Blacksmithing for Fantasy Dummies, Part 1

I have been a bit daunted with this topic, but it's so, so very important. I'm daunted because when I first started reading about it, I realized how very complicated it all is. Like, it's one of those topics where the more you learn the less you know. However, it's important because you need cool weapons in your fantasy story. So many books have characters either being blacksmiths or meeting with blacksmiths to order their blades. There are often armies on the march - what sort of stuff can they make on the fly? Can a forge be in a wagon? If you're traveling super light, can you forge weapons in like, a camp fire? How long does it take to make a decent sword? What about a crappy sword? And fantasy folk love archers - and while some authors are pretty good about mentioning how the character keeps retrieving their arrows, that can only go so far. We need to know more. We need to be realistic at least with something! I mean, it is fantasy, but let's not be silly and offend the hard working Medieval blacksmiths.

But before I can answer all our questions, I need to break it down to the basics. Understanding the basics will help you to set the scene and give you the ability to casually drop good blacksmith jargon in your book!

What is forging? Forging is the process by which you form metal objects by heating the metal and then reshaping it with hammering. A smith is one who does forging. So, there are people who are, say, goldsmiths (making jewelry maybe). A blacksmith is one who forges wrought iron (iron with low carbon content) or steel (iron with more carbon). 'Black' is because of the black oxide layer that appears on heated metal, which is also called firescale (cool word - let's use that! - Araborn, the most esteemed of warrior mages, withdrew the enchanted steel from the forge for the thousand-and-first time. He muttered the incantation and ancient elvish script glowed through the firescale like threads of silver lightning in a moonless sky. - So much better than the script glowing through the oxide layer. - With the last of his strength, Araborn thrust the blade into the water trough, falling to his knees as a cloud of steam engulfed him in the dim dankness of the smithy, and he knew no more.).

What is basically needed for blacksmiths to do their forging? They will need a dark room (aka - Smithy; I'll explain later why it needs to be dark), a forge (basically a hearth, i.e. a fireplace of stone/brick), an anvil (platform for hammering and such), and tools (e.g. hammer, chisel, punch, tongs, vise), and a quenching bucket.

The smithy needs to be dark because a blacksmith needs to clearly see the colors of the metal. Depending on who you ask, there are various shades the metal can be. Generally it will go from straw-colored, to brown, to purple, then gray, light red, to a dark blood red, to a cherry red, to red-orange, to orange, to yellow, to white (yes, and all the shades in between). The color will tell you the metal's temperature and will tell you the best time to start shaping it. Generally, somewhere between orange-yellow is a good time to start hammering away.

The quenching bucket cools the metal after it has been heated and worked. The cooling has an effect on the crystalline structure of the metal, causing it to get harder. The quenching fluid can be just water, or it can be an oil. Water will cool the metal faster than oil, and will make it harder; however, it will also be more brittle. Water is more likely to crack the metal. If hardness can be sacrificed, perhaps a mineral oil is better. To make the metal tougher, you will have to temper it (aka conduct heat treatment), which means to heat the metal at lower temperatures and cool it more slowly (like, with just air).

By the way, one could write whole books about quenching fluids. Blacksmiths tended to have super secret quenching fluids, or even recipes. Some thought they knew the best river for the best water. Some used the urine of specific animals, or the fat from five types of animals. The Ottomans had this bad boy that could make armor-piercing arrows:

1 okka Quick Lime (CaO)

½ okka Soda (NaCO)

½ okka Carbonas Cupricus (Copper Oxide?)

½ okka Arsenic Sulphate (AsS)

2 okka Radish juice

1 okka Wild Onion juice

½ okka Valonia ash

1 okka Tar

I think working an interesting quenching fluid into your book would be a fabulous idea! I, for one, would definitely want to include The Blood of My Enemies in my recipe!

As early as the 5th Century, Japan developed a unique quenching method that makes their curved blades keep such a sharp edge! What's the key to these impressive blades? They put a mixture of clay, stone dust, and charcoal on the blade, spreading it so the mixture is thin at the edges and thick in the middle. This way, when you dip it in the quenching water, different parts of the blade are cooled at different rates, making the edges extra hard and keeping the spine of the blade tough (i.e. less brittle). The differential of the cooling rates gives the blades a curve!

While Japan was doing that, Europeans were mucking around and thinking very hard. Some 600 years after Japan started doing the above, some European blacksmiths suggested that the urine from a young red-headed boy was best (perhaps your fantasy character is a red-head and is tired of having to pee for the town blacksmith? hahahaha So, he runs off for an adventure!). Another European blacksmith said if you feed a sheep ferns for three days, you can then use that urine. And there is of course human blood, or, you know, a stork's beak mixed in with certain flowers can be pretty good too, etc. The point is, we-Europeans continued to dump the whole blade into the fluid at once, always quenching evenly.

OK, I think that's enough for now. We know the basics! And I could keep reading about quenching theories all night, but I won't. Bye!