Chapter 98: The Birth of Carbon Steel Sword Embryo
On the first day, Klavasen forged the iron weight ten times. The sheer repetition made him feel very bored. On the second day, this boredom and boredom continued.
It’s almost Hanukkah, what new things will this year’s festival bring?
If a dagger can be made before the festival that satisfies the financial owner Rurik, the leader Otto will surely be satisfied as well.
The next day, Rurik was still hanging out in the blacksmith shop. He was supervising the work of the blacksmith and chatting about daily life in order to eliminate boredom.
If there was anything new to the two blacksmiths, it was using the soap they bought for two silver coins after finishing a day's work.
His hands were full of slag and carbon powder, and there were ashes between his fingernails. He also had a huge beard and hair that had been swollen by the heat of the flames. Klavasen always felt that the work of a blacksmith could turn a person into a big lump of smoke.
The meat will always smell of burning charcoal.
The use of soap changed everything.
The blacksmith shoveled snow into a pottery jar from the outdoors at will, and the jar was roasted on the fire. They then used clean hot water to give themselves a good cleaning.
The wooden door is closed, and the pottery urn is full of hot water. If you want more hot water, it is easy to get it.
"Today's work is really tiring, but fortunately your soap can save us." Clavason looked at the door while taking off his linen lining. At the same time, young Kawei was also doing this.
Rurik immediately understood that they were not simply washing their hands and hair, but taking a shower.
Their performance did not strike Rurik as strange at all, and their subsequent performance struck him as even more amazing.
Clavassen used iron tongs to cover the furnace lid made of an iron plate, and when it was heated, he poured water on it. The cold water immediately turned into a large amount of steam, and after a while, the originally dry blacksmith shop became a sealed steam bath.
The whole room was enveloped in hot and humid mist.
Rurik could barely see that the two guys were already wiping their bodies with wet linen cloth. Kawei was also self-taught, holding soap and rubbing it hard on his skin.
In the absence of a shower, this method of boiling water and wiping the body is probably the cheapest way to clean, but they also have to make the house damp by the way, so they have to go to a sauna.
But this is not a sauna, it is just Klavasen's method of trying to make things warmer. As for the steam getting the dry clothes wet, don't worry. After the bath is over, the wooden door and closed chimney are opened, and the room will soon be dry again.
They all cleaned themselves up, and Rurik did the same.
At different times and places, rub your whole body with soap and then rinse it off with hot water.
"Ah! At least this will give you a sense of modern life..."
Or after taking a bath, Rurik slept deeply that night.
Life is generally quiet and slow. On cold nights, those who intend to go elsewhere to plunder and enrich their money boxes have to stop.
The adults stay in their warm homes and wait boredly for the ice and snow to melt, while the children spend almost all their childhood in boredom.
The feeling of boredom has always been with Rurik, and he felt that he had to do something. He was too young before, and he couldn't accomplish anything at the age of five or six.
According to tradition, you can claim to be eight years old in the new spring. This Nordic body has obviously grown faster. As height and strength enter a period of rapid growth, people's subjective initiative also needs to be improved.
Teaching the blacksmiths iron smelting techniques that are more advanced than those of their peers in this time and space is a useful start. After that, he will definitely make greater achievements in the research and development and production of weapons.
So, can a dagger with a medium carbon steel body and a high carbon steel blade be successful? It depends on the in-depth processing in the next few days.
After a relaxing bath, the soap took away the mud and smoky smell from the two blacksmiths, and seemed to take away their fatigue.
On a new day, Klavason and Kawei started to repeat the work of the previous two days with 100% energy.
Repeat ten times every day, and each cycle has been calcined to a critical point.
In fact, when iron bars are wrapped with plant ash and carbon powder and calcined, the penetration efficiency of carbon molecules is still poor. Compared with the carburizing method for making alloy steel, it is not as efficient as the carbon loss method. That is the limit temperature of charcoal combustion in blast furnaces.
A large amount of liquid pig iron is used, and some methods are used to decarbonize the pig iron. Only this method can produce carbon steel more efficiently, and there is no need for the exhausting blacksmith process of "fifty refinements" or "hundred refinements".
As long as the money is enough, Klavasen and Kawei will no longer complain.
Blacksmiths, their identities in any tribe are complicated.
The blacksmith did not believe in Odin, so he was naturally sent out of the battle by the warriors of the tribe. However, all production activities of the tribe required blacksmiths to create tools for them, and the tribe, especially the warriors, especially needed them.
Due to the characteristics of traditional block iron smelting, it is most suitable to be made into an axe. One edge of the axe is a sharp weapon, and the other side is the hammer head. The ax blade is the key to felling wood, and the hammer head can smash the enemy's armor. The battle axe
It's a suitable weapon, but it's just too bulky.
Normally, unless a warrior's ax blade breaks, they will find a local blacksmith to help repair it.
The so-called practice of kindness is not much different from what Klavason is doing now.
But to others, the work of doing good deeds is like the blacksmith heating the damaged goods red and knocking them back to their original state. It seems that as long as they master the heat, any strong person can easily complete it. Just for doing good deeds, Clavarson's customers will not pay much.
Money is often only a few dozen copper coins.
Normally, he could only earn one silver coin after completing the repair of three axes, and the charcoal consumption during the repair process must also be considered.
To repair the tomahawk, that means banging on a huge piece of iron. Compared with the iron bar that is only one-third the length of a Stika that Rurik requested, any banging is not very troublesome.
If they were all tools for repairing this size, Klavasen calculated that it would take six repairs to earn one silver coin. Thinking about it this way, the silver coins given by Rurik were indeed more.
This was the case on the third day, and the same was true on the fourth day. On the fifth day, the requirement of repeated calcining and forging fifty times as required by Rurik was getting closer and closer, and Klavasen's mood became more and more excited.
As a professional blacksmith family in the tribe, the family is not very prosperous. He attributes this to fate.
However, his son inherited the blacksmith's career very well. After working for a long time, the two of them still figured out some skills from the boring work.
Although they did not spontaneously invent some new technologies to make iron smelting more efficient.
They had good skills in smelting bronze, and in clay mold casting they could cast bronzes with rather strange looks, such as those sold or given to the priests' longhouses.
For example, in the smelting of bronzes, the amount of tin and lead determines the color of the bronzes. The two of them already knew how to mix the weight of the raw materials to create the most suitable alloy solution, and they had already made gleaming bronzes.
But in terms of iron smelting, the iron weights made by the two men were all black, which seemed to be the case with iron.
After making the ax and sword, they need to be polished. It can reflect the luster of beautiful metals. For example, the iron sword is a very nice silver-gray color, but it does not withstand chopping at all, such as chopping stones hard several times.
, the blade of the sword curled.
Klavasen always knew it well, counting the number of times the iron bars were fired and forged.
His forehead was covered with sweat, and he asked excitedly: "Rurik, this is the forty-ninth time, and our mission is about to end."
"It's almost done?!" Rurik stood up suddenly and patted the dust on his leather jacket. "Keep doing it. I have new requirements after completing it fifty times."
"Well, my boy. Now there are some strange changes in this iron bar."
"Oh? What is that?"
"Its color has changed in the past few days." Klavason could no longer hide his doubts, because in decades, he had not seen the ironware he made, except that it would turn red all over because of rust.
There are other color changes in the iron. "I think the color of this iron bar became brighter after it cooled."
The description of the color caught Rurik's nerves instantly.
Rurik hurried to the hot stove: "Really? Let it cool naturally and let me see the color change."
The folded and forged iron weights turned into iron bars again, and the open wooden door allowed the cold air from outdoors to pour in. The room became cold, but it was still hot next to the stove.
Under the influence of the cold wind, the color of the iron bar that has gone through forty-nine tempers has really changed!
It was completely cooled and held in Klavasen's hand. As long as it was compared with the iron tongs made of wrought iron, the color difference between the two could be clearly seen.
It's as if sunlight shines on the forty-nine iron bars, and its color is obviously brighter. It also seems that a little white dye has been added to make the iron bars whiter.
Is it really spiked? Of course! That’s carbon!
Rurik was as happy as if he had eaten honey. He stamped his feet and screamed as hard as he could. The joyful celebration scene showed that the five days of hard work of the blacksmiths were not in vain.
"Are we successful now?" Klavason held down the excited Rurik.
"Yes! It was basically successful. I did it for the last time, smeared grease with ash and carbon powder, and calcined it for the last time. Then it cooled naturally and made it look like a sword."
It was finally time to make the sword embryo, and Klavason took it for granted that this was Rurik's last request.
It seems that as long as he works harder tonight, the sword Rurik wants will reach the final stage of sharpening.
The last calcining was completed in the blacksmith's eager anticipation, and the bucket of water finally leaked completely. Clavassen couldn't wait to use the tongs to take out the red iron bar. Can it still be called an iron bar now?
No, at least they are low carbon steel bars!
Instead of folding it and forging it, Klavason and his son Kawei worked together to strike while the iron was hot.
Shaping iron bars into the shape of a dagger was really their specialty, and based on past habits and traditions, the shape of the sword was different from what Rurik had imagined.
Swords made of wrought iron are not suitable for cutting. Indeed, the invention of the sword was to lengthen the spearhead as much as possible. From the beginning, the killing method of the sword was mainly stabbing.
The wrought iron sword inherited this tradition, so the Clavarsons, on the one hand, wanted to hammer the sword into a shape with a middle spine, and it also had a terrifying sharp edge to achieve the best thrust effect at one time.
In the past, iron swords were made in this way. Klavasen follows this method. Is it also suitable for the processing of steel swords?
The shape of the dagger satisfied Rurik. Look at the sharp blade. Even without an edge, it was still very dangerous.
After a lot of hard knocking, coupled with countless fine chisels, the dagger became more and more beautiful.
"As long as it is quenched for the last time, it should be done. As long as we sharpen it, we can try to see if it can cut off iron blocks." Klavasen said, and asked his son Kawei to turn out the whetstone.
.
Rurik immediately stopped Kawei and ordered: "There is still very crucial work that has not been done!"
"Ah? What else?" Karavarson asked.
"The sword will stay like this for now. Blacksmith, you go make some more mud."
"Okay...okay."
Klavason didn't know what the child wanted mud for. He never lacked clay mud here, because all the furnaces in his house actually needed a long time to repair. Those iron smelting slags are actually some disaster materials. Once they accumulate too much, they will
The bottom layer of the furnace is damaged. Therefore, the furnace needs to be repaired every once in a while, and the repair material is clay.
Some mud has been made, but actually it cannot be called mud. It is more appropriate to call it a mud block.
Here, Rurik personally kneaded the mud into strips as if kneading dough, and attached the mud strips to the back of the sword with backbones on both sides. After flattening, only the prepared cutting edge was exposed.
"Rurik, you...what are you going to do?" Klavasen asked with a puzzled look.
"Of course, cover it with soil and calcine the blade. Believe me, doing this will make the blade the hardest thing in the world." Rurik said this deliberately, but in this era, it seems that humans can't make anything stronger than high carbon.
Steel is harder for practical tools.
He continued: "You can grease the blade of the sword, stick it with plant ash and charcoal, and continue to burn it over fire. But this time we will burn it for a long time."
"about how long?"
"This..." Rurik didn't know what to do, so he said it naturally: "Five buckets of water. When all five buckets of water are drained, we will take out the sword again and we will quench it directly."
How long does it take for a bucket of water to flow from the small hole? Rurik felt that it was not a short time.
In fact, it would take at least ten minutes for it to flow out. The "five buckets of water time" mentioned by Rurik patting his thigh was already barely more than an hour.
Karavasin didn't waste any time. He put the sword into the charcoal pile again and began to cover it with soil and burn the blade.
Until now, Rurik still has not told the blacksmith the series of incredible processing methods he requested and the principles behind them.
Even now, Klavason has been asking, does the calcined iron sword also produce a piece of ceramic?
Indeed, with more time, any shape of clay can be fired into pottery pieces. The processing method of pottery is very simple. As long as there is enough clay, mass production of pottery is possible.
The "five buckets of water time" finally passed amidst people's anxiety, and Klavasen couldn't wait to take out the sword with two pottery fragments attached to it.
The Tao attachment peeled off the moment it left the fire. Klavason looked at the sword embryo held by the tongs with experience and thought deeply.
Rurik hurriedly urged: "Quench quickly! Use snow water directly this time! Hurry."
There was no oil quenching, this time it was directly water quenching. The iron bar that had been heated to 600 degrees cooled down rapidly, and within a few seconds it dropped to a level that could be touched by human hands.
Now, Klavasen realized that the sword embryo in his hand was really incredible. Because its whole body was still bright white, and there were many small unevennesses on it that needed to be polished, but they could not cover up its appearance at all.
Unique color.
The most amazing thing is that the areas prepared for cutting are the brightest and whitest, as if they are not the same material as the back.
Unlike Klavasen and Kawei, Rurik was only happy here.
"Haha! I succeeded!"
"Kid? We really succeeded?!"
"Of course. Blacksmith, thank you for doing it now. I am very happy that you helped me sharpen the blade and sharpen it as much as possible. For this, I will pay you two more silver coins now."
"Oh? There's still money?" Karavarson was very pleased with Rurik's further generosity.
"Of course! But I must tell you that this sword is completely different from the ones you made before. Its cutting is probably a more laborious process. But your hard work will have good results."
"You mean you can cut off the iron sword in my warehouse with a sharp blade?!" Clava asked.
"Of course! I will always be with you. When my sword cuts off your ordinary iron swords, I will tell you how everything works. From then on, you can make swords."
At this moment, Klavasen felt that the blacksmithing skills he had learned from his dead father were too weak. If everything came true, he would have to kneel down and face Rurik, the "Blesser of Odin", to thank him.
Granted "advanced blacksmithing technology from Valhalla".