Chapter 211 Real Dagger Forging (2/2)
We went to the workshop, and he started the demonstration. ”We will use Steel again, for the purpose of this lesson. When creating a dagger, a whole Steel Ingot, would be too much, so first, we will need separate the ingot into half”. He started heating up the Steel, until it became red hot, then using a special hammer, separated the Ingot into two halves.
He then continued ”First step is called Shaping, as you already learned with swords. I will be striking the bar, until I get the general look of a dagger”. He struck the metal with a hammer, from left and right. Sometimes flattening the piece of metal, and sometimes thickening some parts. In the end, he created a general shape of a dagger. It wasn't as intricate as mine, but it was still a curved dagger.
The old Lizard then said ”Now that I have the general design of the dagger created, I will show you the next step, which is called Tempering, it will be a bit different, than before”. He cooled down the dagger in a barrel of water, then heated it up again. When the dagger was red hot, he bagan flattening it, then returning it to the previous state. He repeated that five times, then cooled the dagger to a greater degree, until it was only hot to touch.
With all of that done, he said ”I now need to Shape it, for the last time. I will give it a more defined edge, as well as create the handle piece, to which we will attach the Holder”. I nodded my head and watch the process. He heated up the dagger again, then flattened one side of it, to create an edge of the blade. When he was done with the Shaping, he then flattened the back side of the dagger, to create a very thin handle.
The old Lizard said ”This is a Flattened Style handle. You can slide a more comfortable and well design handle on top of it. The advantage, is that the handles can be exchanged that way. I will now show you the second method”. He started reshaping the dagger a bit. The dagger became a bit smaller, as he had to borrow the materials, in order to build up the handle. He created a rounded handle, that could be used, without any sort of materials strapped around it.
”This is called Complete Style handle, where you can add some sort of string, rope or material, for better comfort, but the shape will not change. You wouldn't be able to attach a handle, like you could with the Flattened Style handle” he said. I nodded and asked ”Which one is better?”.
The old Lizard said ”That depends, on what you are going to do with that dagger. If you want to fight in close combat, a thick metal handle is better, because it's more durable, and the dagger has less probability of breaking. On the other hand, if you are going for the lightness and agility, a Flattened Style handle would be better”.
He then continued ”Now we cool the dagger completely. This is simple Steel, so water is fine, but more rare and unusual ingots, require different tempering baths. For example, if you were to create a dagger from Black Steel Ingots, you would need to use distilled water. A water that has been cooked couple of times, then cooled down, and sieved from all the impurities. This is to make all the minerals inside, disappear”.
I nodded, and asked ”So, now we sharpen and polish the dagger?”. He replied ”Yes, the next process is Sharpening, then we do the last process of Polishing”. He demonstrated that to me as well. He showed me how to properly sharpen the blade, as well as how to polish the whole dagger. When he was done, he passed me the dagger and said ”This is a dagger created by a smith, without using a mould. If you make a mould of this dagger, and cast that using Steel, your dagger would be twice if not three times worse than mine”. I was a bit stunned and said ”That is really good improvement”.
He replied proudly ”Of course! Smithing is not as simple as you may think. Yes, the ingots require a lot of strength, but making ingots is not the whole profession, that smithing is. If you want to call yourself a smith, you must know how to make armors and weapons, not how to cast them”. I nodded my head and thanked him. He returned to his room, while I went back to the tavern, in order to rest.