunken brawls which was good because those could end up being expensive. The mold set up I then turn it on its side to where the pouring hole is and clamp it into a much larger clamp that is affixed to the workbench itself. Once the steel was ready I would turn from the furnace and pour it into the mold. It would have to sit in the mold overnight to cool but I could at least get this much of the project done tonight. Next I get out a large obsidian trough where I would be making the steel. It had a long steel rod attached to it that would allow me to hold it in the flames but yet keep away from the flames myself.
(06/11/21-[21:06:59] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: I open up several boxes that are on the tabletop. They contain various materials that will go into the finished steel. It was not common for a blacksmith to make their own steel. Usually a steel ingot is melted down and then made into what is required. But I had begun this process many years ago and I liked to use a bit more carbon than comes in a steel ingot as I found it allowed for the blade or other weapon to hold an edge much longer and also give it the ability to be sharpened beyond what the softer steel could manage. It required a delicate touch in the quenching process because if an error was made there it would shatter the weapon. But if it survived the forging process it would make a much more deadly weapon. I take two iron ingots out of the wooden box on the counter. For a sword it would be one but this was a much larger weapon than a sword and it had three protruding blades. I would end up using a shaft from an existing piece of steel as that did not need to be sharpened but this steel I am making would be for the head of the trident itself. I then take out a bit of nickel, nearly the size of a silver tarn, and some coke from the fire which supplies the carbon. I also had another small pouch of special ingredients that went into the obsidian trough. Finally, a small ingot of manganese goes into the trough. Satisfied that all of the materials are in place I step to the other side of the work bench and pull on my heavy leather gloves that go up to my elbows.
(06/11/21-[21:18:14] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: I grip the end of the handle on the obisdian trough and carry it over to set it on the top of the anvil. I then open up the doors of the furnace and feel the heat bake out of it onto me. I had one of the young lads that had been traveling with us keep the fires stoked. I was not sure that I would be working in this particular part of the forge every day but I wanted the fire to be exactly where I wanted it when I was ready to work. I'd spent most of my time out in the main part of the forge complex overseeing the creation of the weapons for Scagnar's armory so I had not spent much time in this room up until now. The fire is just right but I have to stir it a bit to expose the hot coals. The coke which was the burned down material was lining the sides. This would be harvested to be used in the creation of steel. The rest became ash and fell through the grate on the bottom of the furnace. I reach over next to the furnace itself and take a small bucket and scoop up some coal from the barrel near the workbench. Dumping this into the center of the fire it begins to burn much hotter. I then step to the side of the furnace and take hold of the bellows. The bellows themselves were relatively ancient but still worked. Fabric that was attached to a pipe to the outside. When the handles were pumped the bladder would suck in cold air from outside and then when the handles were pushed closed it would force that same air into the mouth of the fire. This allows it to burn much hotter and the combination of the forced air and the coal that I'd just added would get the fire hot enough to liquefy steel. It was a much hotter temperature than I needed when I was merely honing a blade.
(06/11/21-[21:24:38] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: I reach over and take the trough's handle and move it onto the fire. Settling the trough right down into the hottest part of the fire and really banking it in there with some coals up alongside of the trough itself. I use a long steel scoop to move the ashes around. The fire is so hot right now that if I got within an arm's length of it, it would burn off all of my hair. Once I am sure it is properly bedded into the ashes I move back to the bellows again. I pump them over and over again. The sweat stands out on my brown and then runs down over my torso as the forge continues to increase in temperature. For someone that was not used to this kind of heat it would make one feel dizzy and lightheaded but I'd become accustomed to such things in my many years in the forge. After quite some time of pumping the bellows I walk back around the furnace itself to look into the trough at the steel that is collecting there. I use a long steel rod to stir the mixture to be sure that everything amalgamates properly and that the iron and other elements are mixed properly. Once the mixture has fully combined I leave it in the fire for several more heartbeats just to be sure that it is ready. I then move over to the side of the furnace and shut the bellows intake which would allow the fire to push its heat up through the ceiling smokestack.
(06/11/21-[21:33:38] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: Now that the steel was made I grip both hands around the handle of the trough and slowly pull it from the banked furnace. The liquid steel was not near the top of the trough. I was using one of the larger ones that I had for this project but it still would not do to spill it on the floor. I'd just put considerable effort into making it. I then turn towards the workbench and the mold that is there. The trough itself was shaped something like a ladle with a spout on one end where the steel could be poured. I very carefully line up the spout with the hole in the mold and begin to pour. This was as much of an art as a science because you had to keep the steel flowing at a very specific rate so that it filled the mold evenly and also did not back up in the hole into the mold and go everywhere. The super heated metal would melt through just about anything which was why I had to use a stone, obsidian, as the material for the trough. The steel flows evenly into the mold until it is full. I'd been doing this long enough that I knew exactly how much steel to make so the trough is empty other than the clinging steel on the bottom when I am done. I immediately dunk the trough into a barrel of saltwater. The steel would harden quickly and flake off the obsidian in the water. Thus leaving the trough clean for the next batch. The moment the obsidian hits the salt water a cloud of steam erupts. Much more than one would see with quenched steel because the obsidian is so incredibly hot. The salt is added to the bath to keep the water from boiling out of the barrel and all over my feet and the floor. I pull the trough out, now clean, and hang it in its normal place on the wall. I then remove my gloves and apron, putting back on my tunic. I would have to check on the mold tomorrow but I was pretty sure that the steel would settle correctly and I would have a workable template for the finished product.
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Post by Admin on Jun 16, 2021 22:15:01 GMT -5
(06/16/21-[19:27:40] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: I step back into the forge, having exited the small office that was attached to the forge complex. I took a moment to check in with my workers. They were just ending their shifts and heading back to whatever lodging they had been able to acquire in the village. The first set of shields were done. They looked really good and were ready to be shipped up to the main hall for Jonas's review at some point in the near future. I thought he would be impressed with the handiwork. The next project was mass-produced swords and the shipment of Scagnar steel had come in from the storehouse just yesterday and was all sitting there ready to be worked with. I wished the men a good night and then went into my small forge in the corner of the main building. I checked the furnace first and saw that it was well stocked with wood and coal. The coal was not as important with this part of the project as I would not need to heat the steel to anywhere near the temperature it was at for me to pour into the mold. I took a moment to pull off my tunic and standing bare-chested I identified which apron I was going to wear today. I slide it over my head and tie it off and then turn my attention to the mold that is still clamped in upon the workbench. I unclamp the mold first so that I can set it flat on the workbench and then I go about taking all the smaller clamps off of the edges of the mold itself.
(06/16/21-[19:33:44] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: Once all of the clamps are carefully removed from the edges of the clay mold I go select a small hammer off of the rack and start to tap the edges of the mold. This loosens up the mold from the steel trident head that is inside. I did not have to be particularly careful with the steel trident head but I did not want to break the mold as this was the only trident mold that I owned in my huge collection of them. Suddenly, there is a sound and the two pieces fall apart exposing the unfinished trident head inside. It gleams a bit in the light but the steel is dull. It would require quite a bit more work before it would even have an edge. A trident was a somewhat tricky weapon to work on because of the three tines that came off the end. Each side of the tine needed to be sharp but the outside edges had to be worked to a razor's edge. The steel that I had created was high in carbon content so it would take a wicked edge. Something only a few molecules thick at the very edge and it would slice through silk or flesh or even bone with no effort at all. The trident was an incredibly difficult weapon to master but it was also extremely dangerous, especially from a distance. This was a staff trident with the final length in at about 7 feet and the shaft itself about 5 and a half feet long. It would take two hands and a steady movement of the weapon to keep it viable in combat.
(06/16/21-[19:43:06] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Thorarin BloodaxeSteward: Using a wedge and pick I was able to pry the trident head out of the remaining half of the mold and look it over for a moment. The steel was not even all the way through the trident head but it was uniform thickness and quite solid. It would do and I would not need to recast the trident head which did happen with some weapons when put into a mold. I then pulled on the heavy leather gloves that I always wore when working in the forge. They fit.. well like a glove I suppose. I flex my fingers making sure they are fully set into the finger holes. I then select a pair of tongs and grip the trident head turning to place the leftmost tine into the fire. I would work my way across the weapon from left to right with the first edge shaping. After setting the steel trident head into the fire I go over to the bellows and start to pump them. Sweat already running down my face from the obscene temperature in the small forge. I was used to these kind of temperature swings so I hardly even notice it. Once the fire in the furnace is roaring I return to the opening of the furnace and look at the steel trident head. I wait until the leftmost tine is a nice orange color. If the steel is too cool and is red it will not take an edge and if it is too hot and white then it will deform when hit with a hammer. Once the steel is heated I pluck the trident out of the fire and turn to my anvil. The first few blows are experimental, making sure the steel is the right temperature. I am using a plain 5 pound hammer right now and this was a tool that I had used so much that my fingers had made impressions in the wooden handle. An expert swing over my head brings the hammer down against the steel with incredible force. Now that I am sure the steel is hot enough I can really attack it with the hammer. Huge clangs ring out in the forge as I begin to expertly work my way from the base of the trident up the left tine slowly. Each hammer blow showering sparks across the floor of the forge.
(06/16/21-[19:49:58] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: I moved reasonably quickly through the base of the trident as all I had to do was smooth out the steel and make sure everything was even. The blows come rapidly and in succession. The sound rather loud in the small space. I had sweat running down my chest and dripping down the bulging muscles of my arms already from the heat. I slowly turn the trident head while holding it with the tongs. Setting a little bit more of it out onto the anvil with each blow. Finally reaching the tip I would need to be much more careful here so that I could then use the sharpening stone to grind it to an edge and the buffing wheel to make it shine like a new silver coin. I was really focused in on the work at this point. I hit the exact same spot with the hammer each time in relation to the anvil but I moved the trident head slightly with each blow. It becomes like a metronome at the exact same pace. Drawing the hammer back over my left shoulder and then driving it down against the anvil over and over again. Once satisfied with the left tine I check the color of the steel and make sure that it is not too hot to quench. I turn to the quenching barrel and slowly lower the trident head down into the water. Steam shoots up from the water wetting my face and beard and then once it is cooled down again I set the trident back down into the coals of the fire, this time setting the central tine over the hottest part of the coals.
(06/16/21-[19:55:53] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: I had to move back to the bellows again. Back when I was rich and did the smithing more as a hobby than anything else I used to make one of the stable boys stand there and pump the bellows the whole time that I was working. These days I was getting old and was a night owl anyway so I was often at the forge completely by myself or with the occasional visitor. My muscles rippling as I draw the wooden posts together and then pull them back apart, dragging cold air from outside and forcing it across the top of the fire in order to make it burn hotter. The flames jump and the coals brighten as the air is forced in. Once I figure that the fire has had plenty of time to get back to its steel softening temperature I move back to the front of the furnace and look in at the trident. Sure enough the steel is the perfect color of orange again so I pluck it out with the tongs and turn back to the anvil. Starting the process again much in the way that I did the first tine. This one was much harder to access as it had steel on either side but I was extremely accurate with a hammer and I was able to get into the small spaces and the twists and turns of the steel in order to be sure that I smooth it out and then work the steel down to a narrow enough edge that it will take a much keener edge on the sharpening stone later. The hammer was moving so fast that it would be hard to follow at this point. I was really in rhythm and enjoying myself in the forge for the first time in a while. A fierce grin on my face as I conquer the steel and make it do my bidding.
(06/16/21-[20:02:51] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: Finished with the central tine I quench the steel once again. It was important not to over quench the steel as it would make it brittle which was why I was only heating up one section of the trident head at a time, then cooling it, then heating it up again. Once again the trident head is dunked into the quenching barrel next to the anvil. Soot was streaking down my face and arms at this point, the heat of the forge, the soot in the air, and the dampness of the quench were all colluding to make me look like I was completely covered in soot. The third tine now settled in the coals, the bellows pumped, and then the steel heated to the right temperature once again. Repeating the process that I did with the left and central tine. The hammer raining down again and again as I meld the right tine in the way that I want it. Quenching that once again the forging was now complete. The trident head itself did not look like much but it would be beautiful by the time I was done with it. I then heat the base of the trident head and pull it over a small circular opening at one end of the anvil. Selecting a punch and then driving it down against the steel as it goes through and provides a spot to slide a rivet through to permanently attach the steel shaft which was sitting against my workbench to the head of the trident. I would not do that until the weapon was completed though as it would be unwieldy to work with the trident head with a 6 foot steel staff sticking off the end of it.
(06/16/21-[20:09:09] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: I closed the heavy door on the front of the furnace after putting some additional fuel inside of the fire. It took days for a furnace to properly heat so once it was going a blacksmith never let the fire go out. I picked the trident head up off of the anvil and turned to my sharpening stone. It was actually a huge wheel approximately 4 feet in diameter and weighing in at nearly half a ton. The wheel had a trough at the bottom full of sharpening stone oil where the wheel would run through the oil before it turned past where I would be pressing the trident head against it. I begin to pump the pedals with my feet, massive legs straining for a moment as I get it moving and then it begins to move faster and faster. I then start to press the trident head against the stone and sparks fly everywhere even with it whetted with the oil. I carefully and expertly drag the steel trident head against the stone as I begin to work an edge upon it. Turning it very slow and making sure that I smooth out any burrs on the edges while I sharpen the tines themselves. This part of the process had to be completed very carefully.
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Post by Admin on Jun 16, 2021 22:17:38 GMT -5
(06/16/21-[20:13:22] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: Moving the steel trident head slowly and turning it so that the points on the tines are finished last. I draw these very slowly across the sharpening stone as I pump the pedals. My breath coming faster now as the pedals did not move easily. Once the edge has been placed on the trident head I let the stone slow and get up from the seat that is part of the contraption. I turn to my workbench and select a piece of scrap silk from one of the shelves. Holding the trident head still I drop the silk scrap against it and make sure that the silk parts like butter with no pressure at all on it. This weapon would now cut through just about anything. The next step was buffing and I had another wheel that looked similar to the sharpening stone only this wheel had rep cloths attached all the way around it. Thousands of small pieces of cloth that once the wheel is turning to look like one solid piece of fabric. I begin to work a shine onto the trident head. Moving it in very much the same way that I did the head against the sharpening stone but this time I am drawing out an immaculate shine across the entire trident head. Once that is completed I get up from the seat and set the trident head down onto the workbench, catching my breath for a moment.
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Post by Admin on Jun 21, 2021 21:17:55 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on Jun 21, 2021 21:28:08 GMT -5
(06/21/21-[19:24:14] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: I step back into the forge to complete the final sections of the trident for Ericius. The trident head is already complete and has a nice shine on it. The design that was embossed into the mold shows really nicely on the head of the trident. It is fully sharpened and ready to go. Now all that is left is to attach the head of the trident to the shaft, slide the metal wrap around where the hand will go and attach that, and then to attach the pommel at the end so that the weapon will not slip out of the hand when extended. I already had the steel rod, it was lacquered in black so the weapon would look nice when it was complete. I open the door to the furnace. I did not need to heat the rivets up much but I would set them in the fire for a few moments. I slide on my heavy gloves and apron and get the fire going good before setting all the pieces out on the workbench. I would start by attaching the steel rings in the middle with a rivet so I set the first of the three steel rivets into the fire with my tongs. Allowing the metal to heat up enough that it will easily expand once pressure is applied with a hammer. I turn back to the workbench and slide the metal rings around the center of the steel shaft of the trident. I then take the small rivet out of the fires with a pair of tongs and slide it through the holes that are already prepared in the shaft and in the steel rings that work as handles. I then slide a piece of wood under the trident and carefully hit the rivet. It expands easily within the hole, permanently locking the metal rings onto the shaft. I then turn the shaft over and hit the rivet from the other side. Testing the work for a moment and finding myself satisfied I set the second rivet into the fire.
(06/21/21-[19:27:54] )
[PIC]
|..Exavier Exeter..|
==at a shop in the village==
says to Everyone: I then repeat the same thing with affixing the head of the trident onto the shaft and the pommel of the trident onto the shaft. I then take a few moments to wipe it down and step out into an open area of the forge. I start to swing the trident around testing it for balance. I am able to quickly shift my hands around on the haft of the trident and it flashes int the low light of the forge. I twist it this way and that and then I step to another area in the forge complex where I can try throwing the trident. I am much more adept at throwing things like axes but I had fished with tridents in the marshes many years ago with Durriken and Cyrus so I figured it was muscle memory to a certain extent. I use my left hand since it is dominant but the weapon would be equally comfortable in either hand. Hefting it over my shoulder I throw it at a wooden block about 10 paces away. It flies true and strikes the block, the super sharp tines digging into the wood. I move over and retrieve it. The weapon would cut, it would throw, and it would draw copious amounts of blood in a fight. It would do. I head back into my corner of the forge and set the weapon on the workbench. I carefully wrap it in oiled leather. Another project complete.
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