The sword embryo has been completed, and all that remains is the sharpening of the whetstone.
The Klavasen family followed the techniques of their ancestors, using a square whetstone finely carved from a large piece of sandstone to sharpen their swords without stopping.
It was another cold morning. Clavarson placed the whetstone on the platform and the dagger on it.
Now that Rurik is still staying at the blacksmith's house, Klavasen really feels that something is wrong.
"Rurik, you can go back."
"Why?"
"The rest is just sharpening the sword, there is nothing to trouble you anymore ”
“No, I’ll keep watching you work. I want to see how you sharpen your sword.”
“Oh, well, maybe you’ll get bored. "Clavason shook his head slightly, because sharpening a sword is indeed a boring process.
Are there any really good abrasives? Nothing better than a grinding stone made of diamond powder.
Rurik noticed that there were only ordinary whetstones here in Klavashen. If he touched it with his hand, it was just ordinary sandstone.
Although there are a huge amount of quartz particles in the sedimentary sandstone, the simple silica particles can be easily ground away. Simply hold the sword-shaped iron bar with your hands and repeatedly polish it lengthwise to grind out the sword. Blade cutting is by no means an easy job.
Their work is like a traditional kitchen knife sharpener in my impression, and there is no such thing as a simple grinder.
Does Clavarson really not have a grinder?
Rurik deeply felt that the Roman Empire must have had equipment such as grinders. Even if it was manually operated, it would be more efficient than workers manually sharpening swords on a flat surface.
Could it be that after the empire fell, this technology was never introduced to Northern Europe?
Let’s continue to observe first and see how this bearded guy, Klavason, can sharpen the dagger using the most traditional craftsmanship of the Ross tribe.
Rurik once again acted as a spectator. Even though he had many thoughts in his mind, he said nothing now.
Rurik watched quietly. Although the leader Otto's behavior of his son insisting on staying at the blacksmith's house was a bit inappropriate, when he learned that Klavasen had really made it at Rurik's request, When a sword embryo with a unique color came out, his worries were dispelled.
In the five days that Clavarson was working on blacksmithing, the priest produced a total of 120 bars of soap. The soaps are very large, and a family can buy one and use it for a long time.
As a result, each room began to be filled with a special smell. It was not smelly, but even had some fragrance.
As long as it is the first time to use it, everyone who has used it will completely fall in love with it.
An action sweeping the entire tribe is quietly taking place. Many families have a new job in the boring winter - to wash away their own dirt and then clean their clothes.
In just five days, the volume of soap in many households has shrunk a lot, all due to excessive use.
So Otto meandered through the tribeWhile patrolling the twists and turns of the road, a buyer came to him and asked him the truth about the soap's shrinkage.
His explanation is very simple: "Sopa is made from mortal objects using the knowledge given by Odin. It is not the real inexhaustible sacred object of Valhalla. Sopa will be cleaned every time Lose some, and when it is used up, you can come back to me with two silver coins to buy it. I will also ask the priest to make more."
All 120 soaps were sold without any change in price. . As agreed, the priests happily received 24 silver coins. To this day, the "soap workers" led by Bona still feel that they have earned a lot.
In reality, as a "salesman" of soap, Otto would not earn even a copper coin with his only son. He tried his best to sell soap for the sake of his son's future wealth and status.
Rurik has easily earned more than 200 silver coins here, and the wealth of the tribe is concentrating on the chief family at an unprecedented speed! Before this, there was almost no commercial exchange between the chief's family and various families in the tribe.
Although this place is just searching for minzhiminpao, the soap truly brings an unprecedented experience. Once you experience the absolute comfort brought by sopa cleansing your body and clothes, the tribesmen are willing to pay the price of two silver coins.
What should I do if my wealth decreases?
Go and grab it!
The large number of Finnish tribes on the other side of the sea is where the wealth lies. In the past, Sorgon voyages may have been harassed by them. Although the Finns are good at guerrilla warfare, they are very backward in terms of weapons.
They are backward people, and their tribes have not even organized tribal alliances.
As long as the powerful Rus people organize their men to cross the sea and find a tribe to steal all the fur goods they have hoarded, they may become rich.
However, the tribe has not organized manpower to take the initiative to attack them for many years. It seems that the last action was ten years ago, because the tribesmen fled without resistance, and the warriors found some deer in their residence. Skins and sheepskins, as well as a small number of sheep with large horns, are all of value.
Maybe plundering them is not as profitable as risking going south to rob the Finns, but the risk is just too great.
Just because of soap, some families in the tribe are ready to take action.
If you follow the leader to participate in the spring tribute, how much can you get from the Novgorod tribute? If you organize some people spontaneously to launch an attack on the land across the ocean, you may be able to plunder a large amount of wealth without risk, and you will be able to use soap for many years to come.
Otto did not feel this trend of thought at all, and he could not control the spontaneous looting behavior of his tribe. Just report the action plan to yourself, and after it is completed, take out part of the loot and distribute it to the clansmen.
Otto sensed something else, that was Rurik and the blacksmiths moving.
He had seen the silver-white sword embryo, and it was actually stronger than all iron swords in its embryonic stage.Craftsman is brighter!
If it was polished very sharp, could it really cut off an iron sword? If so, wouldn't Blacksmith Klavason be able to do more?
At that time, Klavason just offered 50 silver coins a handful, and many warriors of the tribe also had to use their belongings to buy one, and then pass this "magic sword" to their descendants. Descendants.
So, how should we discuss with Klavason about the share of silver coins earned when producing the "Excalibur" in the future?
Maybe Rurik is already thinking about this.
Right now, Rurik is just staring at the blacksmith's sword-sharpening work. Things like making money are not what he needs to consider now.
A sword can only be successful if it can cut through iron as hard as clay. It must be sharp and hard.
It must be hard, because Clavarson spent most of the day smoothing the slight protrusions on the sword with a small grindstone. The sword has been polished and reflects a charming bright white metallic color in the sunlight. Iron swords in the past were not like this at all!
Rurik knew that only carbon steel could have such a luster!
However, it only takes a lot of time to "skin polish" the sword. You can imagine how long it will take to sharpen the blade.
Although the efficiency of using an emery whetstone is extremely high, the efficiency of an ordinary whetstone is too poor. What's more, the blade to be polished is already high-carbon steel. Excessive hardness will cause the whetstone to grind. Only when it becomes powder can the sword be sharpened.
What’s worse is that maybe Klawasen really doesn’t have a human-powered grinder.
On the first day of sword sharpening, Klavasen’s biggest surprise was the shrinkage of his whetstone.
"Oh, what's going on? I'm very tired, and the whetstone I've been using for a long time has a dent. Rurik..." Klavasen asked in confusion .
"Because this sword is very hard, that's why." Rurik said without changing his expression.
"Perhaps so." The loss of the whetstone was nothing. Clavarson was very happy that this was the result of the hardness of the sword. Although he was tired, his fighting spirit was stronger than in the morning.
"Okay! I'm old. I will be Kava's main player tomorrow and I want to rest my shoulders."
Rurik glanced at Kava who was full of confidence , he still won’t talk about the grinder and will continue to observe it tomorrow.
Sooner or later, you must have a grinding machine, because this machine was forced out by workers in the face of large-scale weapons production.
Ancient Greece and pre-Qin China both spontaneously invented the technology of grinders, because only in this way can spearheads and arrowheads be polished efficiently.
Perhaps with more time, there will be more orders here in Klavasen. Maybe this old guy or Kawei could get inspiration from the wheels of the tribe's small two-wheeled carts and invent a grinder that can sharpen swords.
The first day was a boring day, and the second day was a new boring day. The blacksmith's job is simply to sharpen swords, the active personnel was replaced by Kawei. This strong young man obviously did not make sharpening the sword an easy task.
Kawei and Klawason are like two tool men who have no feelings, they just keep repeating mechanical work.
However, this job seems to be just repetitive, and it is also rich in technology.
Rurik couldn't help but think of two poems, called: It takes ten years to sharpen a sword, but the frost blade has not been tried.
A good sword naturally takes a long time to polish. Who knows how much effort the craftsman put into it?
Time has become very boring. Since I asked to stay here to wait for the polishing of the sword blade to be completed, I should not leave before it is completed.
Three days have passed, until it was dark. After grinding a large whetstone, Klavasen's fingers also got blisters. At this time, he finally It can be declared that the work is coming to a triumphant end.
But now, Klavason was holding back a lot of words because of the strange color of the sword.
He panted and poured water on the second whetstone, and wiped off the water marks on the sword body and stone with a linen cloth.
He gently wiped his forehead and shouted, asking Rurik, who had been watching: "Your sword is finally finished."
"Oh? In three days, Have you finally polished the blade?" Rurik rushed over excitedly, "Let's try using it now? How about cutting the iron sword?"
"It's not good yet, the blade needs further work. Polishing. I have a new question now, maybe your wisdom can answer it for me."
"Look at the blade." He asked: "Why, the blade is brighter in color, and it is obviously different in color from the back of the sword."
"This is very simple, because the blade absorbs more..." Rurik I suddenly want to say "carbon". At first thought, the tribe has always called charcoal "col", which originally means "combustible ember", but what I want to talk about is carbon. There is no such thing as "carbon element" in Norse. concept.
Rurik paused and continued: "I will tell you the clear reason, but now, you have to continue polishing. I am very happy that the color of the blade has become brighter, it will be The key to cutting off the iron sword."
Clavason tried to keep calm and did not continue to ask the child.
“That’s it for today. I hope I can sharpen the sword within two days. Rurik, I must admit that this sword is definitely the hardest sword I have ever seen. I see that when you get the perfect blade, I have already lost two or three whetstones." As he spoke, a wry smile broke out in Klavasen's big mouth.
But Rurik could see from his eyes that this old guy was probably admiring himself.
"Okay, maybe I have to pay for the whetstone you lost."
"No, this is a necessary expense." He patted it subconsciously. Rurik's shoulders: "Good boy, in the lightI will definitely succeed before tomorrow's holiday. ”
Hanukkah is really getting closer...
Four days have passed since the completion of the forging of the sword embryo. On the fifth day, Klavasen has already finished the forging of the sword embryo. The blade was sharpened, and as expected, his second whetstone was also scrapped.
Rurik figured that he might be able to get very high-quality corundum. There is no embarrassment now.
It is just a whetstone, but there is a lot of knowledge in it.
The best whetstone has become a synthetic material, which is diamond powder. The disc bonded with an adhesive is the key to the grinder and can grind all steel materials.
There are also high-quality natural abrasives in nature, which is corundum containing aluminum, which is actually a kind of abrasive. Special aluminum ore, because of its hard texture, was the best polishing material available to people in ancient times.
Since corundum is not available, they can only make do with sedimentary sandstone.
Thinking about it this way, maybe sandstone is used to make a wheel shape. The most important thing that such a manual grinder has to face is self-wear. It may not be a good choice to use it to polish the sword blade directly. Use it to repair the sword blade or. It is the most effective.
Using a straight sandstone whetstone to sharpen the sword blade, Klavason has always done this, and he has clear skills in his hands. This old guy is really like a robot. , the body did not tremble abnormally during the whole movement. He held the thick cowhide on the sword blade with both hands and polished it forward at an acute angle of about 20°. There was no backward polishing movement at all.
Sharpening the sword is a science. , the blade can only be sharpened in one direction, otherwise it will cause trouble for yourself.
The blade is getting sharper and sharper, and the cowhide that protects his hands has been cut with a lot of cracks by the other edge. .
The work must be done more and more carefully, and finally when the cowhide of the guard is cut off, the five days of polishing the sword can be declared over.
"Rurik, It's all over! it's all over! "Clavason put down the sword. He had no more joy of success. After putting down the sword, he quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Finally! I have waited until now, can we..."
Rurik ran to the whetstone excitedly. Isn't the dagger he customized at this moment a magic weapon?
< p>"It should be very sharp, right? ""It should be, now I..." As he spoke, Klavasen temporarily inserted a simple wooden pancake into the dagger, "Let's try it first to see if we can cut the cowhide. ”
“Okay! hurry up! ”
Rurik’s eyes widened as he watched Klavasen pile up the cowhide mat that had been cut into pieces three times, hold it with his left hand, and accept the cutting with the sharp blade of his right hand.
Everything was as expected, the sword was very sharp.
Looking at the strong and tough cowhide, Klavasen actually used a little strength to fold it up to six times. I was stunned by cowhideIt was a perfect cut by this dagger.
"Oh! That's incredible! This is cowhide."
"Cowhide? What's wrong? It seems that I have achieved my goal, and all that is left is to chop the iron sword. Rurik said excitedly.
“Oh my child, you are so cute. You should know that your sword cannot be defended by at least six layers of leather armor. Up to now, any iron sword I have made can only It can cut through two layers of leather armor. This short sword has done wonders."
Klavason's eyes shone brightly, Rurik looked at the old guy's trembling beard and fiery eyes. After thinking carefully, he looked at his steel sword through a pair of blue glasses. It is indeed extraordinary.
"Okay, tonight, right now, I want it to hit the iron sword. Hopefully... its blade won't crack."
"Okay. !” The excited Klavason ordered his even more excited son Kawei: “Go to the warehouse and pick up an iron sword. If you are the strongest, I will give you the job of chopping the iron sword.”