American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 192 Illuminating the New Technology Tree

The steel darkens as it cools rapidly.

Lin Yu'an knew that he only had a few dozen seconds of effective operating time.

He immediately stopped hammering when the steel's color faded to a dark red and it lost its optimal malleability.

Without pausing, he tensed his arm muscles again, used the long handle to steadily lift the heavy steel rod, and sent it back into the furnace.

But this time, his operation was completely different from before. He did not recklessly plunge the tip of the steel rod all the way into the depths of the furnace as he had done the first time.

He squinted, peering through the gap in the control opening at the charcoal-filled furnace inside, carefully adjusting the angle and depth of the long handle in his hand.

Then, he precisely positioned the section that he had just pounded and which had been partially flattened in the "medium temperature zone" in the middle of the furnace.

Lin Yu-an said to the camera, "The core of forging lies in the precise zoning management of temperature."

“Once the part has been formed, it cannot withstand extreme high temperatures, as that would cause the steel surface to oxidize and decarburize excessively, making it brittle.”

"Placing it in the medium-temperature zone at this point can slow down cooling and prevent stress cracks, while also preheating the part to be forged next, saving precious fuel."

What he really wanted to heat was the cylindrical steel rod that was right next to this flat section and had not yet deformed.

He pushed this small piece forward precisely into the deepest part of the furnace, into the "high-temperature core zone" driven by the bellows, where the temperature was the highest!
At this moment, under his control, the steel rod exists in a wondrous state within the forge.

The flattened tip is quietly "soaked" in the red light of the medium-temperature zone, maintaining its heat.

The middle section, which is being heated, is frantically absorbing heat in the incandescent light of the high-temperature zone, and its color is undergoing drastic changes that are visible to the naked eye.

The majority of the rod, further back, remains exposed to the cold air outside the furnace, retaining its original gray-black color.

He started blowing air again, this time focusing all his attention on observing the color of the small section of steel pole in the middle.

He could even feel the scorching heat emanating from the cracks in the furnace, making his cheeks burn.

When that small section also reached a brilliant orange color, he pulled out the entire steel rod again and rushed towards the anvil.

This time, he didn't pound on the very front, but on the area that had just been heated and was right next to the flat part.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

He skillfully used the edge of the axe back to hammer the transitional section, and under his heavy blows, the second section of the steel rod was also flattened, allowing the connection between the old and new sections to be perfectly joined together, forming a more integrated "steel billet".

He was like a skilled chef, precisely controlling the heat of different parts on a long iron plate.

Using this complex process of "segmented heating, segmented forging, and front-end heat preservation," he gradually "rolled" the hard steel rod from a cylindrical shape into a flat shape in an extremely fuel-efficient way.

Lin Yu'an was completely absorbed in the process. In his world, there was only the breathing of the bellows, the hum of the furnace fire, and the deafening roar of the hammer colliding with the steel.

Finally, after six rounds of arduous and meticulous segmented heating and hammering, the front part of the steel rod, about twenty centimeters long, had completely changed its appearance.

It was no longer round, but was successfully forged into a huge, fan-shaped, flat "steel billet" with a width of more than 15 centimeters and a thickness of less than 1 centimeter.

The first phase of the flattening process is finally complete.

He immediately sent the entire fan-shaped "steel billet" into the furnace for a complete heating process.

This was the largest heating area and the most charcoal-consuming operation since the project began. He had to ensure that the entire "steel billet" reached the same temperature, suitable for shaping.

When the huge steel billet turned a uniform orange color, he pulled it out and began the more refined second stage of shaping.

He sent the entire fan-shaped steel billet into the furnace for a single, overall heating process.

Then, the red-hot steel billet is placed steadily on the stone anvil.

He picked up a wooden mallet that had been made before forging, designed for easy gripping.

Hold the forest axe close to the neck of the axe head with your left hand to gain maximum control, and place the sharp axe blade precisely and vertically on the predetermined center line of the steel billet, like a hot chisel.

Then, he raised the heavy wooden hammer in his right hand and slammed it down hard on the back of the forest axe!

"Oh!"

A dull, distinctly different sound rang out! The collision of the wooden hammer and the steel produced a deep, solid sound.

Under the immense impact of the wooden hammer, the sharp axe blade instantly carved a clear, deep cut into the scorching steel!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

He moved the axe in his left hand at an extremely fast pace, while his right hand continuously struck with a wooden hammer, "carving" along the predetermined center line.

Only after a straight, deep groove appeared perfectly in the center of the billet did he put down the wooden hammer.

He gripped the forest axe again and began hammering outwards at the metal on either side of the trench.

Like a sculptor, he meticulously adjusted the landing point and force of each strike, allowing the two "petals" to open slightly at a perfectly symmetrical angle, forming two huge "blade wings".

At the same time, he retained the very tip of metal, without separating it, and instead used the edge of the axe back to carefully hammer it into a sharp "guide tip" for positioning, like a spearhead.

A prototype of a "shovel-shaped drill bit" with a diameter of more than 15 centimeters was born.

But that's not enough. A flat drill bit can only scrape, not remove chips. It also needs a soul—a spiral.

He heated it for the eighth time. He heated the entire shaped drill bit again, evenly, until it turned a dazzling orange-yellow. This time, the work was no longer done on an anvil.

He strode to the corner of the shelter, where there was a large wooden stake that he had specially prepared, which he had painstakingly half-buried in the soil and then frozen at the base with water.

He had drilled a deep hole in the center of the wooden stake beforehand.

He precisely inserted the drill bit's guide tip into the hole in the wooden stake. The scorching metal made a hissing sound when it came into contact with the cold wood, and a puff of burnt white smoke rose up.

The drill bit was firmly fixed in place, leaving only the two huge fan-shaped "blades" exposed.

He took out two thick birch sticks, each about one and a half meters long, from the bucket. They were already soaked in water.

Immersion in water not only prevents them from igniting instantly, but also creates a layer of water vapor film when they come into contact with hot metal, thus providing insulation.

He held the first wooden stick horizontally, from the front, firmly against the outer edge of one of the blade wings.

Then, he used the second stick, horizontally from behind, to firmly press against the outer edge of the other blade wing.

At this moment, viewed from above, the two wooden sticks and the two blades of the drill bit form a cross-shaped structure, like windmill blades.

"Hey!"

He let out a desperate roar, pouring all his weight and strength into the two wooden sticks, and began to push and pull them horizontally counterclockwise, using the drill bit as the axis!
"Crunch—creak—"

Under his brute force, those two enormous "blades" were no longer on the same plane, but were given a slight, but enough, spiral angle to guide the ice chips upwards as they rotated!
Shaping complete!
He glanced at the dwindling amount of charcoal left and knew that the most crucial and error-prone heat treatment stage had arrived.

He began the ninth and final heating process after shaping.

"The next two steps, quenching and tempering, will be the moment that determines the final fate of this piece of steel."

"Forging gives it shape, while heat treatment gives it soul. Hardness and toughness, these contradictory properties, will finally reach a balance in this baptism of ice and fire."

This time, he needed absolutely precise temperature control, the most essential skill of a blacksmith: "fire watching."

He carefully placed the shaped drill bit into the furnace. Instead of forcefully blowing air, he gently pushed and pulled the bellows rhythmically.

He waited, waiting for that perfect "phase transition point" when the internal crystal structure of the steel would change.

Finally, the entire drill bit turned a uniform, light red color, like that of cherries.

"This is the perfect temperature!"

He pulled out the drill bit and, without the slightest hesitation, turned around and plunged it vertically and forcefully into the iron bucket filled with ice water that had been prepared beforehand!

“Sizzle——!!!”

A deafening roar, like boiling oil being poured onto ice, followed by a burst of thick white steam that instantly engulfed him!

The quenching process is complete. The drill bit has gained unparalleled hardness, but has also become as brittle as glass.

He carefully removed it from the water. The drill bit had turned grayish-black and was covered with a fine layer of oxide scale.

He used the natural whetstone that Stan had given him, wet it, and patiently and repeatedly ground the cutting edges of the two blades of the drill bit.

He wasn't "sharpening the knife," but rather "polishing" it, grinding away the black oxide layer to reveal the shiny steel underneath.

Next comes the final step in giving this ice diamond its final treatment – ​​tempering.

He moved the last bit of charcoal in the furnace to one side and gently blew it with a bellows to create a cooler "residual heat zone".

The quenched drill bit is placed on the other side of the forging furnace, allowing it to receive only weak radiant heat for extremely slow, low-temperature heating.

He stared intently once again at the polished, silvery-white metal surface.

"Quenching increases the hardness of steel to its extreme, but at the cost of filling the interior with devastating stress, making it extremely brittle."

"Tempering is a precise 'cooling down' process. Through a controlled low-temperature heating, some stress is released, and a little bit of hardness is used to regain the crucial toughness."

"The only standard for judging the tempering temperature is the color of the oxide film formed on the surface of the steel."

A few minutes later, a miraculous scene unfolded.

That silvery-white surface seemed to come alive; it began to slowly and evenly "change color."

First, it was tinged with a very light pale yellow... then, the color deepened, turning into the straw yellow of mature wheat stalks... then, a touch of brown began to appear, like a drop of coffee dripped onto white paper...

When the entire cutting edge area turned a toasty brown, he immediately pulled out the drill and set it aside to cool naturally in the air.

The tempering was complete. Looking at the ice drill bit before him, with its primitive shape, covered in forging and hammer marks, but with a beautiful tempered luster on the cutting edge, he knew he had succeeded.

At this moment, however, he was filled with an indescribable, immense sense of satisfaction, as if he were creating the world.

I glanced at the furnace; the charcoal inside had burned out completely, leaving only a few red embers.

The fuel is just right.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(P.S., the finished product is a larger version of something similar. This antique is worth 4 monthly passes.)
(End of this chapter)