Widgetry 0.1
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2022 2:08 am
13th of Cylus 722
Finally, after what seemed like arcs, Lorogh would begin his formal introduction to learning in a structured curriculum. While it was a correspondence style course, at least for the time he'd remain in Winter's Reach, he was sure that the people preparing the study materials would know what they were doing, and provide him with a sufficient challenge to his technological skills. He tore open the package he'd brought in from the cold, the one that would hold the schematics he'd been informed would be arriving. He tossed aside the protective covering of the package, and revealed a small booklet full of schematica.
His hands shook as he lifted it out of its box, and began gently flipping through the pages, treating every corner of every page as if it were as valuable as gold leaf. He saw what they wanted him to build. It was shown plainly in full construction on the first page, and every subsequent page seemed to deconstruct it further. He was confused, was there a reason they presented the study materials in reverse order?
He furrowed his brow, as he turned another page and another, and Lorogh found himself lost in the complexity of the schematics. Well, the thing he had to build was simple enough, it looked like an exhaust system of sorts, powered by either running water, or a wind source. Mill tech. having grown up in the waterways of Saoire's Dream, he was well familiar with Mills and the like, mostly just the toy variety that his fellows grew up playing with and constructing. And while he as confident he could create one to fit the needs of this exhaust system, there was one thing that eluded him here.
The widgets to create the gadget in question were far beyond his ability to forge himself. This would not do. The scale of hte project demanded much time and focus, and he couldn't very well ask or really afford the wages of Lyle to the point where he could monopolize the village smith's services. It was then he had the idea, that he would learn smithing himself, for once and for all!
He gently flipped through a few more pages, to just be sure of what was needed for this first challenge. Lots of parts that would endure high stress, for which metal of a kind was needed. Iron if not idalinium. Wood would not do!
Thus resolved, he repeated his lookover of the learning materials at least twice more, enjoying the detail therein as much as if he were a debutante looking through an art gallery. And every bit as intrigued and inspired by what he saw.
However, time was always of an essence, and Lorogh needed to satisfy his educational requirements. He needed lessons in smithing, lessons that Lyle had offered once upon a time, but Lorogh didn't imagine he'd take him up so soon.
Well, it was worth a shot to see if he was still willing!
Lorogh stood in front of Lyle's outdoor forge, scratching his chin as he regarded the large structure that was his furnace. Certainly the shape of the furnace was interesting, in an almost aesthetic curve of its corners and construction. One thing made Lorogh wonder, however. "Why have the furnace outdoors, Lyle? Certainly the cold makes it more difficult to reach the melting point of the metals?"
Lyle gave a sideways smirk to Lorogh, as he prepared the materials they'd need for the impromptu lesson. "The gasses that metals give off, they's toxic, so you gotta let them boil out of the metal. Now, the most important part of smithing, the part that is almost fundamental to every other part, is the foundry of metal. Whether it be scrap, recycled, or virgin material. You need to understand how to create molten metal, and the processes that go into all of that."
Lorogh nodded, and watched carefully what his friend did with the materials. He was gathering some scrap iron from some spare tools that had been traded in for nels.
"And the real important part of degassing metals, apart from not suffocating oneself in a cramped and stuffy forge with no ventilation, is the kind of gas needed to remove that which needs to bubble to the top." So Lyle showed him the materials he meant to add to the mixture of metal. This he placed at the bottom of the crucible, so that it's material as it burned and boiled, would rise to the top, carrying the gasses from the bottom to the top.
Within the next break, Lorogh helped him out, heating the furnace with bellows feeding the fire and coals, burning ever hotter as the concentrated heat melted that metal material and gaseous emanations. It took a good amount of effort to pump the bellows, but Lorogh was stout and used to hard work since he started with the Legion.
Eventually, after about half a break, Lyle beckoned for Lorogh to leave the bellows, and see what product that had formed in the crucible. There, he saw at the bottom of the cauldron-type vessel, the molten metal. He nodded toward the metal, "See the bubbles? That's the gas we don't need, getting carried out of the metal."
"What kind of gas, what's it called?"
Lyle shrugged at him, "I don't know... Maybe one of your fancy educated scientists might know? Might be worth asking if yer ever attend a in person class." The smith winked at Lorogh. Then he returned to the task of feeding the flames with oxygen from the bellows.
Lorogh joined him as he was bid, and thus they continued to melt the metal.
Eventually, their task was completed, and the metal had gathered and coalesced into a solid piece. But they had to remove it from the slag where it'd dried and solidified in the cauldron. This was a careful process, and Lyle warned Lorogh against it, warning that the slag was sharp and could be dangerous to handle, and that one had to be patient in the removal of useable metal.
Yet, in another half break, they had their piece of metal. "This needs further refinement." Lyle said, his eyes turning toward Lorogh. "Sometimes it's best to put it through smelting several times, to be sure the waste material and slag is all gone out of the metal, not to mention the gasses we don't want."
Thus they spent the rest of the afternoon, just boiling it again and finally, at the end, siphoning the finished iron liquid into a groove which formed ingots of finished iron, such as they were.
Lyle beheld the finished product, and waved a hand over them. "This has got the right kind of stuff for your 'widgets'. Spring steel, as best as I can do."
Lorogh looked at the metal, and grinned in excitement. But he was hedging now, wondering how he could turn this from ingots of metal into long springs, the sort that he'd need for his work. He looked up at Lyle, and the smith winked at the cadouri.
"We'll draw it out, around a cylinder. That'll create a sort of shape of your basic torsion spring."
"Amazing." Lorogh murmured. He'd only seen torsion springs made from fibers and textiles, coiled in ballistae and turned with a central winch to create tension over the bow limbs. He wondered at the possibilities when it came to using metal the same way. The potential uses.
But for now, he was focused on the technique that Lyle was willing to show him, to produce these small torsion springs.
The process took them into the shop itself, where the refined metal could safely be heated to near melting, and stretched to create a wire-like thinness over the length of the metal. This was then wrapped around a cylinder the width of which was called for by Lorogh's instructions.
Lorogh assisted him as much as he could, holding his tools when directed, and pulling or drawing out the metal where needed, and just doing the job of an extra pair of hands.
They heat treated the metal, to make certain that it had the proper amount of carbon and material structure to allow for flexibility.
Soon enough, at the end of the night, they had several, four steel torsion springs, all of which fit neatly into the hands of Lorogh. He stuffed them into his domain bag, and then went off, "Thank you Lyle! And do be sure to call on me if you need help with any woodwork or the like! I may have conjured a solution to your indoor ventilation problem, by the way! What do you think about wind-powered ventilation system??" It was worth investigating, at least, as far as Lorogh could see, to harness the wind or the water to turn a mill and thus power cyclonic motion to expel gasses from the forge.
It was just a rough idea at the moment, but he would work through it in time.
