American Farmers: Facing a Cutoff at the Start

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The tip of the sword was slightly tilted to the left.

At this point, you absolutely must not panic. You must take advantage of the golden window of several tens of seconds when the inside of the sword is still warm and the martensite has not yet completely transformed to make corrections.

With lightning speed, Fett placed the sword between the vises, pressed down on the curved protrusion with his gloved hand, and applied pressure in the opposite direction.

"Click, click."

The steel made a slight sound.

Let go, then aim again.

Straight as a line.

Fett let out a long sigh of relief before throwing the sword into the bucket of water next to him to cool it completely.

All that's left is to temper it.

But the sword was too long to fit into the kitchen oven.

Fett had no choice but to take the risk and use the most primitive and demanding method—tempering the furnace.

He first used a belt sander to remove the oxide scale from the surface of the sword, revealing the silvery-white metallic base.

This step is crucial because the tempering temperature is determined entirely by observing the changes in the oxide color on the steel surface.

Fett turned the blower on the coal stove to its lowest setting, so that only a layer of dark red charcoal embers remained in the furnace, with no open flames escaping.

Wearing thick gloves, he held the sword flat with both hands, hovering it about half a foot above the furnace opening, moving it back and forth and flipping it at a steady pace, like he was grilling a skewer of meat.

Steam rises.

Gradually, a strange change began to occur on the surface of the steel near the spine of the sword.

First, it takes on a light wheat-yellow hue, which is around 200 degrees Celsius; then the color deepens, turning into a bright straw yellow.

It then turns reddish-brown and purple —

Fett held his breath, his eyes fixed intently on the ever-changing ribbon.

Longswords require extremely high toughness and must be tempered to a blue color.

When a deep peacock blue evenly covered the main body of the sword, while the edge of the blade still retained a harder purplish-red, Fett quickly moved the sword away and left it to cool in the air.

"call"

Being so close to the stove, he was soaked in sweat from the heat!

He wiped the sweat from his forehead; this was even more exhausting than grabbing the sledgehammer earlier.

Next up is the sword armor.

There is no sword guard or pommel yet.

After rummaging through the pile of junk for a long time, Fett finally found a heavy, solid brass valve base among a bunch of scrapped water pipe parts.

Although this old brass has turned black from oxidation, it is quite heavy and perfect for making a sword guard.

He clamped the copper block in a vise and first used a hacksaw to cut out a rough "U" shape, which was the prototype of the classic Han sword "beast face guard".

Then, use a file to refine it little by little, creating a simple cloud-patterned relief.

The ridge is beveled to match the blade, and a hole is drilled in the middle. A rectangular hole matching the cross-sectional dimensions of the hilt is then created using a small file.

As for the pommel, he cut off the other half of the copper block and polished it into a rounded, flat drum shape.

First, use a fine drill bit to drill a through hole in the middle, matching the size of the sword hilt.

After drilling through, switch to a larger drill bit and slightly enlarge the hole from the top down to drill a shallow countersunk hole, forming a distinct step with the middle channel.

This is in preparation for the final riveting.

Next, heat the top of the sword hilt until it's red-hot, then use a hammer to flatten the protruding part, fill in the step, and then grind it round again.

This type of hot riveting, where steel and copper interlock, is the strongest.

The final polishing is the result of slow and meticulous work.

Fett switched to a belt sander, starting with 120 mesh and gradually increasing to 800 mesh.

As the sander belt spun, the fine forging marks on the sword were completely smoothed out, the eight facets became sharp and distinct, and the spine of the sword stood tall and straight like a peak.

He deliberately didn't polish it to a mirror finish, but instead retained the delicate brushed texture left by the 800-grit sandpaper. This matte texture makes it look more austere and sophisticated.

Assembly time.

Fett placed the tip of the sword hilt back into the furnace fire, heating it until it turned dark red.

Remove it quickly and apply AB glue to the lower half.

First, put on the engraved brass guard, which fits snugly against the shoulder of the sword.

Next was the black walnut hilt that had been burned through.

Fett pushed the wooden handle in forcefully until it hit the guard, making a muffled sound.

Finally, attach the brass pommel.

The dark red tip of the sword hilt passes through the hole in the center of the pommel, revealing a small section of red-hot steel that shines slightly in the sinker.

He wrapped the sword blade in a soft cloth and clamped it vertically in a vise.

Holding the small, round-headed hammer that weighed half a pound, he aimed at the exposed, red-hot steel tip and began to strike it meticulously.

"Ding, ding, ding."

As the hammer fell, the red-hot steel head gradually extended and flattened, filling the pre-reserved stepped gaps on the pommel like flowing magma, and tightly meshing with the brass.

After cooling, Fett removed the sword and used a belt sander to smooth out the excess rivet heads and round them off.

At the top of the brass sword pommel is a perfectly integrated silver-white steel dot.

I tried it, and the hilt didn't budge an inch; it was as solid as a rock.

Fett found a polishing cloth and vigorously wiped the guard and pommel until the old oxide layer faded, revealing the original dazzling gold.

A dark brown walnut hilt, golden brass fittings, and a cool gray octagonal blade.

Fett held the sword in one hand and casually thrust it forward!

"Buzz"

The sword trembled slightly, emitting a clear, crisp sound!

It is tough but not soft, strong but not brittle.

The center of gravity is perfectly positioned an inch in front of the handguard, providing a solid feel without feeling heavy.

"A fine sword."

He gently stroked the spine of the sword, as if he could feel the steel, reborn from a discarded spring, trembling slightly.

This is the peak level that he can reach with his basic forging skills; no step is easy.

With this, all five swords needed to participate in the "Knife Forging Competition"—the Bowie Knife "King," the Black Walnut Mosaic Nail Kitchen Knife, the Deer Antler Folding Knife, the Multi-functional Camping Knife, and this Eight-Sided Han Sword—have been collected!

Fett placed the five swords he had forged on his workbench, preparing to record a demonstration video in accordance with the registration requirements for the "Sword Forging Competition".

The registration guidelines specifically state that participants who submit a video demonstrating the performance of their cutting tools will be given priority in the selection process.

Fett decided to show these guys their best skills.

He built a simple stand with a few bricks, placed his phone on it, adjusted the angle, and pressed the record button.

First of all, there's that eight-sided Han sword.

Fett found an old oil drum and placed it in front of him. He held the sword with both hands, took a deep breath, and thrust it downwards.

"puff!"

The sword tip pierced through the sheet metal without any resistance, disappearing all the way to the middle of the blade. The sword was pulled out, the tip completely unharmed.

Then, he bent the sword at a ninety-degree angle, released it, and with a "whoosh," the sword instantly straightened, demonstrating amazing resilience.

Then comes the kitchen knife.

He took a ripe tomato and placed it horizontally on the cutting board.

Without using your hands, simply rely on the weight of the blade itself and give it a gentle push.

A slice of tomato, as thin as a cicada's wing, is slowly sliced ​​off.

Fett pasted it on a newspaper, and the text underneath was still clearly visible through the red flesh.

A camping knife is used to chop hardwood, and a folding knife is used to cut hemp rope.

After completing the entire process, Fett wiped his sweat and excitedly ran to watch the replay.

However, the image on the screen left him dumbfounded.

Some shots were completely blocked by his back, some only captured half of the blade, and most importantly, when the sword pierced the iron bucket, the phone even tilted to one side due to the vibration, only capturing the ceiling.

Moreover, the phone camera lens had severe noise in the dimly lit garage, making it impossible to see those exquisite details.

"This won't do—" Fett scratched his hair in frustration.

Just then, old Frank's voice came from outside the door.

"Fett! Someone's looking for you!"