[The Arms Gallery] A chisel is just a tool.

by **Valdr** on July 31st, 2014, 6:18 pm

3rd of Summer, 514

The glowing rod of steel lay flat on the anvil, held in place by a pair tongs. The strike of the hammer on the heated metal rang out sharply each time it landed. Valdr had to take care to keep his hand holding the steel in place steady; if the metal jumped around each time he struck it the resulting tool might come out uneven. His chisel was finally beginning to take form, what was first two separate steel billets was now a rounded rod. The next phase of the forging included hammering the shape of the chisel, after which came the grinding. He worked the hammer along the length of the rod, flattening both the side he struck and the side that lay against the anvil. He started on one end, slowly making his way towards the other. Once he did he would quickly place the rod back into the forging fire, trying to keep it from cooling down too much.

For ten ticks he kept the rod in the fire, pumping the bellows once to get airflow into the forge. With the tongs he picked the rod up and placed it once more on the anvil. His hammer fell on the soon to be chisel and he repeated the process three times more. By the end of it, he had flattened two opposite sides, upsetting the metal just enough to create a slight bulge on what was now the edge. Valdr reheated the tool to be, stoking the forge so that the metal would heat evenly and reach the forging temperature.

He purposefully kept the flames from reaching too high. If the metal became too hot too quickly, the steel could warp and he would have to first correct it before continuing. When roughly a chime passed, he took the chisel out of the fire and placed it on the anvil. He turned the metal, now glowing a bright yellow, on an angle, resting on one of its curved surfaces. He began striking it, sparks flying as his hammer hit the searing metal. He worked carefully, often having to turn the rod onto its flat side to correct any upset and maintain its shape. He did this for both sides, eventually hammering out the once round rod into a hexagonal shape. Valdr held it up, inspecting it. He had managed to flatten out the overall shape of the hexagon, which was the desired effect as it would be easyier to create the actual wedge of the chisel, however he had struck the metal somewhat too strong on the last pass and as a result it had become uneven. Metal had cooled, now only a vibrant orange, but it was still hot enough to make his corrections. Once finished he laid the piece of metal onto the coals of the forge, reheating it so that he could create the wedge.

by **Valdr** on July 31st, 2014, 9:31 pm

Hammering out the wedge would take some delicacy, as he didn’t want to damage the overall structure of the tool. But before he began, he would need to relieve some of the stress that the forging had imposed on the steel. He removed the now hexagonal rod from the flames using the same tongs he had all along, grabbing it by one of its ends. In order to relieve the built up stress in the metal, Valdr had to let it cool down slowly on its own. So with the half-finished tool hanging from the tongs, he began to sway his hand back in forth gently, swinging the glowing piece of metal softly through the air. He held it somewhat away from his body, because even though he wore his blacksmiths apron, should the metal slip from the tongs it could still hurt. He had managed to gain a burn or two during his apprentice that way.

The light from the metal began to slowly fade as it swung in the air. At first it was a solid yellow, reminiscent of gold, with the occasional spark flying off. Its hue softened into a bright orange, Its inner glow slowly fading. As the color dulled from a bright orange, to a deeper tone and finally to red, Valdr could not help but to be reminded of the setting sun, and not for the first time marveled at his craft. In all it took him 7 chimes, as best he could tell for the metal to cool completely down. Its surface was grey and scaly from the forging process, so he took a steel brush and swiped the metal teeth along its surface, removing the scale that had built up. Once smooth, Valdr heated the forge up once more, as he had let it simmer down in the interim, adding some more charcoal to the forge as he pumped air into it. By now his arms began to ache, as was usually in any forging, and he was determined to finish the job as quickly as possible, so as not to make any mistakes due to wariness.

Since he only needed now to work on the wedge, Valdr placed only the end of the rod which he intended for the wedge to go into the flames. Holding the rod in place with one arm, He pumped the bellows with the other, feeding the hungry forge the air it needed to sustain itself pausing only briefly to stoke the embers, freeing up more heat. Drops of sweat formed and began to race down his neck, back, and muscled arms. He waited until the metal reached its forging heat, the heat it needed to properly be hammered into the desired shape, before pulling it out in a quick motion. He placed the glowing end on the anvil at an angle, about halfway between standing upright and laying down flat. Holding his hammer in such a way to allow for the angled rod, Valdr struck the metal.

It had to be done carefully, and each strike had to be measured to take into account the angle. As a result Valdr had to briefly pause between strikes, for no more than a tick, to readjust and measure where his hammer would land. With each blow of the hammer, the wedge of the chisel became more and more defined, drawing out the end by compressing it into an edge. As a side effect of this, he was upsetting the metal, inadvertently widening it where he worked. This was easily remedied however, as all he needed to do was lay the rod down on its side and careful hammer the widened part back into shape. Overall, this was the quickest part of the forging process, as he did not even need to reheat the piece before he was done.

As the metal cooled on the anvil, Valdr allowed himself a tiny satisfied grin. Before him lay a chisel, albeit still unrefined. Now all that was left was to grind and polish it.

by **Valdr** on August 4th, 2014, 8:57 pm

In order to grind and polish the steel, he had to harden the metal. As it were it was still too soft and would otherwise bend and loose its shape during the process. In order to harden the metal, Valdr knew that he had to rapidly cool the chisel by quenching it. So for the final time Valdr placed the chisel in forge, ensure that the metal was completely covered by the forge fire. He pumped the bellows for another half a chime, while raking the glowing embers so that the fire could reach its forging heat.

Once done with that, he left the rod in the fire and began to prepare the grinding stones. On the bench were assorted a number of stones, of various grain all in a rectangular shape. From them, he choose three stones, of descending roughness and size; the finer stone being the smallest. He also prepared a small bowl of water, from which he would wet the chisel to lubricate the grinding process. All this took him no more than a chime.

Once he was ready, Valdr returned to the forge and with his tongs picked up the now glowing metal. Inspecting it one last time to make sure that it had heated evenly, Valdr moved to a trough along one of the walls filled with water. It was long and only a few thumb widths deep, perfect for swords, tools and other, shallow projects. Holding the chisel by the middle, he released the tongs letting it fall into the water. Immediately the water jumped and broiled and hissed as the heated metal sunk. He waited as the water calmed, watching the steam rise and dance along the small room that made up his workspace. Once the water soothed, Valdr reached in with the tongs and removed the chisel from the trough. He brought it up close to his face, in order to inspect if it had deformed or not. This was a crucial step. If it had deformed or even cracked, he would be unable to correct it and would have to begin all over again.

Thankfully, it had retained its shape without any signs of cracking. He muttered a quick prayer to Izurdin in thanks, and moved over the workstation. He grabbed the first grinding stone, the roughest of the three and began to work removing the blackened scale that had formed over the steel during the quenching. In slow, defined motions, he swept the stone along the length of the steel. The scale came off easily, flaking off onto the stone and staining his fingers. He moved the stone with one hand, while other the chisel in place. He did this for all six faces of the tool, even the edge. He would repeat the process with the second and third stones, smoothing out the bumps and scratches made by the first stone. This was all that occupied Valdr’s mind, all else taken being pushed back while he worked his craft. With the final stone, the finest of the three, Valdr mainly focused on the wedge that he had created. For chisels, strength of the edge was more important than its sharpness, so he was careful to avoid over grinding. The steel reflected the low firelight that came from the forge; projecting dancing images along the stone wall. As he neared completion, Valdr inspected his handiwork. The bright shine of the steel was visible, and its structure looked sound. In all, he was pleased with his work. Now all he had to do was give it to one of the wood workers so that they could craft a handle for it, and his chisel would be complete.

Once he placed the finished tool down on the workbench, the aches and sores associated with his craft finally came to fore. The good amount of time spent leaning over the anvil, and working the metal tired out his arms, and the time spent hunched over the grinding stones sored his back. He was tired. Unfortunately however his job was not done. Part of being a craftsmen was maintaining his work place, and in a forge, that was doubly important as it also reduced the risk of accidents. So he set out to place everything back to where it belonged as he let the fire of the forge die out. He would need to clean it and the anvil before his next project, and while he could wait to do it tomorrow, he preferred to do it now. It would be a bell or two before he could return to his room and rest. But at least, he had a new tool, one created by his own hand, and so a weary smile adorned his face as he set about cleaning up.

Journal · by **Alaia** on August 6th, 2014, 4:25 pm

Valdr

Valdr :

I will do my best to give you what grades you have earned! However, if there is something you feel I missed or anything you have questions on please don't hesitate to PM me and we can talk.

Blacksmithing	+3 XP
Observation	+3 XP
Endurance	+2 XP

Solo [The Arms Gallery] A chisel is just a tool.