Timestamp: 26th of Ymiden, Arc 721
When he'd started forging, Prae had expected it would be all blades and spears and shields (Prae hadn't learned how to make armor just yet). But then he'd found his friends in charge of a settlement of their own, and, well. It turned out a growing settlement needed tools far more than they needed weapons.
Which was how Praetorum found himself holding a shovel in front of his face, studying it carefully. It didn't seem too difficult to make, surely. It was only two pieces, a head with a socket, and a handle with a grip. Easy.
Well. Probably not easy. But doable.
He started with the head. Fortunately, he already had some metal in thin sheets—Aurelia had a rolling mill she used to make sheet metal for armor, and Prae had used some scrap iron to experiment with it earlier. Selecting a piece that was more or less the right size for a human sized shovel, Prae pulled out the metal shears, and carefully, laboriously cut the metal into shape. Then, he lit the fire in the forge, threw the metal in, and went to grab the pole for the shaft while he waited.
After some rummaging around, Prae found a pole that was more or less the width he needed. Bringing it back with him into the forge, he set it against a table, then pulled the metal out of the fire. Since the metal was already flat, he mostly just had to make the step and the socket. The step was the upper part of the blade, where a worker might plant a boot to help dig into frozen earth. All he needed to do there was bend a bit of the metal there to make a small flat edge on the top of the shovel blade that a human could step on safely. Some hammering on the edge of the anvil did the trick for that.
The slightly harder part was the socket. Luckily, Prae had some experience there—the process was almost identical to that of making a spear, which Prae did know how to do. Using the horn of the anvil, Prae first pinched off the part nearest to the blade by hammering it lightly, then continued the curve down the length of the socket until it was in a U shape. Then, Prae hunted around for a mandrill about the right size. Setting it in the half finished socket, Prae gently hammered the socket around the slightly conical mandrill, until it was almost, but not quite closed around it.
Setting the shovel blade aside, he took up the pole he'd found earlier. Using a saw, he carefully cut it down to size, but not before checking and double checking that it was right—the last thing he wanted to do was waste time and material. Since the pole was the right length and width, it was basically almost done. All Prae had to do was whittle down one end a little, until it matched the slightly tapered inside of the socket.
This part took some time—Prae had only recently started taking up woodworking as well as forging, and his hand was still a hair unsteady. But Aurelia had shown him that if he was to be forging weaponry, it was a skill he would have to pick up, at least a little.
When he was done, he set the socket of the shovel back into the fire, just for a short while. Then, pulling it out, he clamped the blade of the shovel to his worktable, and firmly wedged the pole into the socket. Then, before the metal could cool down, Prae started hammering the socket shut around the pole, which had caught just a little bit on fire from the heat. That was normal, and Prae ignored it as he focused on making a tight fit between the metal and the wood. It would be even tighter once the metal cooled, he knew, but he wanted to do his best all the same. The last thing Haven needed was shovels that fell apart at the first opportunity.
After that, all there was left to do was wait for the socket to cool, and test the shovel out. In theory, this was the point when Prae should be making a grip for the handle, but the truth was, he wasn't sure how to do that. It'd be fine, he decided. You saw this sort of straight handled shovel all the time.
Looking at the length of wood he had left, it occurred to Prae he had almost exactly enough for a second shovel. He pondered it for a moment, then went to go find some more metal.
What the hell, he decided. It never hurt to have a spare.
When he'd started forging, Prae had expected it would be all blades and spears and shields (Prae hadn't learned how to make armor just yet). But then he'd found his friends in charge of a settlement of their own, and, well. It turned out a growing settlement needed tools far more than they needed weapons.
Which was how Praetorum found himself holding a shovel in front of his face, studying it carefully. It didn't seem too difficult to make, surely. It was only two pieces, a head with a socket, and a handle with a grip. Easy.
Well. Probably not easy. But doable.
He started with the head. Fortunately, he already had some metal in thin sheets—Aurelia had a rolling mill she used to make sheet metal for armor, and Prae had used some scrap iron to experiment with it earlier. Selecting a piece that was more or less the right size for a human sized shovel, Prae pulled out the metal shears, and carefully, laboriously cut the metal into shape. Then, he lit the fire in the forge, threw the metal in, and went to grab the pole for the shaft while he waited.
After some rummaging around, Prae found a pole that was more or less the width he needed. Bringing it back with him into the forge, he set it against a table, then pulled the metal out of the fire. Since the metal was already flat, he mostly just had to make the step and the socket. The step was the upper part of the blade, where a worker might plant a boot to help dig into frozen earth. All he needed to do there was bend a bit of the metal there to make a small flat edge on the top of the shovel blade that a human could step on safely. Some hammering on the edge of the anvil did the trick for that.
The slightly harder part was the socket. Luckily, Prae had some experience there—the process was almost identical to that of making a spear, which Prae did know how to do. Using the horn of the anvil, Prae first pinched off the part nearest to the blade by hammering it lightly, then continued the curve down the length of the socket until it was in a U shape. Then, Prae hunted around for a mandrill about the right size. Setting it in the half finished socket, Prae gently hammered the socket around the slightly conical mandrill, until it was almost, but not quite closed around it.
Setting the shovel blade aside, he took up the pole he'd found earlier. Using a saw, he carefully cut it down to size, but not before checking and double checking that it was right—the last thing he wanted to do was waste time and material. Since the pole was the right length and width, it was basically almost done. All Prae had to do was whittle down one end a little, until it matched the slightly tapered inside of the socket.
This part took some time—Prae had only recently started taking up woodworking as well as forging, and his hand was still a hair unsteady. But Aurelia had shown him that if he was to be forging weaponry, it was a skill he would have to pick up, at least a little.
When he was done, he set the socket of the shovel back into the fire, just for a short while. Then, pulling it out, he clamped the blade of the shovel to his worktable, and firmly wedged the pole into the socket. Then, before the metal could cool down, Prae started hammering the socket shut around the pole, which had caught just a little bit on fire from the heat. That was normal, and Prae ignored it as he focused on making a tight fit between the metal and the wood. It would be even tighter once the metal cooled, he knew, but he wanted to do his best all the same. The last thing Haven needed was shovels that fell apart at the first opportunity.
After that, all there was left to do was wait for the socket to cool, and test the shovel out. In theory, this was the point when Prae should be making a grip for the handle, but the truth was, he wasn't sure how to do that. It'd be fine, he decided. You saw this sort of straight handled shovel all the time.
Looking at the length of wood he had left, it occurred to Prae he had almost exactly enough for a second shovel. He pondered it for a moment, then went to go find some more metal.
What the hell, he decided. It never hurt to have a spare.
